A domiciliary care agency based in the Borough, near London Bridge in south London, has been rated Outstanding overall by the Care Quality Commission.
Thames Senior Home Care Limited’s service Home Instead Westminster was rated Outstanding for being caring and well-led. It was rated Good for being safe, effective and responsive, during the inspection which took place during February and March 2018.
Home Instead Westminster is a domiciliary care agency which provides care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia.
People spoke in exceptional terms about the kindness and compassion of staff. One person using the service commented: “The service was recommended to me by a neighbour and I would now recommend Home Instead to people. The caregivers are so kind and understanding, particularly when I needed more intimate personal care and it was difficult for me to accept that my needs were now greater.”
Care and support plans contained detailed information about people's needs, wishes and choices, and were written in consultation with clients. Care staff supported people to retain their independence as much as possible and lead fulfilling lives.
The registered manager explained that he had implemented different protocols to ensure that people who used the service felt comfortable with their allocated care staff. In addition to the mandatory introduction meeting before care staff began working at a person's home, the management team endeavoured to match people with members of the care staff team with similar interests. Staff knew their clients very well and were familiar with their family backgrounds, individual likes and dislikes, food preferences and their favoured daily routines.
The management team promoted a caring philosophy which staff described as "inspirational". Staff were supported to engage in local initiatives to enable them to improve the quality of care they provided and support people living with dementia to lead fulfilling lives. Staff said they felt they were well supported and valued by the provider with some stating that it was the best health and social care sector organisation they had ever worked for.
The registered manager had developed and implemented creative ways to work with other organisations in order to improve the quality and safety of people's lives. As a result of concerns raised by people who use the service, their representatives and other local people, about the risk of financial fraud and scams the provider was working in partnership with the local Trading Standards office as part of an initiative to enable communities and organisations to understand scams, talk about scams and cascade messages throughout communities.
One person said: "I pay more for this service but it is worth it to get such wonderful care." And a relative said: “I can only describe this agency as being life changing for [my family member] and for us too."
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“Home Instead Westminster has proved that it can provide clients with high quality care. It is always encouraging to see a provider improve its overall rating from Good to Outstanding.”
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 on our website.
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It is always encouraging to see a provider improve its overall rating from Good to Outstanding
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care