Jean Allen Care Services Limited t/a Home Instead

Updated 9 January 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Jean Allen Care Services Limited t/a Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who was also the owner of the company. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 4 November 2019 when we visited the office and ended on 19 November 2019 when we gave feedback.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the office on 4 November 2019 and spoke with the registered manager, operations manager, senior care coordinator and nine care staff.

We carried out telephone interviews on 4, 5, 8 and 9 November 2019 and spoke with ten people who used the service and eleven relatives about the care provided.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and medicine records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received electronic feedback from three people who used the service, five relatives, four members of staff and two professionals involved with the service.

Updated 9 January 2020

About the service

Jean Allen Care Service Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection there were 49 people who used the service that received personal care.

Jean Allen Care Service Limited is part of the Home Instead Senior Care franchise which delivers care and support to people within the United Kingdom and in several countries across the world.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People using the service received exceptional care from a well led service. People shared numerous examples of how the staff had developed caring relationships with them and their families. They described being consistently provided with high-quality care that met and exceeded their individual needs, expectations, and positively impacted on their well-being and happiness.

Relatives and professionals involved with the service were equally complimentary in describing dedicated, kind and compassionate staff, who were thoughtful and respectful in their approach which enhanced people’s daily lives. Everybody we spoke with described an open culture in which they felt respected and listened to and said that they would highly recommend the service.

The leadership of the service continued to be outstanding. People, staff, relatives and external professionals were extremely confident in the management of the service. The registered manager, supported by their senior management team, had established a person-centered ethos amongst the workforce, that consistently delivered quality care.

Morale was high in the service. Staff were extremely motivated and passionate about their role and clear on their responsibilities. They were respected, and their achievements were recognised and rewarded. Teamwork was evident with staff working closely together in delivering the values of the service.

Effective quality assurance systems had sustained continual development and improvement in the service leading to positive outcomes for people. Feedback on the service was actively encouraged and used to enhance the service.

There were enough safely recruited and trained staff to meet people’s needs in a timely and appropriate manner. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s risks and how to care for them safely. They had a good knowledge of safeguarding practices helping to protect people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm.

People were respected by staff who understood the importance of promoting people’s dignity, wellbeing and encouraging them to be as independent as possible. Staff were skilled in communicating and understanding the needs of the people who used the service.

People received their medicines safely and in line with good practice. Their health and nutritional needs were met.

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.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (report published 10 April 2017.)

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk