Home Instead, Greenwich & Bexley Also known as Greenwich Care Ltd

Updated 18 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 completed by an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults. Not everyone using Home Instead Senior Care, Greenwich & Bexley receives a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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:

The Inspection site visit activity started on 8 March 2019. We visited the office location on 8 and 15 March 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse and accident and incidents. We sought feedback from the local authorities who commission services from the provider and professionals who work with the service. The provider completed a provider information return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with three people that used the service and 12 relatives to ask their views about the service. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, the nominated individual and a company director. We also spoke to two healthcare professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care plans, risk assessments and medicine records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 18 May 2019

About the service: Home Instead Senior Care Greenwich and Bexley is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and companionship and domestic help to people in their own homes. The service was providing personal care to 23 people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

• At this inspection we found that the service was outstanding in empowering people to have as much control over their lives as possible and to achieve their maximum potential.

• People's care was consistently personalised to their needs. We found multiple examples to demonstrate the staff and management team were passionate about providing an innovative, responsive and excellent service to people.

• Relatives felt the care was highly personalised and that the staff team worked well to deliver an excellent level of care. The feedback we received from people was extremely positive throughout. People expressed great satisfaction and spoke highly of all staff and services provided.

• People were supported in making healthy lifestyle choices for themselves and to maintain good health. Staff supported people to access healthcare services and liaised with health and social care professionals promptly when required.

• The service had established excellent links in the local community and had worked in partnership with key organisations including local authorities and other agencies that provided social care services to improve people's opportunities and experiences.

• The service had an open approach to feedback and encouraged people and staff to be actively involved in service development. The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and lessons learnt from audits or accident and incidents were used to continuously develop the service.

• People benefitted from a service that was well led. The vision, values and culture of the service were clearly communicated to and understood by staff. There was a registered manager, director and nominated individual in post who understood their role and responsibilities and at the same time empowered and developed staff. Staff understood their individual roles, responsivities and the contributions they made to the service.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Report published 25 June 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of Good in Safe and Effective and were Outstanding in Caring, Responsive and Well Led.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.