Archived: Thornhill Care Services

Thornhill Care Services provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. This included people who had a learning disability and mental health needs. Some people using the service were living in supported living houses. At the time of our inspection 10 people were receiving the regulated activity – personal care.

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 were happy with the care and support they received. Relatives said they would recommend the agency.

People received care from staff and an organisation who were committed to providing high quality care and support to people. There were systems in place to monitor standards and constantly look at ways to improve.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

Based on our review of key questions safe and well led the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People were supported to have maximum choice, control and independence. People and/or their representatives were involved in decisions about their care and support.

Staff supported people in their own homes and promoted their independence and choice.

People were supported by small staff teams who knew them well. People were comfortable with the staff who provided their care.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff knew people well which enabled them to provide person-centred care in accordance with people’s wishes and preferences.

People received care which met their individual needs. Staff worked with other professionals to make sure people received the right care and treatment.

People were supported to access their local area safely.

Right Culture

People were supported by a registered manager and provider who worked hard to promote a culture where people were valued and respected as individuals.

The registered manager and provider were open and transparent and took action to make sure people were protected from avoidable harm.

People were cared for by staff who felt valued by the organisation and supported by the registered manager.

Communication between staff was good which meant people received care and support in accordance with their up to date wishes and needs.

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 this service was good (report published 16 June 2019)

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding.

This was a focussed inspection which only looked at the key questions safe and well led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has not changed based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Follow up

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

Thornhill Care Services is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 19 people at the time of the inspection. The agency provided care to adults including people who required care at the end of their lives.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe with the staff who supported them. They told us staff were always kind and respectful of them and their homes.

People received their care from small teams of staff who they had been able to build trusting relationships with. People described the staff as being like friends and family members.

Full assessments were carried out to make sure people received their care in accordance with their needs and preferences. Everyone was treated as an individual and their preferences and lifestyle choices were respected by staff.

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. People only received care with their consent and felt they remained in charge of their lives. Staff knew how to support people if they did not have the capacity to make decisions.

People’s independence was promoted by staff and some people told us the service had enabled them to remain independent in their own homes.

People could be confident that at the end of their lives they would receive care which was compassionate and respectful. The service worked with other professionals to make sure people’s needs and wishes were met.

People received their care from a service which was committed to listening to people’s views, monitoring quality and constantly improving the service provided.

Rating at last inspection: This is the first inspection of the service since it was registered in June 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled/planned inspection based on date of registration.

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.

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