The examples below provide insight into how other Good or Outstanding rated services are succeeding in this area of inspection.
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Collaborative, Responsive, Community-Driven, Supportive
The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.
The provider had a strong working relationship with a local care agency. The provider ensured the agency staff worked with the same teams and received training specific to their needs, so as to ensure people had consistent support. This also enabled the provider to take on emergency care packages for people with multiple support needs.
The provider worked closely with local housing associations and spoke up for people when their needs changed. As a result, we saw housing associations made changes to people’s homes to prevent them from having to move and they could stay safe and comfortable in the future.
The service held fundraising events for a local charity that supported disabled people and their families. The charity told us,” ,,,,,, this has enabled us to provide support to hundreds of disabled children and their families across the island. Milford Del’s director is going to complete a 9,000 mile bike ride to raise additional funds…”
The service helped another local provider without charging them when there was an emergency evacuation of vulnerable people. The management team arrived at the scene within five minutes. They quickly found emergency accommodation for five people, helped them collect their personal belongings, and made sure they were safe. The people were happy with the support they received.
We saw numerous examples of where staff and leaders engaged with people to share learning that resulted in continuous improvements to the service. For example, regular audits and monthly engagement meetings.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Milford Del Support Agency
Date published: July 2025
Collaborative, Person-Led, Innovative, Community-Focused
The provider clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.
The management team worked effectively with people, their representatives and staff to build a culture that focused on enabling people to be the best they could be; staff supported and encouraged people to achieve. Families we spoke with spoke very positively about their partnership with the service. We heard examples from relatives how the service worked in partnership with them to ensure people’s needs were safely met in the service. People and their relatives told us they would recommend the service to others.
The service worked collaboratively with an extensive range of health professionals and specialists to improve people’s health and wellbeing. We saw numerous examples of innovative collaborations between the service and other agencies, outlined earlier within this report. A health professional involved with the service said, “I have no concern regarding safety, and I found the new management to be approachable and keen on improving the provided service within the Rowans.”
The provider aspired to be a key player in improving care practices and outcomes for people, both at a local and a national level. They had been approached by commissioners to pilot a local authority initiative, the National Dementia Accreditation Award. The provider had mapped out the positive impacts for people living in the care home. The scheme would optimise the care home environment to meet the needs of people living with dementia in all stages; staff would become up to date with current best practice and the team’s knowledge and skills would improve.
Partnerships had been made within the community including links with a local school, visits by school children and a community volunteer. The activity co-ordinator told us how the service was integrating itself within the community; this benefited the well-being of people in the community as well as those who lived in the service. Strong partnerships were forming.
Effective processes were in place and embedded in the service to ensure partnership working with people, relatives, health professionals were maintained and to improve people's experiences, health, and wellbeing.
Read more about this service
Care provider: The Rowans Care 不良研究所
Date published: June 2025
Engaged, Person-Centred, Collaborative, Community-Connected
The management team clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and worked in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement.
The service had a positive approach to partnership working, ensuring they worked collaboratively with people, relatives and external partners. The service had engaged with others so people could thrive, have new experiences and live the life they choose. A visiting health professional told us, “They are an absolutely wonderful staff team, always friendly. They know people inside out and back to front. I would recommend the service to my family.”
An activity co-ordinator told us, “We ensure people remain connected to their local community. We have visits regularly from a local school and nursery, people love this. We decorated the service for Halloween and at Christmas, as a Santa's grotto. Halloween was really special, people put notices on their door to say if they wanted to be involved in trick or treating, and local children visited people. We also link in with the Curious Café, which is nearby, and run by people living with learning disabilities, our residents love it.” We saw photographs and videos of these events on the service social media page. This allowed relatives who may not live nearby to view the activities which were taking place.
The management and whole staff team actively welcomed us at our inspection, as they were keen to share the improvements which had been made at Hall Park. The management team spoke of their commitment to working effectively in partnership with external partners. A visiting health professional told us, “I have an excellent working relationship with the team here. All of the staff know about people and their needs, including the domestic and kitchen team. They are all really supportive.”
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Hall Park Care 不良研究所
Date published: March 2025
Inclusive, Community-Engaged, Preventative, Empowering
People and their relatives said, the provider sign posted them to other organisations that may be able to support people to maintain, and achieve further independence outside the service provided, and to prevent and minimise social isolation. This helped to improve people's quality of life and promote their social inclusion. To this end the service was involved with and inputs to a community based dementia inclusion project that is being rolled out. The impact of this was that people were re-introduced into their local community, their quality of life was improved immensely, and the possibility of social isolation greatly reduced. The service celebrated special days with people such as their birthdays, Christmas, and when doing welfare visits, sometimes taking them out for a coffee or something to eat. Any changes to people's health, medical conditions, or general welfare were appropriately shared with healthcare professionals, and recorded in their care plans.
Partners told us that the provider was very proactive in sign posting and supporting people and their relatives to other organisations that may be able to support them to maintain, and achieve further independence outside the service provided, and prevent and minimise social isolation. This helped to improve people's quality of life, and promote their social inclusion. A health care professional said, “There’s something different about this organisation with not only their commitment to people using the service, but also for others to be included in the community itself.”
Partners said the service was very committed to positively contributing to the Dementia Action Alliance in conjunction with the local authority, and community based businesses. It hosted a community event to promote people’s knowledge of dementia, and highlight the support, services, and products available locally, and nationally. The registered manager also gave presentations regarding caring for people with dementia, and how to keep your brain healthy.
The provider processes promoted, and maintained good working relationships with other external healthcare services to provide integrated care that met people’s support needs and enabled them to live as independently as possible, keep healthy and receive the ongoing healthcare support they required. Staff reported any health care concerns to the management team who alerted appropriate health care professionals. They also supported people to access community-based health care professionals, such as district nurses and to refer themselves to health care services, such as their GP, to maintain and promote continuing independence through joined up healthcare.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Walfinch Chiswick, Hammersmith & Kensington
Date published: January 2025
The benefits of community engagement
The service was an important part of its community. Staff had developed community links to reflect the changing needs and preferences of the people. There were a significant amount of collaborations between the home and the community.
For example, people and staff helped to collect and pack up contributions to the Ukraine Appeal. A local beekeeper donated some honey which the home used to make honey cakes. A local florist in Aylesbury donated hundreds of lilies and flowers to the home for their 'Westgate in Bloom' competition entry which was led by a keen florist in the home.
A number of local businesses donated items ranging from beauty products to roses, wine and vouchers when the home worked with them to promote small local independent businesses following the Covid pandemic.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Byron House Care 不良研究所
Date published: January 2023
How volunteers are invaluable links into the local community
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Paul Tolley talks about how investing in volunteers can support the service to link in effectively with the local community.
You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: New Directions Rugby
Date published: November 2022
How do the people you support help you to link in with local hospitals and other parts of the community
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Paul Tolley talks about how he is mapping connections between the people his service supports and wider health organisations, as well as other parts of the community.
You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: New Directions Rugby
Date published: November 2022
Collaborating with and learning from other registered managers
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Becky Coles talks about how as a new manager it has been beneficial to connect with other local managers, collaborating with them and learning from them.
You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Away Day Care
Date published: February 2022
Driving social values through the local community
Being committed to UN Sustainable Development Goals on an organisational level, Manor Community will continue to drive its vision and direction through community work that drives social value, promoting equality through diversity training and supporting team members through perks such as counselling, medical insurance, and guidance on healthy lifestyles.
By encouraging a culture of continual learning and training, and looking at lessons learnt on a monthly basis, Manor Community has continued to thrive throughout the pandemic. They brought forward key learnings that they’ll continue to embed as part of their leadership and management approach in the future, consistently adapting to change and ensuring learning and reflection flow through all levels of their structure.
Read more about the service .
Care provider: Manor Community
Date published: October 2021
How values are important when working with partners
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Joseph Hughes explains how the organisation’s values are important when working collaboratively with others.
You can listen to the full podcast here and access our latest episodes of The Care Exchange here.
You can read the related CQC inspection report .
Care provider: City Care Partnership Ltd
Date published: May 2021
Connecting with other managers
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Marlene Kelly explains how important connecting with other care managers is essential to support one another.
You can listen to the full podcast here and access our latest episodes of The Care Exchange here.
Read more about Marlene's service .
Care provider: Auburn Mere
Date published: February 2021
Looking outwards
In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Sue Anne Nnamani explains how they keep informed on what is going on in the wider community.
You can listen to the full podcast here and access our latest episodes of The Care Exchange here.
Read more about the service .
Care provider: Priscilla Wakefield House
Date published: December 2020
The importance of having a support network and connecting with other managers
Being a care manager, you have so many different jobs rolled into one and if you don’t have good support from your own directors, managers or deputies then it can be a very lonely place.
Having that support network of people who are going through the same issues as yourself – including staff absence, managing COVID-19 and an outbreak, infection control etc – is so important as we’ve all got the same stresses and challenges. Being able to reach out to someone who can give you that golden nugget of key information can alleviate your anxiety.
The 不良研究所 Facebook group for social care managers has helped me massively. I had a lot of local support network connections, but it’s helped me to connect with other managers and now we follow up with one another, checking in regularly and helping to relieve the pressure.
You can read the rest of this blog .
Care provider: Eastern County Care Ltd
Date published: December 2020
Engaging people to strengthen community initiatives
People's ability to engage and contribute was celebrated and supported by staff. People attended citywide meetings for stakeholders that included social workers, commissioners and community groups.
The people were able to speak for themselves and demonstrate how they were fully equal. This engagement and involvement changed the way that other stakeholders looked at representation in the local community.
People's involvement helped address imagery previously used that perpetuated stigma around people with disabilities. Since the panel discussion people's real-life images were used which emphasised a can-do attitude rather than perpetuating an image focused on the person's disability.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Shared Lives Scheme - Coventry City Council
Date published: April 2020
Teaching care homes initiative
The service was an excellent role model for others. The Royal Star and Garter – Solihull is an accredited 'teaching home care home.' are recognised by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for their exceptionally person-centred care.
The accreditation demonstrated commitment to the development of best practice and good leadership across the care sector. Support had already been provided to several care homes across England and plans were in place to develop this further.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: The Royal Star & Garter 不良研究所s - Solihull
Date published: March 2020
Building community links to improve dementia care
We were most recently inspected last year, and the engagement we saw from our local inspector was about more than just compliance – it was looking at the impact we had on the local community and our clients’ quality of life.
不良研究所 Instead works with lots of local people and organisations that help us to improve our service and develop our community, so that we can all better support people who are living with dementia.
For example, we work with Dementia UK that provides specialist dementia support for people and their families. If our staff are concerned about someone they’re supporting, we contact the charity for advice. They’re also great at working alongside our clients and their families to give them one-to-one support, and, when they find things challenging, practical solutions.
Care provider: 不良研究所 Instead Senior Care Westminster
Date published: May 2019
Creating a community hub
The registered manager set up a social enterprise scheme, involving people who used the service to support the local community. The services provided included running a café, preparing for employment workshops, recycling, a gardening service and an ironing service.
People from the local community, and people supported by the service, had found paid employment as a result of this. In addition, the registered manager set up a programme at a local school to provide work experience for people using the service, exploring employment in the caring arena.
The registered manager told us that during local floods, the services training centre had become a community hub, providing an emergency response and help to people who temporarily had no home. This has had a positive impact on the local community.
Read more about this service .
Care provider: Community Support Service (D.D.H. Services Ltd)
Date published: March 2019
Providing specialist training to staff and wider local authority
The registered provider had set up their own training company, which provided some training to two local authorities in addition to the service’s own staff.
Training included mandatory subjects, such as safer people handling, infection control and food hygiene. In addition, complementary and bespoke training was provided in subjects such as person-centred support (PCS), positive behavioural support (PBS), personal development and supervision (PDS), sleep apnoea, dementia awareness, Prada Willi syndrome, brain injury, fire marshal, epilepsy and mental health. This showed staff training was developed and delivered around individual needs.
The specialist training was delivered following consultation with relevant health professions, such as community nurses, consultants and specialist dieticians.
Read more about the service .
Care provider: Community Support Service (D.D.H. Services Ltd)
Date published: March 2019
Promoting dignity to students
The provider looked at innovative ways to engage with the local community. For example, they were about to work with the local university to teach and promote dignity and respect for the aging population to prospective care and nursing students. This was going to include people that lived there talking with students about life experiences and the importance of dignity and respect.
Care provider: Anonymous
Date published: August 2018
Inviting schools into the service
The service arranged a wellbeing walk for local primary school children. The route included a visit to the service’s social lounge where the children could meet and learn more about those who use the service.
Care provider: PossAbilities CIC
Date published: April 2018
Networking and sharing best practice
We attend provider forums to link in with other professionals to discuss sector issues and to share best practice and participation in new initiatives. We attend 不良研究所' registered manager network meetings to keep-up-to date with relevant issues and any sector changes and build relationships with other registered managers. In addition, we attend 不良研究所 workshops on issues such as the implementation of the Care Certificate and CQC regulations.
We’re involved in events that share specific autism-related best practice, attend BILD conferences and work in collaboration with Redstone PBS, an external organisation whose aim is to provide high quality behaviour solutions, supervision and training in positive behavioural support (PBS) for individuals and organisations.
Care provider: City Care Partnership Ltd
Date published: April 2018
Developing a 鈥榮afety in town鈥� campaign
The service has taken a local lead in the development of a ‘safety in town’ campaign. This works with local shopkeepers to provide safe places and assistance for people who may feel vulnerable.
Care provider: Castle Supported Living Ltd
Date published: April 2018
A county-wide approach
Gloucestershire County Council has implemented a county-wide approach to positive behavioural support (PBS). They set up a ‘challenging behaviour working group’ to develop a challenging behaviour strategy which outlines their strategic approach to supporting individuals with learning disabilities and/or autistic people who display behaviours which challenge. PBS is strongly featured in the strategy.
Read the full case study here.
Read more about the service .
Care provider: Gloucestershire County Council
Date published: December 2017
Developing collaboration between services
A group of providers in Cumbria enlisted the social enterprise Dignity in Dementia to help develop a toolkit that could assist inter-professional team working and help strengthen skills and competencies, to improve the delivery of integrated care across services.
A film and workbook were produced to demonstrate situations where communication across teams was either very good or could be improved. Different professionals were then brought together to discuss the scenarios, including GP’s, district nurses, social workers, care home assistants and registered managers.
People who took part in the trial said they had a better understanding of the need to:
- build successful relationships with health and social care partners
- develop understanding and empathy for others
- understand the impact of their behaviours and communication
- work together to achieve true person-centered care
- raise concerns about safety.
Click here to read the full case study.
Care provider: South Lakes Social Care Registered Managers Learning Network
Date published: December 2015