Home Instead Senior Care

Updated 28 January 2020

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector, one assistant inspector and one Expert by Experience. 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

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight relatives and five people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the provider and registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included nine people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 28 January 2020

About the service:

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 56 people at the time of the inspection.

The service was exceptional in placing people at the heart of the service and its values. It had a strong person centred, community and partnership ethos and we saw multiple examples of this creating positive outcomes for people. Staff and the service's management told us how important the services' shared values were to them, and how they were passionate about providing outstanding person-centred care to people when they needed it. Many people that were being supported told us they thought of their carers as being like family members and friends, and told us they were highly compassionate, caring and flexible in their approach.

People's needs, and wishes were met by staff who knew them well. We saw and were told of many examples of staff going 'above and beyond' to help and support people they cared for. The service carefully matched people to carers which in turn contributed to creating a 'personal touch' and a strong, visible person centred approach. People were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care from an exceptional service. The staff and management team recognised and worked with people to reduce social isolation, they were particularly sensitive to times when people needed caring and compassionate support.

The provider had developed innovative and creative ways of training and developing their staff. This meant that the registered manager and provider supported staff to put their learning into practice to deliver outstanding care that meet people’s individual needs. Home Instead Senior Care is an outward looking service which means it was continuously looking to work alongside and in partnership with healthcare professionals and other organisations to make sure staff received training which followed best practice and where possible, contribute to the development of best practice. Staff were supported to identify and complete a personalised Learning & Development Programme. The programme was designed to include face to face training, eLearning and workbooks to ensure the individual training needs of staff were included to ensure maximum learning. We saw an example of how Home Instead had developed Innovative ways of reinforcing staff learning.

The service was extremely well led and the management team's vision and values put people at the centre of the service. We saw these values had been integrated into the selection and training of staff and continued through day to day care ensuring people received a safe, caring and responsive service. There was a clear management structure in place that supported the registered manager in their role. Each staff members roles and responsibilities were clearly defined which helped to ensure that the service ran efficiently. Managers were encouraged to develop their leadership skills and those of others.

Staff were safely recruited. Staff were aware of how to report any concerns about neglect or

abuse and were confident they would be addressed. They felt they were listened to and were part of an organisation that cared for them and their wellbeing, as well as the people they were supporting.