Icare Solutions (Wirral) Ltd

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. At our last assessment we rated this key question inadequate. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement. Whilst we had seen some improvements, overview of aspects of the quality of the services by the leadership team was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

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 provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities. The provider shared their service user guide with people, which highlighted the provider’s aim, to provide high quality care to people and other aims. Managers promoted good communication, and guidance was offered throughout the staff teams.

Leaders did not always fully understand the context in which the service delivered care, treatment and support. Overall, they had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively, and did so with openness and honesty. There was a registered manager at the service, who was supported by a relatively new office team, who were gaining skills and knowledge. Staff told us managers were open and gave examples of the support they had received. The provider and registered manager continued to develop their skills. However, they needed to ensure they understood all regulatory requirements in relation to what was notifiable to CQC. Audits and oversight had not identified all the issues we identified in relation to recruitment and medicines records.

The provide fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. Staff were aware of the provider’s whistleblowing policy. They were positive about the service and told us they were given opportunities to speak up. Various staff meetings were held, some of these were in smaller groups, which one person felt made it, “Easier to get your point across.” Staff commented, “They (managers) are confidential, we're comfortable in saying anything” and “I feel comfortable to raise anything.”

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them. The provider had an equality, diversi ty and inclusion policy in place. Staff undertook training in equality and diversity.

The provider had not always identified if actions were required in relation to risk, performance and outcomes. They had made improvements in oversight since our last inspection, with continued improvements to the quality and safety of the service. Managers undertook various audits and checks; they had worked on a small action plan following a recent quality assessment from the local authority. However, the provider needed to ensure systems were fully embedded and effective to enable them to proactively identify all areas which needed ongoing improvement. For example, we found some issues in relation to medicines administration records, an issue in relation to a recruitment record and with notification submissions to CQC, which the provider had not identified. The management team were keen to act on any areas identified to make the necessary improvements and addressed these issues straight away when we raised them.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services work seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. However, aspects of collaboration could be further improved, for example to ensure people’s medicines were always managed as safely as possible.

The provider had focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They had made some improvements since our last inspection. The provider continued to look at options to improve aspects of the services such as better technology for planning and recording. The provider had suitable policies in place. However, some policies needed to be updated to ensure they reflected current information in relation to current staff. The provider was planning to implement a new portal which would make it easier for staff to access these in future. The provider needed to ensure systems were fully embedded to ensure suitable learning and improvements were always identified and acted upon.