We carried out a review of the data available to us about Inchwater Home Care on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Inchwater Home Care, you can give feedback on this service.
Inchwater Home Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 27 people with the regulated activity personal care. People using the service were mainly older people and people living with a long-term health conditions which affected their physical and mental wellbeing. 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, their relatives, staff and health and social care professionals continued to be consistently positive about the service. People and their relatives said, “They have excellent rapport”, “A friend recommended them to me and I would recommend them to others”, “I am very, very happy. [My relative] is very well looked after.”, “The service is excellent, it is highly recommended.”, and “I can’t speak too highly of them.”
The providers continued to promote a high-quality caring service delivered by staff who worked in line with their values. This was supported by an in-depth recruitment process which focused on recruiting staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff and people were matched based on people’s preferences, interests and personalities and there were strong bonds between people and staff built on trust. This meant people were comfortable speaking to staff if they had any concerns or worries about their health or safety.
People continued to be supported by highly skilled and well-motivated staff. One staff said, “I wouldn’t switch jobs for the world.” This meant people had the confidence they needed in staff to support them well. People were provided with support to continue managing their own medicines where appropriate and medicines were managed safely. When things did go wrong the providers were open and honest and focused on learning rather than blame. This meant staff could reduce the risk of events re-occurring
The staff and providers worked in close partnership with other organisations to promote people’s health and wellbeing. This support was extended to relatives as staff understood the importance of family carers in the lives of people who used the service.
People continued to have excellent levels of support with eating and drinking. Staff used innovative approaches to encourage people to eat well and people had improved their health and wellbeing through eating better.
There was a strong focus on encouraging people to maintain or regain their independence which had achieved positive outcomes for people. People were treated with respect and were supported to lead dignified lives. Staff regularly went to extra mile and were proactively kind to people and their relatives. Relatives were also treated with kindness and told us they found the service provided them with support they found invaluable and led to better outcomes for people.
The providers had continued to be passionate about high standards of care and had continued to drive forward improvements. The provider helped to develop best practice and share this learning internally and with the wider community. The values of the service were understood by staff who actively followed them. This led to a positive culture, a strong commitment to quality and improved outcomes for people. T
he provider was proactive at encouraging people to feedback about their experiences of the service. People were well supported to express themselves and be involved in planning their own care. Care plans were frequently reviewed with people. Where there were complaints these had been addressed. The providers fully analysed trends in complaints and had used this to identify and address the root causes of any discontent to improve the service.
People told us they felt safe and were supported and to continue or re-engage in the activities or sports they had enjoyed throughout their lives. This had a positive impact of people’s wellbeing.
There was a focus on the individual and promoting well-being and positive mental health. Care, including the care at the end of people’s lives was person centred and based on the preferences of the person. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Staff enabled people to have control of their care and lead active lives. This started at the assessment stage where assessments concentrated on people’s strengths and led to care plans focused on wellbeing and encouraging independence.
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 Outstanding (published on 17 November 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Inchwater Home Care is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection the agency was providing a service to five people. Visits were a minimum of one hour and the frequency of visits varied depending on people's individual needs.
The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations, about how the service is run.
People, their relatives and other stakeholders all told us that Inchwater Home Care provided an excellent service. The registered manager and the provider were committed to providing high quality, person-centred care. Staff working in the provider’s office also provided hands on care and everyone shared this vision of a bespoke service with people at its heart.
Staff were always on time, and there were no missed calls to people. People told us staff always stayed over their allotted time if they needed to and they never felt rushed. Staff were exceptionally kind and caring and went above and beyond to ensure people received the care they needed. Staff treated people with respect and dignity at all times. Staff referred to people by their chosen names, and for one person, ‘this meant everything.’ People only received care from staff they had met before and were comfortable with. People and their relatives told us that having consistent staff was reassuring and ensured they were able to build strong relationships with them.
Staff used their knowledge of people to help them feel more confident when eating and drinking. People told us they were happier due to staff’s positive interactions and this meant they ate and drank more. When people were losing weight staff used creative means to monitor what they were eating to ensure they received the nutrition they needed and people put on weight as a result.
People received the support they needed to stay as healthy as possible. Staff always stayed with people if they were unwell, and reacted quickly if people’s health was deteriorating. One person told us that staff’s reaction to them being ill was the reason they felt comfortable staying in their own home. Staff sought advice from other healthcare professionals when needed, and encouraged people to maintain or increase their mobility and independence as a result.
Staff researched different aids and adaptions to enable people to do things for themselves. Staff were proactive in managing the risks involved in people’s care. One person needed more support with their mobility and wanted to continue to be able to have a bath. Staff supported them to develop a new morning routine, involving different aids and they were able to continue having a bath. They told us this had a positive impact on their life.
The registered manager and the provider met with people before staff started working with them. People were actively involved in writing their care plans and these were reviewed regularly. People told us they were continually updating and changing their support as they felt confident discussing their care with staff. Records confirmed that this was the case.
Staff received the training they needed to do an outstanding job. The provider had a doctorate in education and told us they used the skills they had learnt whilst studying to make training as engaging and informative as impossible. External professionals told us that the dementia training staff received was ‘exemplary’. The provider gave the same training to external groups in the local community to raise awareness of dementia. Staff told us they were extremely well supported by the registered manager and had regular one to one meetings with them to discuss their progress and any issues which may have arisen.
The provider and registered manager were committed to providing a high quality service to people and to its continuous development. The registered manager completed regular spot checks on staff to review the service being provided and checked people’s daily notes and paperwork to ensure they were detailed and up to date. Feedback from people, their representatives and others were continually sought and used as an opportunity for improve the service people received. No complaints had been received in the past year.
Staff knew how to recognise and respond to abuse. There had been no safeguarding incidents in the past year, but the registered manager and provider knew what to do if they occurred. Risks to people and staff had thoroughly assessed and action taken to mitigate them when necessary. Necessary recruitment checks were carried out on staff before they were able to start working with people.
The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff had up to date knowledge on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). They supported people to make their own choices. People signed their care plans, giving consent to their care.
No one currently received support with their medicines. However, policies and procedures were in place for the safe administration of medicines and staff had been trained and assessed to administer medicines safely.
We found that individual personalised care plans were in place to make sure people were receiving the care they needed. People using the service said that the staff were reliable, arrived on time and stayed the full duration of the call.
Staff recruitment records showed that new staff had been checked to make sure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. We found that people were protected and safe from abuse. Systems were in place to monitor the service that people received to ensure that the service was satisfactory and safe.