Home Instead Senior Care, based in Croydon, has been rated Outstanding overall by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection in March 2018.
The service, which looks after older people in their own homes, was rated Outstanding for being caring and responsive. It was rated Good for being safe, effective and well-led.
Clients and their relatives without exception were extremely positive about staff. One person said: "Staff are all very compassionate and nice." A relative said: "Staff are friendly but professional, I am very impressed." A third relative said: "Staff are very focused which is what I need them to be but also pleasant and friendly. They are positive and they engage with mum."
People's care plans were comprehensive and fully reflected their needs and people and relatives were involved in developing their care plans. One relative said: "All the family were involved and we have been involved in on-going care planning." A second relative said: "I stipulated certain things at the beginning and they always got it right." A member of the management team met with people and their relatives before they began receiving care to check how they wanted to receive care.
People were carefully matched with the staff that supported them based on cultural, linguistic, religious or social needs. One relative said: "They found a regular carer who is also from the same country as my family and we share a language as well as a culture. The carer understands our culture she knows exactly how my mum would like to be treated and does so."
Other examples of successful matches included where a person was passionate about sport and enjoyed talking and watching matches with staff and another person who was very religious and enjoyed singing gospel songs with staff. As a result of this matching, they were able to build trusting relationships together.
People received their care in an unhurried manner. One relative said: "The carers make sure that he goes at his pace." A second relative said: "Staff are gentle and unrushed." The director said how important it was that everybody felt as if they mattered and they made every effort to ensure this. For example, the provider only
accepted visits of a minimum of one hour to ensure staff had sufficient time to provide companionship to people. The provider scheduled visits so staff had sufficient time to travel between people and staff told us they did not feel rushed in any way when providing care.
The provider went the extra mile in supporting people, for example, financially when they lost access to funds meaning the person was relieved of the emotional stress of the situation and could continue their schedule without disruption. The provider also supported a person who was passionate about art and the provider by buying tickets and supporting a trip to explore the National Gallery.
Staff had outstanding skills and knowledge in relation to dementia and used this to help people live full and meaningful lives. Through discussions with a person and their relatives the provider learnt they enjoyed a particular craft as a hobby and also taught this for many years. The provider identified a local project for men over 50 to mix and socialise while practising this particular craft which the person was interested in attending. The person agreed to attend the project with a member of staff who was also interested in the same craft. The person agreed on attending with the staff member as their student.
The service took a key role in the local community, establishing strong links with the local hospital. A dementia nurse based in the hospital said the provider had been a "pillar of support to the hospital and the local community". The provider was a member of the Croydon Dementia Action Alliance (CDAA). The CDAA encourages and supports communities and organisations across Croydon to take practical actions to enable people to live well with dementia.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“Home Instead Care consistently provides a caring service for its clients and Croydon is yet another example of this.
“I was particularly impressed with the way the provider matched up staff and clients that had similar interests and the way this cemented good relationships between them in a number of instances.”
Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector, Adult Social Care, said:
“The quality of care which our inspectors found here was exceptional and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the service’s achievements.
“An Outstanding service is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved.”
You can read the supplementary report in full when it is published on our website.
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The quality of care which our inspectors found here was exceptional
Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector, Adult Social Care