Quality of care, good governance and the delivery of successful outcomes are central to our purpose and embedded in the ethos of the organisation. Our care & safety standards exceed statutory requirements and are underpinned by rigorous internal and independent audit processes.
We apply a structured framework for quality control that starts with individual services. Experienced Managers oversee qualified care teams following consistent quality procedures. The performance of each service is regularly monitored by Regional Directors and our Quality Team, reporting directly to senior management. Our annual Quality Assurance Review gathers insight from across our stakeholders, including colleagues, relatives, care professionals and the people we support, while independent CQC inspections provide a clear assessment of progress and improvement.
Read our latest Quality Assurance Report.
Independent assessment
All our services are registered with and inspected by the Care Quality Commission. Select a service to view individual reports.
Internal inspections
As well as external assessment, we conduct our own, rigorous internal inspections. Each month, our Assistant Regional Directors visit and monitor all the services in their remit, supplemented by a schedule of unannounced, out of hours visits that includes members of the senior management team.
Our dedicated Quality Team are responsible for the regular monitoring of:
- CQC and internal standards compliance
- Expert Quality Auditor Reports
- Annual Quality Assurance Review results
- Health and safety requirements
- Accident reports
- Employee liability insurance claims
Expert Quality Auditors
No one knows us better than the people we support. Those using our services are often best placed to identify what we are doing well or could do better. As part of our Expert Quality Auditors scheme, people we support are employed to audit and produce a report that is circulated to the leadership team. Their insights provide a new perspective and participants have the opportunity to take an active role in directing their community.
"Having us as Expert Quality Auditors really encourages services users to be more involved in the running of the homes. This is just the start of service users becoming more involved in running the organisation."
Sustaining quality
To maintain the quality of our services, we are also committed to:
- Comprehensive staff training, monitored to agreed targets.
- Management development to enable career progression and provide experienced senior staff for new services.
- A strong focus on recruitment, to minimise vacancies.
- Positive Behaviour Support practitioners based in our services, supervised by qualified clinical leads in each region.
- Clear processes for whistleblowing; every colleague carries a card with the CEO's and COO's contact details.
- Openness and transparency in our pricing models to ensure stakeholders are clear about the levels of support and service they purchase.
- DBS checks and references for all colleagues before they start work.
- Robust systems to ensure new staff cannot put anyone at risk.
- Activity programmes that ensure everyone we support is fully engaged and occupied, overseen by each service's Day Activities Coordinator.
As well as our own quality programme, we also follow the government's Quality Matters initiative.
Quality Assurance Review
Each year, to canvas the views of key stakeholders, we conduct an annual survey of the people we support, their relatives, our colleagues and care professionals. In our 2019 report, close over 1600 anonymous questionnaires were completed. Key results included:
Care Professionals
90 believe Choice is effective in achieving positive outcomes
96 say people are treated with dignity & respect
84 say staff are committed, professional & passionate
Relatives
93 say staff are welcoming, kind and respectful
87 say their relative has a positive relationship with staff
84 say their relative is treated with dignity & respect
People we Support
87 say staff are kind and respectful
87 trust the staff that support them
89 say they are satisfied with their support
Colleagues
93 are confident in their ability to support
88 have a good relationship with colleagues
87 are committed to career in social care
As part of recent years' survey responses we have received many complimentary comments about the organisation, the staff and the care and support provided.
"I get amazing support from my manager and have built fantastic relationships with everyone. Choice has exceptional training to assist you."
"Staff help me and support me if I feel down. I feel happy to talk to them if I have a problem because they listen and sort it out."
"They are wonderful staff - very committed to caring for my daughter."
"Staff are very well trained, but I believe their caring nature is more important than anything."
"Very person-centred and prepared to try different approaches to meet the person's need."
"She is the happiest we have ever seen her"
"I have witnessed amazing support for the residents and great communication between staff and residents. This contributes to a great, loving, friendly atmosphere."
Areas of improvement have also been identified for each individual service with the aim of continually strengthening our standards.
Your feedback
Your feedback is critical to helping us enhance and improve our services. We are grateful for any comments, positive or otherwise, you share.
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