Home Instead

Updated 14 March 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 team consisted of one inspector and one Expert by Experience (ExE). An ExE is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure managers would be available to facilitate the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 30 January 2019 and ended on 1 February 2019. We visited the office location on 30 January 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff. On the 31 January 2019 and 1 February 2019, we made telephone calls to people and their relatives to gain feedback on their experience of the service.

What we did:

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During our inspection, we spoke with five people who used the service and eight relatives. When we visited the office on the 30 January 2019, we spoke with two members of staff, the registered manager and the registered provider. We received feedback to questionnaires from 17 care staff. We also received written feedback from two health and social care professionals.

We looked at four people’s care records, policies and procedures, training records, four staff recruitment and supervision records, complaints and compliments and quality assurance information.

Updated 14 March 2019

About the service: Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency (DCA) registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, 84 people were using the service. Of those 84 people, 39 received personal care and the remainder received help in the home or companionship services. We only looked at the service for people receiving personal care as this is the activity that is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

People’s experience of using this service:

• People received an outstanding service. People, relatives and health and social care professionals were extremely positive about the service people received.

• There was an exceptional open and inclusive culture. The service was extremely well led by a strong and supportive management team. All staff fully embraced the registered provider’s visions and values to deliver a high quality person centred service, helping people to continue living in their own home, maintain their independence and lead happy and fulfilled lives.

• Staff were highly motivated, felt valued and enjoyed working at the service. The culture of the service was fully embraced by all staff. The management team actively encouraged staff to be involved in the continuous improvement of the service.

• People told us they were extremely happy with the care they received from staff. Staff were exceptionally kind and caring, often going the ‘extra mile’ to meet people’s individual care and support needs.

• Positive relationships had been formed between staff and people using the service. Staff knew people well and were kind and sensitive to their needs, ensuring people's privacy and dignity was respected at all times.

• People received a person centred service. A holistic approach was taken to assessing, planning and delivering care and support. Staff had access to up to date information and care and support was provided in line with people’s preferences and needs.

• People and their relatives felt safe using the service. There were sufficient numbers of staff who had been safely recruited to meet people’s needs. People were supported by a consistent care team who had been matched to people who shared the same interests. There had been no missed call visits and people did not receive visits from care staff who had not previously been introduced to them.

• Risks to people had been assessed and staff knew what to do to keep people safe from avoidable harm. Where required, people were supported to take their medicines in a safe way by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent.

• On-going training, supervision and observations of staff competence was undertaken to support staff and check they had the skills and knowledge to be competent in their job role and support people safely and effectively.

• 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 supported this practice.

• People's health was well managed. Staff had built positive links with professionals which promoted people’s wellbeing.

• Systems were in place to respond to complaints and concerns which were managed appropriately and in a timely manner.

• Effective quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and understand the experiences of people using it.

• The service had forged strong links with the community. The senior management team were committed to promoting a culture of continuous improvement, both within the service and to others in the local community.

Rating at last inspection:

GOOD (the date last report published was 23 June 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service has improved to Outstanding.

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Outstanding.