Background to this inspection
Updated
4 April 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
This inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
Service and service type:
N C Homecare Limited trading as Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people 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 visit because we needed to be sure be sure that someone would be in the office to support our inspection.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the statutory notifications sent to us by the registered provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. The registered provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what it does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.
During inspection site visit we spoke with the registered manager and the two directors of the service who were also the registered provider and six staff members. We looked at the care records belonging to six people, the recruitment and training records of five staff and other records relating to the management and quality monitoring of the service. We held telephone conversations with six people who used the service and two family members on separate days from out visit to the service.
Updated
4 April 2019
About the service:
NC Homecare Limited t/a Home Instead Senior Care is a Domiciliary Care Agency located in Frodsham, Cheshire. The service provides care and support to people living in their own home and out in the community. At the time of this inspection 40 people were receiving support from the service.
People’s experience of using this service:
People received exceptionally personalised care and support specific to their needs and lifestyle choices. People’s needs were assessed and planned for with their involvement. Each person had a care plan that contained extremely detailed information about how their needs were to be met.
The leadership of the service demonstrated a high level of experience and capability to deliver excellent care. The registered manager promoted a culture that was extremely person-centred and inclusive which provided high-quality care and put people at the heart of the service. The registered manager was extremely knowledgeable and inspired confidence and passion within the staff team. They had a commitment in ensuring equality and inclusion across the workforce and this was reflected in the high levels of satisfaction of staff. There was a strong framework of accountability to monitor performance and risk leading to continual improvement within the service. The management team and staff worked with local communities in providing and working in conjunction with local initiatives to keep older people safe and well.
People were treated with dignity and respect and felt the service was caring towards them and was at the heart of the service’s culture and values. Information was available in different formats to meet people’s individual needs. People and their family members provided extremely positive feedback about the support they received and how they were treated. Staff worked hard to ensure that people benefited from continuing to and exploring new experiences. People were matched with staff who shared common interests to pursue activities. Staff supported people to maintain their independence within their own home and maintain a community presence. People were regularly asked for their opinions on the service and had information as to how to make a complaint if they were not happy.
People were protected from abuse and the risk of harm. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew who to contact if they had any concerns about a person’s safety. People’s medicines were managed by staff who had received appropriate training. Safe recruitment procedures were followed so that suitable staff were employed. People received their care and support mostly from the same members of staff. Staff received the training and support they needed for their role. Staff clearly understood and respected people’s rights to make their own decisions.
Rating at the last inspection: Good (report published 16 June 2016). The rating of outstanding in the Responsive and Well-led section of this report reflects the improvements made within the service since the previous inspection.
Why we inspected: this was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection. This service had improved on the quality of care provided and has been rated as outstanding overall with outstanding in the Well-led and Responsive sections.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.