Forest Homecare Suffolk

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

Improvements to the governance systems within the service had been sustained, strengthened, and developed further since the previous inspection. Leaders were visible. Processes were in place to ensure the service operated safely. Good, well established, links had been made with external professionals. People and staff had confidence in the management of the service and felt included in decisions made. The registered manager had made all necessary notifications and information sharing as required. There was a strong, collaborative management team in place. The service was monitored to ensure continual learning and improvements, this included multi-layered assurance checks.

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.

Everyone had the same vision for the service, it came from the management team who were committed and were involved in the day to day running of the service. The registered manager and staff felt supported to provide good quality care. Improvements in the service had been established, embedded, sustained, and developed further. This meant people were receiving care from a team who had the same shared goal.

A robust programme of checks, monitoring and audits identified areas for improvement. This included observations made of care staff whilst they carried out their work and more definitive audits such as ensuring medicines were safely managed. There were clear processes to ensure the service continually sought to improve, this was obvious during the inspection. The registered manager and staff actively sought the views of people and their families through surveys, individual meetings, and reviews also with telephone calls. Relatives told us they were included and felt respected with one saying, “We have had several reviews of her care and people from the office discuss with us if there have been any changes in my relatives needs and if we are happy with the service. I would recommend the service to others.”

The provider had responded positively to our previous inspection findings. We saw evidence of staff being upskilled and promoted into different roles. Staff were supported to obtain external qualifications, such as ‘train the trainer’ which enabled them to provide in-house training to other staff members. This meant training could be tailored to the organisation and people who are receiving care. Staff felt supported by the management team. They felt trusted to do their jobs to the best of their ability knowing they had the support of a skilled, compassionate and capable registered manager. Staff spoke of the approachability and resourcefulness of managers.

We found staff to be open and transparent with recruitment and training processors and freely shared information with inspectors to demonstrate the service was recruiting and training staff appropriately.

Staff knew where to find relevant policies to support them should they need to raise concerns formally. They knew they should speak with the provider to escalate concerns or outside agencies if not appropriate to speak to them. A staff member told us, “I feel part of a team and I know I am respected by management and my colleagues and in turn I respect and look up to them.”

Forest Homecare Suffolk had policies and procedures in place to support staff in speaking up and raising concerns. This included up to date policies in relation to safeguarding and whistleblowing.

People were supported by a staff team who were happy in their work. One person said, “I would certainly recommend the company as they provide kind, well trained carers to help me and I am more than happy.” Staff working with the service were from diverse backgrounds. Staff overwhelmingly told us they were included and accepted. Differences and individuality were appreciated. Staff told us they would support anyone regardless of their background and beliefs. The management team promoted diversity and was an inclusive employer.

Policies and procedures were in place and incorporated all aspects of recruitment and staffing such as retention plans, equality, diversity, fairness, and protected characteristics.

People and their relatives were complimentary about the leadership of the service. They were confident and knew who the management staff were and who to contact should they need to. People and their loved ones were happy and comfortable to speak to any of the staff who visited them. One person told us, “The manager came out to see me yesterday and I would recommend the company as they are very good.” Another person said, “The company has really improved of late with regards to all aspects of care and more attention to detail.” Forest Homecare Suffolk had made significant and sustained improvements with the governance of the service. Leaders was confident, knowledgeable, and competent.

A schedule of audits and checks were in place to identify areas for improvement. The registered manager had made all notifications to CQC as required by law. A notification is the action that a provider is legally bound to take to tell us about any changes to their regulated services or incidents that have taken place in them. An overall service improvement plan was in place to provide a framework and timescales for planned developments.

Relatives and people gave a very positive response about the management of the service and said they would recommend it to others. People felt they had been listened to and any concerns raised had been responded to appropriately. We were aware the service had received positive feedback regarding service user satisfactions, from their quality monitoring visit carried out at the service by their main commissioner.

The management team had a strong commitment to improving the service and were open to suggestions for improvement, recognising the importance of joint working with partner agencies. Staff were also aware of the value of working in partnership, both with professionals and with other staff.

The service had received positive feedback from their quality monitoring visit carried out at the service by their main commissioner.

Processes such as action plans were in place and available upon request. Documentation and evidence was promptly provided to CQC as part of this assessment. We also found the provider had systems and processes in place to work effectively with the Local Authority.

The registered manager and management team told us about the ways in which they were continually looking to improve the service. This included the action plan from a recent survey from people using the service and development of a hospital transport flyer that informed people that the agency could and would book this service if required. This service listened to feedback to identifying shortfalls through their audits. Strong evidence throughout the assessment showed improvement and the process of continual learning were part of the fabric of the service. A relative told us. “The carers have been retrained in areas that caused me concern, medicines management and I am no longer anxious due to the improvements made.”

The processes of auditing, reflective practice and making changes to improve the service were well known and practiced throughout the service delivery.