A home care provider whose staff were called ‘lifesavers’ has done the double after being rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for the second time in a row.
Home Instead Senior Care Durham received a glowing report filled with praise from clients and their relatives, two years after getting its first outstanding rating from the health and social care watchdog.
Only two per cent of adult social care providers have been rated outstanding since the introduction of CQC’s new Ofsted-style approach to inspection and regulation in 2015, so to get two in a row is a great achievement.
Caregivers and management alike were commended for going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their clients are healthy, happy and safe.
One staff member cancelled a holiday when they realised their client’s other regular caregiver was off sick. They told inspectors that the client, who has dementia, ‘needed continuity much more than I needed a trip away’.
On another occasion a caregiver and manager worked together to keep a client safe after a water leak at their home – arranging a plumber, contacting the family and ringing around care homes to find a respite bed.
A client’s family member told inspectors: “They take the initiative and are massively helpful. They sourced and arranged for a locksmith as my relative had done something to the door. Just brilliant.”
Another relative said: “Before Christmas my relative had an infection. They called me to let me know they had been in touch with the doctor and would monitor the situation. They are lifesavers really.”
Inspectors were shown a note from a client that read: “Thank you for being part of our lives. I thank god from the first day I met you that he sent us our own living angel.”
Home Instead Durham specialises in home care for the elderly, and in particular people living with dementia.
It hosts a monthly memory café where people can socialise and take part in activities, as well as receiving advice and information about dementia support, and staff undertake City & Guilds accredited Alzheimer’s training.
There is also a particular emphasis on client safety – Home Instead has developed a ‘senior fraud protection toolkit’, alongside National Trading Standards and scam awareness charity Think Jessica, which is designed to help elderly people stay safe in their own homes.
Trudi Jameson, who owns the business, said: “All our staff work incredibly hard to support their clients in every aspect of their lives, so we are thrilled to have once again been rated outstanding.
“Relationship-led care is very important to us – caregivers are personally introduced to clients before they visit, and the same caregivers go each time so they build up that relationship.
“We are very picky when we recruit our staff; if it’s not in their heart they are not for us.”
Part of a national network of over 190 offices, Home Instead is now firmly established as the leading home care provider for the elderly. Nationally Home Instead holds a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation in recognition of the company’s innovative care model, which places clients at the heart of the care they receive and includes matching clients to caregivers based on shared interests.
