Home Instead Senior Care

Updated 27 November 2021

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

This inspection was completed by two inspectors and an 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 homes.

The service had a new manager who was in the process of registering with CQC at the time of this inspection. Once registered, this means that both the manager and the provider will be 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. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 20 September 2021 and ended on 28 September 2021. We visited the office location on 23 September 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the service registered with CQC. We sought feedback from several local authorities, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

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. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the manager, office staff and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two 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 sought further records from the provider. They were provided in a timely manner and were used to inform our judgements.

Updated 27 November 2021

About the service

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care service based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. It provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs who live in their own homes. There were 52 people using the service at the time of this inspection. Not everyone who uses the service receives the regulated activity of personal care. 22 people were receiving support with their personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people do receive personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided to them.

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

People received highly personalised care from staff who knew them very well. Staff had developed strong relationships with people, and this supported them to deliver high-quality, individualised care to people which met their needs. People were supported by staff who were highly motivated, enthusiastic and described by people as, “very, very kind.” People received compassionate, person-centred care at the end of their lives.

People were fully involved in planning their care and they received support in line with their own preferences. Staff were highly skilled at communicating with people which enabled people to remain actively involved in making decisions about their support and how it was delivered. People were actively encouraged to achieve goals that were important to them and to remain as independent as possible.

Staff were particularly sensitive to times when people needed compassionate support. Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and they treated people with dignity and respect.

People received support from staff who were skilled, well-supported and well-trained. Staff worked very closely with community health and social care professionals to ensure people received a seamless service. Professionals who worked alongside the service were very complimentary about the quality of care they delivered.

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 service had an open, transparent culture. People, their relatives and staff thought the service was well-managed and responsive to their needs. There were effective systems and processes in place to check staff always provided a high-quality service to people.

People were supported by a small number of regular staff which meant they received a good continuity of care. People felt safe and staff knew how to protect people from abuse. Risks to people were mitigated and people received effective support with their medicines. People were protected from the spread of infection.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with CQC on 4 June 2020. This was the service’s first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.