Inspiratus Senior Care Limited

Updated 25 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience who carried out telephone calls to five people and six relatives to gain their views on the service. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

Inspiratus Senior Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency and is part of the franchise of Home Instead. Each Home Instead Senior Care franchise office is independently owned and operated. The service provides personal care to people living in their own homes in Oxfordshire, Swindon and the surrounding areas.

Not everyone using Inspiratus Senior Care Limited receives a regulated activity. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people receiving 'personal care'; help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we consider any wider social care provided.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service three working days’ notice of the inspection site visit as we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available and had time to contact a sample of people to gain their consent on giving their views on the service.

Inspection site visit activity started on 9 April 2019 and ended on 17 April 2019. We visited the office location on 9 April 2019 to meet with the registered manager and office staff; and to review records, including care records.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During the visit we looked at three people's care plans and the medicines and associated records for three people. We viewed a range of audits and checked recruitment records for three staff and saw evidence of the training staff completed and the support they received. During the inspection we spoke with two directors, the registered manager, a care manager, a deputy care manager and recruitment co-ordinator.

After our site visit we received feedback on the service, via email, from three relatives, ten care staff and five healthcare professionals.

Following on from the visit the registered manager and care manager also sent us additional evidence.

Updated 25 May 2019

About the service: Inspiratus Senior Care Limited is a domiciliary care service supporting mainly older people in their own homes. At the time of our announced inspection the service supported 37 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

We found overwhelming evidence that people using this service received exceptional care from staff who were exceedingly caring and passionate about providing a high quality service. Everyone we spoke with was extremely complimentary about the way the care was delivered. The feedback we had reflected the service provision had a positive impact not only on people but also on people’s relatives. This was due to people receiving excellent care from a very reliable service. This can be summarised by a relative commenting on the staff team, “I think care is the wrong word it is more than that, it is looking after someone with the same love and genuine desire to do their best that a relative would give.”

The culture of the service was one of building positive and consistent relationships with people and their relatives. This included offering people a regular service from staff who were very well trained and supported. People’s rights were respected and they were encouraged to give their views on the service to ensure improvements were made.

The positive feedback from staff in various roles confirmed they were fully involved, felt valued and there was a strong feeling of pride working for the service. To sum up all the good feedback we received from staff. One staff member told us, “I feel privileged to be part of this team.”

Respect for privacy and dignity was at the heart of the service's culture and values. Time was taken to get to know people and the type of support they wanted and needed. Each visit to people was at least one hour and this enabled people to feel cared for in an unhurried way. The caring approach was demonstrated at every level of the organisation. Staff referred to and treated people with dignity and respect. People were supported to remain independent and do as much as they could for themselves.

The staff team responded exceptionally well to people's needs and preferences. Staff supported people to access community places to minimise people feeling isolated. They built trusting and caring relationships with people as staff worked with the same people and could spend time developing meaningful relationships.

The service was exceedingly well run. The provider demonstrated strong values and successfully created a service that put people first and supported staff. There was a person-centred culture amongst the staff team. All staff we met and received feedback from were clear about their roles and knew offering a good service for people was of the upmost importance. The registered manager and care manager worked well together to ensure they knew people’s needs and could offer an excellent service to people. They kept up to date with current good practice and shared this with staff and people using the service.

The provider reflected how the service could be improved and took appropriate action when needed. New electronic systems were in place and these helped staff ensure people received a high quality service. There were excellent systems to assess the quality of the service provided. Regular effective checks on staff and their ability to do their jobs in a safe and caring way meant people could be reassured they were receiving excellent care.

People's support plans and risk assessments were individual and described their needs and preferences. These records were person centred and described ways staff could support people effectively and safely.

People were supported to access health professionals and maintain good diet and nutrition. The provider worked exceedingly well with other health and social care professionals to help people receive coordinated support.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

The service met the characteristics of Good in Safe and Effective and Outstanding in Caring, Responsive and Well Led.

Rating at last inspection: At the last focused inspection the service was rated good (report published 27 October 2017).

Why we inspected: This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating and when the last comprehensive inspection was carried out in August 2016.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk