About the service Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes in Northumberland. At the time of this inspection, 23 people were using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive 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 felt safe and received support from an extremely kind and caring management and staff team. There was a positive culture which focussed on caring. We received many outstanding examples of the professionalism, kindness and dedication of staff, including how staff had ‘gone the extra mile’. Comments included, "They have exceeded my expectations" and "They are marvellous, I couldn’t ask for more from this agency."
The provider was extremely committed to providing the best possible service to people they supported.
Risks to people and staff had been identified and assessed. Care plans contained information to help staff support people’s identified care needs. The provider was in the process of reviewing these records.
People said staff followed good infection control procedures and staff had received training.
Staffing levels were appropriate and there was an effective staff recruitment process in place. When gaps in rotas had occurred, due to sickness, the provider's contingency plan ensured all care calls continued to be made.
People were supported by trained and experienced staff. Staff told us they were supported.
People knew how to complain if they had any concerns and the provider took any issues seriously in order to improve the service. Feedback was requested from people and their relatives to ensure expectations around care were met.
The provider had a quality assurance system and was in the process of reviewing this after feedback from the inspection had been given to them.
Medicines were generally managed safely. After feedback, the provider updated some medicines records to make the administration of medicines clearer for staff. We have made a recommendation about this.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
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 16 June 2020 and 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.