The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by Home Instead Senior Care Durham to be Outstanding following an inspection in February 2018.
Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community, plus a service to older adults. On the days of the inspection there were 111 people using the service
The service was rated Good for safety, and responsiveness and Outstanding for effectiveness, caring and well-led. A copy of the latest report can be found on our website.
At a previous inspection in November 2015 the service was rated Outstanding.
Some of the features of this inspection included:
The service had been nominated for, and had won, several national and regional awards. They had developed a specialised training programme in Alzheimer's disease that had been accredited by the City and Guilds. This had led to the service being the first home care provider to win the Princess Royal training award for dementia.
People's needs were assessed before they started using the service and they were continually evaluated in order to develop support plans. Inspectors could see this included supporting people with their dietary needs. People's care records were regularly reviewed and evaluated. Care records were person centred, which means the person was at the centre of any care or support plans and their individual wishes, needs and choices were all taken into account.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“This is a service that provides excellent care. At their last inspection, they had also been rated as Outstanding, clearly this is a service focussed on driving their performance. They are to be congratulated.
“The service used innovative ways to keep people safe. It had developed a 'Senior fraud protection toolkit' to help elderly people stay safe in their own homes. The toolkit had been developed with National Trading Standards and the scam aware charity 'Think Jessica'. Home Instead had carried out presentations on senior fraud and handed out over 1000 leaflets at local church and community groups, sheltered accommodation, and coffee mornings.
“A caring ethos was at the heart of everything this service did. Inspectors saw wonderful examples of staff supporting people. They witnessed people being cared for in times of upheaval – a water leak in a house was attended to by the registered manager, who arranged for a plumber to attend and then contacted the person's family.
“Caring was exceptional. Inspectors saw how the service went above and beyond to support people outside of their agreed support package. For example, one person had contacted the service to say they needed some urgent personal support and staff were sent immediately to assist. Another example was where a family member had contacted the office regarding their holiday and asked for additional support during that period.
“Home Instead Senior Care, Durham is providing a first class service and thoroughly deserve their Outstanding rating. Through exceptional leadership and a real commitment to caring they have maintained and raised their standards - they are delivering superb care.”
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This is a service that provides excellent care
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North