Clarendon Home Care

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

The provider had a clear vision and values for the service which were shared and discussed with staff. Staff demonstrated a clear understanding of the structure and purpose of their roles. The service had capable and compassionate leaders who were trusted by staff. Staff gave good feedback about the registered manager and deputy manager and there were clear systems in place for monitoring the culture and morale of the service. Staff and people using the service felt able to speak up when needed and were confident their viewed would be heard and acted on. The provider had clear governance systems in place to manage risks to people’s care. Information was kept securely and shared with appropriate agencies when needed. The provider worked collaboratively with external agencies when required and systems were in place for learning from incidents and improving the service. The provider valued diversity in its workforce and its recruitment policies and procedures supported this.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff told us the service had clear values and goals, which they shared. One care worker told us they aimed to give person- centred care and develop relationships with people. They told us “The service user’s wellbeing is the most important thing.” The deputy manager told us they tried to reflect the values of honesty, trustworthiness and professionalism in the work they did and ensured these were shared with staff at all levels. They told us they supported people through supervisions to prioritise these goals. They told us “We prioritise honesty over everything. We also thank people for the great work they do. We care about our staff and they care for our people.”

The provider promoted a shared vision and culture for the service. The organisation’s values were outlined to staff when they started working for the service and the provider shared this in a company values document. Specific training was provided in the company’s values as part of the induction process. This emphasised values such as honesty, trustworthiness and professionalism among others. The provider demonstrated a commitment to equality, diversity in the workplace through its recruitment procedures and the manner in which they delivered care. They recruited people from different backgrounds in accordance with their recruitment policy.

Staff gave good feedback about the managers of the service and told us they felt listened to. Their comments included “I feel the managers are caring and listen to us” and “So far this is the best company I have worked for in the UK, they're very supportive”. The deputy manager and registered manager demonstrated a strong commitment towards the people using the service and its staff.

The provider had clear mechanisms in place to monitor the culture and morale within the service. The provider sought staff feedback through regular supervision sessions as well as through staff surveys. The provider took specific and immediate action where concerns were raised through supervision sessions and staff feedback was recorded on people’s supervision forms. The provider had devised a specific action plan in relation to feedback received through the staff survey. One example of changes made through the staff survey was in response to the staff complaint about pay, which the provider addressed through implementing a pay rise.

Staff told us they were listened to and encouraged to give their feedback on the service. One care worker told us “The managers are very helpful and trustworthy. We give feedback to them and this is followed up”.

The provider fostered a culture where people were encouraged to speak up. There was a whistleblowing and complaints policy and procedure in place. We reviewed complaints records and saw people were given a timely apology, investigations were conducted and follow up action was taken as needed.

The provider took active steps to ensure the staff team were representative of the population. They told us they applied their recruitment policy in conjunction with their equality and diversity policy. The deputy manager confirmed they tried to support staff with different needs to enable them to work with people. They also confirmed they made efforts to pair people with care workers who spoke the same first language where required if possible.

The provider took action to ensure there was equality and diversity within the workforce. There was a clear equality and diversity procedure in place, the principles of which were also incorporated into the recruitment procedure. The service employed staff from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds to support people.

Staff had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and understood the management structure and who to approach in the event of queries. One care worker told us “Our role is to give people choices and help them to be as independent as possible. We don’t impose our will on people.” The registered manager and deputy manager demonstrated a clear understanding about the importance of information security. There were systems in place to ensure information was shared securely and people’s confidential data was protected.

The provider had clear governance systems in place to manage risks to people’s care. The provider had a clear, written staffing structure in place that identified different staffing roles within the organisation. We saw different staff members had clear job descriptions that stipulated their roles and responsibilities. The provider had systems in place to ensure notifications were submitted to the CQC as required as well as the local authority. At the time of our assessment the provider did not have any notifiable incidents to report to the CQC, however, we saw examples of concerns that had been shared with the local authority as needed. The provider maintained policies and procedures in line with recognised standards and legal requirements. All confidential information was kept and shared in a secure way.

People were unable to comment on whether the provider worked well with multi- disciplinary professionals. Although some of the people we spoke with had other professionals involved in their care, they were unaware of whether information was shared as required in meeting their needs. However, nobody gave any negative comments in this area.

Staff told us they worked jointly with multi- disciplinary professionals where needed. They demonstrated an understanding of the roles of other professionals and gave us examples of when they would need further input from other professionals. One care worker told us “We work with district nurses, OT’s and physios” and they gave us a specific example of one person they cared for and how they worked with these professionals in supporting their care needs. The deputy manager confirmed they ensured they obtained the contact details of other professionals involved in people’s care. They told us, where information needed to be shared, or advice sought from other professionals, they ensured this was done promptly.

We contacted the health and social care professionals working with the service about safe systems. We received feedback from one professional who spoke positively about their experience of working with the management of the service.

The provider worked in partnership with other professionals to meet people’s needs. People’s care records included evidence of communications with external professionals, including social workers, occupational therapists and people’s GPs. Where issues were identified, professionals were called on for their advice and we saw this was recorded in people’s care plans to ensure issues were dealt with on an ongoing basis.

Staff told us they were given the time they needed to learn and develop their skills. Staff told us they trusted the leadership within the service to make decisions in respect of people’s care. One care worker told us “Clarendon encourage us to develop our skills.” The deputy manager told us they sought staff feedback for ideas on the ongoing management and improvement of the service. They told us they did a staff survey to ask staff for their feedback. They also confirmed they had regularly staff meetings in order to share information and gain feedback.

The provider was proactive in learning from incidents and seeking feedback to improve the service. They conducted an annual survey, seeking people’s feedback in different areas. Where shortfalls were identified, we saw these were incorporated into an action plan to improve the service. The provider completed a number of audits in areas such as medicines management, timing and duration of visits as well as task monitoring to ensure staff were taking the appropriate actions when conducting care calls. Where issues were identified, specific action plans were put in place to address these.