Headway Suffolk

Headway Suffolk is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to adults living in their own homes. Affiliated with the agency is a community hub located at the premises, which provides a range of services to people and their families affected by a brain injury and living with neurological conditions. This includes support groups, tailored activities, access to resources, assistance with life skills and with recovery and rehabilitation. There were 16 people being supported with the regulated activity of personal care at the time of the inspection.

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 and their relatives were extremely complimentary about their experience of Headway Suffolk and would recommend the service. Passionate and committed staff led by a dynamic leadership team worked in partnership with people, relatives and other professionals to achieve person-centred care and high quality outcomes for people.

Staff frequently went the extra mile to ensure people received tailored care and support in line with their wishes, promoting their independence and wellbeing. The impact of this was meaningful and underpinned people being fully respected, valued and at the heart of their care.

Staff protected people from being discriminated against, appreciating and championing diversity and ensuring people's privacy and dignity.

Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people. 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.

Risks to people had been assessed and were managed safely. People were supported by a staff team who were safely recruited, trained and knew how to protect them from potential harm.

Staff felt supported and valued in their role by the management team, morale was high and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People received their care visits at the times they expected, for the length of time agreed, and from staff they knew and had formed positive relationships with.

People received their medication as prescribed and staff adhered to infection prevention and control procedures in line with legislative requirements and recognised best practice guidelines.

People's care records were re-assessed regularly and guided staff on how to assist people safely and encourage and promote their independence.

People and relatives felt able to raise any issues with the staff and management team and were confident these would be addressed.

Effective systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were in place.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service at the previous premises was Good, published on 13 September 2018.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Headway Suffolk on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 21 April 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.