- Homecare service
Home Instead Leigh
Report from 25 March 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 7 April to 22 May 2025. Home Instead Leigh is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to younger adults and people over the age of 65 within Leigh and the surrounding areas. On the Dot Care Ltd is a franchise of the national provider Home Instead Senior Care UK Limited, trading as Home Instead Leigh. 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. At the time of our assessment 18 people were receiving personal care.
The assessment was carried out, as the service was currently unrated. The provider moved offices in July 2023. As a result of the re-registration process, previous regulatory history was not retained.
The provider involved people in assessments, to ensure the service could meet their needs and wishes. Enough staff were deployed to carry out care visits timely and complete all required tasks. Staff were punctual and remained for the duration of each call. Staff received sufficient training, supervision and support to ensure they could carry out their roles safely and effectively.
Risk assessments of the environment and people’s specific needs were completed. Overall, these were of good quality, although one person’s risk assessment required more personalisation and control measures reviewing to ensure they were suitable. Medicines were managed safely, by trained staff who had their competency assessed.
Care was based on latest evidence and good practice. Where support was required with nutrition and hydration, people received enough to eat and drink to stay healthy. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care to ensure positive outcomes and a smooth transition when moving between services. Staff monitored people’s health and worked with other services, such as medical professions to support healthy living. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff made decisions in people’s best interests where they did not have mental capacity, ensuring others involved in people’s care were included in this decision making.
People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity and ensured people were central to their own care and treatment. People were offered choice and encouraged to maintain their independence.
People and their relatives were involved in decisions about the care. Staff provided information to people in ways they could understand. People knew how to give feedback or raise concerns and were confident the provider would listen and act on what they had been told. Care plans were detailed and provided clear guidance for staff to follow, to ensure care was provided how people wanted it.
Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, with people, relatives and staff speaking positively about the support provided and how well the service was run. Governance systems were in place, though we were not assured timeframes for completion had been adhered to. We also found action planning and the lessons learned process required some development. Managers worked with the local community to deliver the best possible care and provide opportunities for people and the wider community to receive support and information through the pooling of resources across the health and social care landscape.
People's experience of this service
People received safe care from staff who were well trained and had a clear understanding of what risks people may experience and how to effectively meet these.
People and relatives spoke positively about the service and the care provided. Staff were described as kind, considerate, professional and caring. Through continuity of care, people and staff had developed trusting and supportive relationships. A number of relatives told us their family member looked forward to staff attending, as they enjoyed the interaction and conversation which took place.
People and relatives were actively involved in their care and helped shape the care plans which explained how they wanted to be supported. People’s communication needs were met with information available in a range of formats. People’s care plans were person centred and contained information about their life history, interests and other notable information, to help staff understand people as individuals.
People spoke highly of the leadership and management of the service. People had regular contact with management and all stated they would recommend the service to others, with some already having done so. The provider sought the views of people and relatives through regular phone calls, monitoring visits and annual surveys.