Home Instead Senior Care celebrates receiving its 50th “outstanding” CQC rating
Home Instead Senior Care, the provider of award-winning in-home care, today celebrated receiving its fiftieth outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the highest possible rating available. The Wirral office became Home Instead’s fiftieth English office* to receive this highly coveted accolade. Reaching the fiftieth milestone is an incredible achievement for Home Instead, it means an impressive 25% of the Home Instead network in England now boast this outstanding accreditation – compared to the average of home care providers in England which is just 3%. The CQC inspections look for the following things when rewarding an office with an outstanding accreditation: the safety of the service offered, the effectiveness of the service offered and the extent to which the service is caring, responsive and well-led. Martin Jones, CEO of Home Instead Senior Care comments: “To reach fifty CQC outstanding ratings from the CQC truly is testament to the fantastic work that is carried out by our amazing caregivers and teams in the Home Instead network. Each and every day our caregivers are touching the lives of older people, helping them to live well at home for longer and helping in our mission to help change the face of ageing in the UK.” Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone at Home Instead on the fantastic achievement of having 50 offices rated outstanding. Our inspections have consistently shown that people who use their services receive exceptional personalised care from a well led team. “We want everybody to have access to the best possible care and will continue to support providers to share best practice, ensuring that more people across the country are able to access the highest quality care.” Home Instead has been operating in the UK since 2005 and currently employs over 13,000 people, offering care and companionship services to over 14,000 people and its philosophy is based on the belief that care options often lack a truly personalised approach. Across the UK, Home Instead adopts a mission led approach to offering quality led care for people in the comfort of their home. The Wirral office currently has 180 people that it supports with personal care and companionship and recently celebrated delivering its 1 millionth hour of care. It is run by husband and wife duo Mike and Catharine Chalton. The CQC report assessed the Wirral office across several areas, with praise being given for the service which was described as highly effective and as promoting a good quality of life for the receivers of the service. Those receiving care were described as being at the centre of developing their care plans which gave them a real independence. Continuous improvement and training of caregivers was also highlighted with Home Instead being praised for constantly looking for ways that the service that is offered can be improved You can read the full report here.
RV Care and HC-One receive ‘Outstanding’ CQC rating
An east Devon Domiciliary Care provider is delighted to have received an overall ‘Outstanding’ CQC rating, following a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). RV Care Devon, a part of national care provider HC-One, provide care and support to over 60 clients in their own homes in the Honiton and Exeter area, and is only one of four care providers to have been rated Outstanding in the area. The care provider was deemed to be safe, effective, caring and responsive, with care workers seen to deliver care that was respectful of client’s privacy and dignity and took account of people’s individual preferences. As part of the process, inspectors questioned clients and their families and found that people were happy with the care they received and felt that ‘Staff treated people with utmost respect and dignity and ensured privacy.’ Inspectors recognised that staff ‘promoted a sense of compassion, kindness and caring for everyone involved within the organisation which extended to people, families, friends and pets.’ Client comments included: “Nothing is too much trouble; the care is exceptional. I am so lucky.” and “A very good standard all round, I feel safe with them.” A relative of one client, stated: “The carers genuinely care. They are absolutely lovely, kind and considerate.” The report also noted that staff were supported to reach their true potential. They were encouraged to obtain additional qualifications and suggest training, which would benefit the people they supported. RV Care’ ethos is one of life fulfilment and people leading a meaningful and active life. People were encouraged to engage in meaningful activities to aid both their physical and emotional well-being. The service strived to provide the best possible person-centred care and support for people. Professionals commented: “I have been consistently impressed with RV Care they have always been very responsive, caring, thoughtful and person centred” and “Really impressed with the knowledge the carers have of their clients in terms of making the interactions meaningful with positive outcomes.” Other professional comments included: “(Registered manager) personifies truly person-centred care with our clients and their families who are enabled to get involved in care planning alongside the professionals” and “Kind and caring and most of all will routinely go ‘above and beyond’ in how they engage with clients and work in a very person-centred manner.” Clare Connor, RV Care’s Registered Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to receive our Outstanding CQC report that reflects the hard work and dedication of our care team. “Our priority is to provide the kindest possible care to our clients and the team work extremely hard to ensure that we’re delivering the best service possible. I’d like to thank the team for their continued dedication and loyalty.” HC-One and RV Extra Care provide a home care service across Devon and the South West of England. For more information about HC Care provider call 01404 47696 or click here
Hillgreen Care fined £300,000 – for not monitoring ‘sexual predator’
A care home provider has been fined £300,000 for allowing a man in its care with a history of sexual assaults the freedom to prey on vulnerable people. The Care Quality Commission brought the case against Hillgreen Care Limited for not providing the constant, one-to-one supervision required for the man, who was described in court as XX. CQC prosecuted Hillgreen Care Limited for failing in its duty to protect people in its care, exposing them to the risk of sexual abuse. District Judge Susan Williams also awarded CQC £141,000 in costs. The judge ruled that residents at the care home must not be identified. She added: “There was a failure to provide appropriate care and a high level of culpability because the risks were well known to the company.” She said there was a “woefully inadequate system of care” in place. The judge said that although Hillgreen was subject to insolvency proceedings, this should not affect the sentence and that the “fine would serve to mark society’s condemnation” of Hillgreen’s failure to protect vulnerable people in its care. The CQC brought the case against Hillgreen Care Limited, for failing in its duty to protect people in its care, exposing them to the risk of sexual abuse. Hillgreen Care Limited was not present in court at any time during the proceedings. Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court was told that on 1 November 2015, an autistic man was assaulted at Hillgreen’s care home at Colne Road, in Enfield, north London. At the time there were only two care staff on duty to look after six people. One of the residents, who was described as non-verbal, with limited mental capacity, was followed up to his room by XX, and, allegedly, raped. The incident was eventually reported to the police, but partly because of the alleged victim’s mental capacity and a lack of evidence, no prosecution ensued. The alleged perpetrator had been under the care of Hillgreen Limited for 10 years. Mr Paul Greaney QC, representing CQC said that: “XX is a predatory and opportunistic sex offender” and was a risk to both sexes. Numerous allegations involving vulnerable adults and children had been made against XX dating back to his childhood. The court heard from expert witness, Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Dr Neil Sinclair, who said that it should have been apparent to Hillgreen Care Limited that there was an extremely high risk of XX committing sexual offences. XX needed to be monitored at all times. Dr Sinclair said that if that monitoring been carried out, the alleged attack would probably never have happened. Residents at Colne Road were exposed to potential and actual harm. A number of care workers who had worked at Colne Road gave evidence – although nobody from the senior Hillgreen management team. A support care worker, who said she had not been given any instructions about watching XX, said that she walked in on XX while he was assaulting another service user, described as YY, on 1 November 2015. Following the alleged sexual assault Colne Road Home Manager, said that the home was no longer a place he wanted to work after the incident. He said that staffing levels were inadequate and that he had raised the matter with senior Hillgreen management, but that nothing had been done about it. A statement was read out in court from YY’s mother in which she said she had no doubt that YY would have been incapable of providing informed consent to sexual activity, given the nature and extent of his disabilities. Paul Greaney QC said: “YY plainly needed to be protected from abuse. One only needs to think for a moment about the situation that existed in that care home, a vulnerable man, in an environment in which a predatory sexual offender was largely free to roam, to realise that YY needed protection.” CQC began the process to cancel the registration of the Colne Road service in February 2016. The registration of Hillgreen Care Ltd was cancelled altogether in September 2017. Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, welcomed the judgment and sentence: “As the judge has made clear, Hillgreen Care Limited utterly failed in their duty of care for the people they were responsible for supporting. YY should never have been exposed to the potential of sexual abuse from XX and the impact on him and his family is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with them today. “It has taken a long time to bring this prosecution to a conclusion but the outcome proves that it has been worth the effort and dedication of CQC’s inspection and legal teams. Providers should be clear that if people are exposed to harm through their failure of care we will take every step we can to hold them to account.” www.cqc.org.uk
