Continuity Healthcare Services Private Limited

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

We assessed all the quality statements in the Well-led key question. Action was needed to ensure the service was managed consistently and improvements were made to the care proved.

This service scored 61 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The registered manager told us about their values statement, which included “care not good enough for your own mum is not good enough” and the need to be compassionate and consistent. However, whilst the values were shared with staff, the service was not working in ways that enabled these values to be consistently met.

Staff were told about the provider values during their induction and in training session. The management team assessed the values staff were displaying during regular observations of practice and competency checks. However, the processes in place did not ensure staff were always able to work in ways which met people’s needs. Examples included staff not being able to arrive to people on time and lack of information for staff on people’s needs.

The registered manager told us they felt supported in their role by their director. However, this support had not enabled the service to operate well and meet people’s needs. The registered manager told us some of the changes made by the director had resulted in unintended consequences, which impacted on call times for people. Staff told us they received good support from the registered manager and senior management team.

The registered manager had been in post since the service was registered. During this time the service had operated in ways that did not meet people’s needs and was in breach of legal requirements. Whilst the registered manager had started work to resolve the shortfalls in the service, the processes in place to ensure leaders in the service understood their responsibilities to meet people’s needs had been ineffective.

The registered manager told us staff had ways to speak up if they needed to, which were shared with them during induction, team meetings and supervision sessions. Staff told us they knew how to raise any concerns and were confident the management would listen to them and respond.

There was a whistleblowing policy in place which all staff had access to. Concerns raised by staff were discussed at management meetings and any actions agreed by the management team.

Staff had completed equality and diversity training and told us they felt supported by the management team.

The provider had policies for equality and diversity within the workforce to make sure staff had an inclusive and supportive workplace. Reasonable adjustments could be made to some working patterns to support staff at work.

The registered manager told us about their governance systems and acknowledged improvements were needed in the way the service operated. Following an Annual Service Review by Wiltshire Council in August 2024 it was identified that action was needed to ensure people received a good service.

Governance systems included reviews of records, spot checks on how staff were supporting people and feedback from people using the service. As a result of shortfalls identified by commissioners from the local authority, the senior management team had developed an action plan to improve the service. The plan contained a named member of the team responsible for each action and a timescale for completion. The plan was being reviewed in regular meetings of the senior management team.

People and relatives gave examples of the service working in partnership with other agencies, including the local authority, community nurses and a hospice.

The registered manager told us they worked with a range of stakeholders and professionals to help make sure people received a continuity in their care.

We asked the local authority for feedback and no concerns were raised about the way the service worked in partnership with other stakeholders.

The service regularly consulted with health and social care professionals to enable the service to respond to people’s needs. The service was registered on the local authority home care alliance framework. This meant they had regular quality checks carried out by the local authority.

The registered manager told us about their plans to develop the service. They said they had stopped taking on new packages of care for people whilst they made the necessary improvements in the service provided. The registered manager said they needed to ensure improvements were embedded and provided a long-term fix for the shortfalls.

The provider’s processes had not ensured improvements were made when people first started raising concerns about call times and shortfalls in the service.