Alpha Care SW Community Services

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated Outstanding. This meant service leadership was exceptional and distinctive. Leaders and the service culture they created drove and improved high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 96 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service had a very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people and their communities. The provider’s clear vision and strategy had people at the heart of the service which staff understood and worked towards. The culture of the service was extremely person centred, inclusive and empowering. Personalised care based on equal rights for all, was pivotal to the services beliefs and operation. This was bought about through the exceptional and clear leadership and through the values and goals shared by all. The provider and registered manager had put into daily practice clear passion and strong commitment to ensure people received the best service. The provider's ethos was simple but effective, they told us, "Our ethos starts at point of recruitment, we explicitly say to potential new staff, this is what we offer, but this is what we expect. We want to help people to establish goals dreams and aspiration, this for us is about improving people lives, not just going in to someone home doing our bit and leaving. We spent a long time developing our core values, because we all needed to believe in them”. It was clear that the provider's values and ethos of putting people at the heart of the service was embedded and was reflected in everything staff did. People were supported to reach their aspirations and live the life they wanted to, whilst achieving their individual goals they had set for themselves. People were encouraged to think beyond what might be considered by society as usual.

The service had exceptionally inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They always did so with integrity, openness and honesty. Relatives we spoke with described how leaders naturally became aware of issues that could escalate. They described situations where the registered manager acted quickly to address concerns at the earliest opportunity and prevent any impact on people’s quality of care. The provider and management team were visible and led by example. For example, the provider and registered manager carried out home visits and continuously met with people as part of and outside of the care planning process. They then used the feedback they received to drive improvement with stakeholders such as healthcare professionals. For example, following feedback and through the registered managers own governance arrangements they identified that people had similar specialist needs. Although training for these specialist needs was in line with best practice, the registered manager wanted to ensure that the difference in need was acknowledged. They worked with healthcare professional to design and implement bespoke training to match individual need and preference. A healthcare professional we spoke with told us, “They are amazing, absolutely amazing. I’ve never lost sleep about the people in their care. They are meticulous in everything they do”. The provider and registered manager were genuinely interested and eager to explore the dreams and aspirations of all the people that used their service so they could set about making plans and actions for people to achieve their goals. During our discussions we observed, the compassion and professionalism they asked of their staff was reflective of their own behaviours.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The registered manager described the lengths they would go to to protect the rights of anyone who spoke up within the service. They told us, “As well as the individuals we support, staff are also at the heart of what we do. They have an equal voice in how things are run. Their views and opinions are always valued. We need to listen and act on any concerns compassionately and confidentially. I would always carry out any investigation’s sensitivity. I would include healthcare professionals, review care plans and risk assessments, take action, reflect and look for lessons learnt whilst protecting the welfare of the whistleblower”. Staff, people and relatives stated they felt able to raise anything they felt was important. One staff member told us, “Management is approachable, they listen and act appropriately. There is always a positive outcome”.

The service strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who worked for them. There was a strong organisational commitment and effective action towards ensuring there was equality and inclusion across the workforce. Discussions with the provider showed a high level of empathy towards staff and their individual backgrounds and how these may impact their working and daily lives. They described how adjustments had been made to support staff. This approach had made a significantly positive impact on staff. The provider carried out regular reviews of staff to ensure staffs protected characteristics were upheld.

The service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver high-quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate. The organisational structure was clear and well-established within the service. Alpha Care SW Community Services was led by an exceptional leadership team who had clearly defined roles. The registered manager said they felt extremely well supported by the provider and worked with them to continually develop the skills of staff and the quality of service provided to people. The service had an exceptionally comprehensive and effective quality assurance system which was well embedded into staff practice. All areas of the service were regularly assessed by staff, the registered manager and the provider to ensure excellent practice and support. All aspects of risk management and care and support were individually analysed to ensure everyone using the service received high quality safe care. For example, an audit into one person’s care and root cause analysis carried out by the registered manager identified findings that were then able to be used to review the person’s care, at an individual level and drive improvement and maximise the person’s outcomes. The registered manager implemented a ‘quality of life tool’ we saw how this had been used for a person to identify, adjust and make a positive change to the persons sleep patterns.

The service clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated to drive improvement. The provider and registered manager liaised with other organisations, explored best practice, engaged with the local authority and accessed learning materials to continuously improve their care practice. This was evidenced through the exceptional and continuous achievement of people's goals and aspirations. The service had a strong presence in the local community. They had established effective links across various local businesses to share information, appropriately challenge barriers to peoples care and put on bespoke social events for the people that used the service. For example, the registered manager worked with a local café to explain people’s individual communication needs, so people could go in and order their own food have lunch regardless of any time constraints. This meant people were empowered and supported in a way that met individual needs, was accessible and promoted equality. The management team were positive about their links with local partners and health and social care teams. They expressed an open positive attitude to receiving support and understood how and where they could access support from.

The service had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contribute to safe, effective practice and research. This included constantly reviewing staff skills and ideas, and ensuring staff worked with people at the persons chosen rate. Staff were supported to develop and enhance their skills continuously, with opportunity for open discussion, further training and future career options available. The registered manager and provider had countless examples, and it was evident throughout our assessment of how they had improved the experience of people receiving the service and were passionate about excellence every day and striving to keep learning. The provider and registered manager actively networked with other services, the local authority, accessed learning resources and kept up to date with changes in the social care system and best practise. This was evidenced through quality practises over a sustained period of time and a continuous achievement of people's goals at their pace.