Highlea Care, Shildon rated ‘requires improvement’ by CQC

Highlea Care in Shildon was overall rated ‘requires improvement’ by the CQC down from a previous rating of good.

The Care Quality Commission looking into the home care service said relatives felt ignored by managers and were unclear about who was in charge, after rating the service requires improvement for being well-led and responsive.

In its report published on January 15, the CQC said leadership and culture “did not always assure the delivery of high-quality care”.

A relative told inspectors: “The managers don’t listen, and I’ve even been to head office and they say we’ll look into it and you never hear anything.”

Another relative said: “I’ve no idea who the manager is, but the ones I’ve spoken to had said they were going to do this or that, but don’t.”

The CQC said staff and relatives “did not always feel they could speak up or that their voice would be heard”, despite records showing action was sometimes taken when issues were raised.

Inspectors said feedback on leadership was mixed across the service. While some people described positive experiences, others raised concerns about visibility and support from managers.

A healthcare partner told the watchdog: “Care staff have often fed back that the leadership support is poor in Highlea and often the team leaders aren’t there to provide supervision or debriefs following incidents.”

The report said leaders “did not always embody the culture and values of their workforce and organisation” and that the provider “did not always have a clear shared vision, strategy and culture which embraced all staff”.

Staff echoed the mixed picture. One member of staff said: “Never see them (leaders), just get left up here.”

Another staff member said: “(The) service is running well with a good leadership and good communication.”

The CQC said a recent staff survey carried out by the provider found “the majority of staff did not feel their suggestions counted and only half felt appreciated at work”.

Concerns were also raised about governance. Inspectors said the provider “did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance”.

Although audits were carried out, the report said these “had not always identified or effectively addressed the issues we found with staffing, assessment and support records and gathering feedback”.

The service scored 54 out of 100 for being well-led, down from a previous rating of good. It scored 61 out of 100 for being responsive, meaning the provider met people’s needs, this also was down from a previous rating of good.

Despite the leadership concerns, the CQC found people using the service were generally positive about their care.

Inspectors said people “appeared to be happy with the support they received” and relatives told them people “generally received the support they wanted and needed”.

One relative said: “I actually think it’s really nice.”

The service was rated good for being safe, effective and caring. The CQC said: “People were protected and kept safe,” and staff “treated them with kindness and compassion”.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Highlea Care said: “We are disappointed with some of the conclusions drawn by the CQC in this report, particularly given that we responded, following their factual accuracy process, with substantial evidence to address their concerns.”

They added: “We were also disappointed that this didn’t affect the final report, as they were only two per cent away from awarding us an ‘overall’ rating of Good.”

The spokesperson said the provider had “every confidence in our operation” and hoped inspectors would “return quickly to reinspect”.

They said: “Nevertheless, we celebrate being rated Good in the areas of Safe, Effective, and Caring, and we wish to reiterate our unwavering commitment to the people we support, their families, and other stakeholders in delivering the best outcomes for everyone at Highlea Care.”