Essex Cares West

At this inspection we found there were elements of the service that were outstanding. We found that the service was "Outstanding" in the Well-led domain this was because the provider had plans in place to ensure that they continuously learnt and improved. The service was based on core values that were visible at all levels of staffing. This meant that they had created a firm foundation to work towards providing an outstanding service in all areas.

Essex Cares West were providing short six week care packages to 20 people in their own homes. This was a new contract and the service worked within local hospitals, and with the local authority to support people leaving hospital until a permanent care package could be found or people were able to manage independently without support.

A registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The safety of people who used the service was taken very seriously and the provider, the registered manager and staff were aware of their responsibility to protect people's health and wellbeing. There were systems in place to ensure that risks to people's safety and wellbeing were identified and addressed.

People told us they felt safe. Staff had undertaken training on safeguarding adults from abuse, and put their knowledge into practice. Where staff had raised alerts the service managed the concerns promptly and where required, carrying out thorough investigations to protect people.

We saw that staffing levels were suitable to meet the assessed needs of people in the service. Staff recruitment was thorough with all checks completed before new staff had access to vulnerable people.

People unanimously told us that staff consulted them about how they wanted their care to be provided. People's needs, preferences and goals were recorded in their care plans for staff to consult.

The provider had developed strong links with the local community. They worked alongside other

organisations to ensure they followed current good practice in the delivery of people's care.

The provider valued their staff and saw them as an asset to deliver high quality care to people. They appreciated that people wanted consistency in their care and that the way to achieve this was through staff retention. To achieve this they had identified a range of ways to retain their staff, which enabled them to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver high quality care to people.

Staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements. This helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found