Home Instead

Updated 4 July 2023

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

An inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

Home Instead is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period of notice of the inspection because we needed to ensure the registered manager was available and to contact people to gather their feedback.

Inspection activity started on 17 May and ended on 1 June 2023. The inspector visited the office location on 25 and 31 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We also sought feedback from partner agencies and healthcare professionals. These included the local authority’s contracts and commissioning services. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We contacted all the people who used the service and received feedback from 4 people using the service and 11 relatives. We spoke with the provider, registered manager, a range of office staff and we also received feedback from 15 of the care staff.

We looked at people's care records, 2 staff files staff files, staff rotas and a variety of management and quality assurance records for the service.

Updated 4 July 2023

About the service

Home Instead is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes and offers services to people in and around Darlington and North Allerton. At the time of our inspection there were 59 people using the service.

Not everyone using Home Instead receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care’. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they were extremely satisfied with the service. People and relatives said staff excelled at their jobs and always went above and beyond in delivering the care. They described the little extras staff just did as a part of their job. The provider had developed a culture within the staff team, which people found was like receiving care akin to that delivered by very close and attentive family members.

Staff were passionate about providing good care outcomes and took ownership for their practice. People found the service provided a high standard of care and told us the quality of staff working with them was exemplary.

Staff found the management team's expectation to treat everyone compassionately. They expected staff to give people all the time they needed, treat each person as an individual and look after the individual as if they were a relative. People told us this was an excellent approach to adopt. Staff found this enabled them to really work to their best and they really loved working for the company.

There were enough staff on duty to cover the care packages. Staff told us the rotas were very well organised and gave them enough time to get to people on time and properly support people. Staff said when people needed extra support the care packages were readily extended. An active and effective recruitment programme was in place.

Medicine management was effective and closely monitored. Staff who administered medicines had the appropriate training. The registered manager ensured staff had access to ample supplies of PPE and they completed regular spot checks to make sure staff complied with the guidance and best practice.

The registered manager undertook all the assessments and these were used as the basis for the care records. They ensured the assessments fully captured people's need. When necessary, external professionals were involved in individual people’s care.

Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated code of practice and felt confident applying this in their practice. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The management team had created a robust governance system, which rapidly identified the smallest of issue, which was then quickly addressed. People found the service had made sure all aspects of the service were delivered to an extremely high standard and enhanced people's lives. Staff took steps to safeguard people and promote their human rights. People told us they never had need to complain as the staff team were so responsive to their changing needs.

The team had won several awards for their performance including carers awards and for over 10 years had been in the top 20 recommended care providers in the North East in an online review site. It was evident from feedback we received the service had lived up to its aim of delivering person-focused compassionate care, which enabled people to enjoy a good quality of life.

People told us the provider clearly understood the difficulties life might present and how these could adversely affect work life so had introduced compassionate and innovative ways to support staff through challenges they might face. They regularly rewarded staff for their dedication.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report published 23 April 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.