Archived: Home Sweet Home Reablement Services

Home Sweet Home Reablement is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people within their own homes in the seaside town of Leigh on Sea. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support to 22 older people, only seven of those were receiving support with personal care. As the Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate domestic support, this inspection related only to people receiving the regulated activity of personal care. The aim of the service was to enable people to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible and to access the local community.

People’s experience of using this service:

The manager and staff told us how important the services' shared values were to them, and how they were passionate about providing outstanding person-centred care to people when they needed it to enable them to remain living in their own homes.

People being supported, and their relatives told us they thought the staff were highly compassionate, caring, flexible and never missed a call. The manager told us they always ensured there was enough time between care calls, so staff could spend quality time with people and were never rushed.

Staff at the service were highly skilled in recognising and acting upon risks to people. People felt safe and the staff who provided their support made them feel secure. Robust safeguarding policies and procedures were in place to ensure people were safe and staff remained skilled.

Staff encouraged people to have an active role in their care. They were supported to complete aspects of their care that were within their abilities. They empowered people to gain their independence and supported them to improve and enjoy their lives.

‘The Club’ was created by the manager so people could maintain their social skills and avoid social isolation after personal care services were no longer required due to successful rehabilitation. ‘The Club’ was available twice a week to people and transport provided to and from their homes to attend meaningful activities.

People’s care and support was thoroughly assessed, and the provision of basic equipment was available by the manager to ensure people’s rehabilitation within their own homes could start without delay. Several relatives told us how their loved ones were successfully rehabilitated and was able to remain living at home.

People's needs and wishes were met by staff who had outstanding skills. Many of the people using the service lived with dementia. The manager had learnt from personal experience how to support people, relative’s and staff impacted by dementia. We were told of many examples of staff going 'above and beyond' to help and support people they cared for. For example, one relative told us how impressed they were with the patience and understanding shown by staff and the manager despite several challenging situations caused by dementia.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were recruited wisely and had real empathy for the people they cared for. Relatives constantly told us staff went 'the extra mile'. People told us they felt engaged with the service and knew how to complain if they needed to. However, no complaints had been received since we last inspected the service.

People, relative’s and staff praised the manager and told us they were open, honest, approachable, kind and caring. Staff had bought into their leader’s vision and were supporting excellent provision of care. Audits completed by the manager ensured that all aspects of care were in line with best practice and safe. The provider sought feedback from people and relatives receiving a service using an annual quality assurance survey.

The service was an important part of its community and had developed links to reflect the needs of people. It worked with charities, health and social care professionals and engaged in collaborative research with an aim to develop improved outcomes and experiences for people.

Overall rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 11 October 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information that we receive about the service and will return to inspect as per our re-inspection programme or sooner if we have concerns about the service.

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

Home Sweet Home Reablement Service is registered to provide personal care to older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. The service provides care and support to people in their own homes in order for them to remain as independent as they are able to be.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received safe care and support. Staff had a good understanding of how to protect people from the risk of harm. There were sufficient staff that had been appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Where people were supported with their medication it was done so correctly and people received it as prescribed.

Staff were well trained and supported and had the knowledge and skills to carry out their role competently. They had access to guidance and information to support them when necessary. The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and had received training to ensure that where people lacked the capacity to make decisions they were protected. People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet and their healthcare needs had been met.

Staff were kind, caring and thoughtful and they knew the people they cared for well. They respected people and ensured that their privacy and dignity was always maintained. People expressed their views and opinions and were supported to follow their individual hobbies and interests. The service provided people with advocacy contact details for use if needed.

People’s care and support needs had been fully assessed and there were care plans and risk assessments in place to ensure that people were cared for in a way they preferred. The care plans provided staff with the information that they needed to meet individual’s needs and preferences and to care for them safely.

People were confident that their concerns or complaints would be listened to and acted upon. There was an effective system in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and to drive improvements.