About the service i care 2018 limited is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to seven people living in their own homes in Newbury and the surrounding areas. It provides a service to older adults, people living with dementia, sensory impairments, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and younger people. Not everyone who uses the service receives personal care. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal support 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 experienced exceptionally person-centred care, which achieved outstanding outcomes, significantly enriching and improving the quality of their lives. People truly valued their relationships with their allocated staff and felt that they consistently exceeded their expectations, when providing their care and support. People were empowered to lead on the development of their care plans, ensuring they reflected all aspects of their life. Professionals praised staff for advocating robustly to ensure people’s best interests were upheld and protected. Relatives and professionals identified that maintaining important relationships and supporting people not to feel socially isolated was a strength of the service. People and relatives told us staff had an excellent understanding of people’s protected equality characteristics and how to support them. The service provided outstanding end of life care, which ensured people experienced a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death. Staff also cared for and supported the people that matter to the person who was dying with empathy and understanding.
People experienced very good continuity and consistency of care from allocated staff who made them feel safe. Staff had completed safeguarding training and knew how to recognise and report abuse. Staff identified and assessed risks to people, which they managed safely, in accordance with people’s support plans. The registered person ensured enough suitable staff were deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff completed a thorough recruitment process, which explored their suitability to support people in their own homes. People received their medicines safely from staff, assessed to be competent to do so, in accordance with recognised guidance. People and staff consistently praised the registered person for keeping them fully informed regarding government guidance relating to infection control during the pandemic. Lessons from accidents and incidents were used to drive continuous improvements in the service.
The registered person effectively operated a system of spot checks, supervision, appraisal and staff meetings, which supported staff to deliver care based on best practice. Staff emphasised the importance of eating and drinking well and reflected best practice in how they supported people to maintain a healthy balanced diet. Staff worked effectively in partnership with healthcare professionals to make sure care and treatment met people’s changing needs.
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.
People experienced caring relationships where staff treated them with kindness and compassion in their day-to-day care. People were supported to make decisions about their care and staff respected these choices. People were encouraged and supported by staff to maintain and develop their independence, and to take ownership and direct their own health care and support whenever possible.
The service was well organised and well managed. People, staff and professionals described the registered person as an inspiration and excellent role model. The registered person understood their responsibilities to inform people when things went wrong and the importance of conducting thorough investigations to identify lessons learnt to prevent reoccurrences. There were robust measures to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Quality assurance was embedded within the culture and running of the service, to drive continuous improvement. The registered person had developed effective partnerships to ensure people experienced the best possible outcomes.
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 us on 27 November 2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on when the service was first registered with us.
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.