We would like to dedicate our Award Win (Top 20 Provider in the East Midlands) and our recent CQC rating (including Outstanding in Caring) to all of the clients who are no longer with us. We love providing care to all of our clients and sadly, sometimes, we have to say goodbye to them. We will never forget them and we will always carry on working to achieve the highest possible standards in their memory.
Who are the Care Quality Commission (CQC)?
The Care Quality Commission is an independent regulator of health and social care. They inspect and measure the quality of a provider so that a high level of service is provided to those receiving the service. They do this through a report-based system that can flag up both good practices and areas of concern that service users need to know about.
How The Report Is Made?
A report is created by an Inspector of the Care Quality Commission, following a thorough inspection. This Inspection is carried out under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This Act is in place to guarantee the quality and safety of Health and Social Care Services for the service users.
The Inspection itself is delivered over a 2-week period and is conducted by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. This is a person who has had personal experience with care either by receiving the service themselves or as a user’s representative. The inspection is subject to 5 main questions which the inspectors will look to answer.
These are :
- How safe is the service?
- Is the service effective?
- How caring are the team?
- Is the service responsive?
- How well-led are the company and team?
Safe – Good Expand
When conducting an inspection of a provider, to review their safety the CQC look at a variety of considerations. These include a review of staffing and recruitment, systems and processes, assessing risk, medication support and so forth. How they review these is by speaking with current clients and staff and spend time with them during their day to day routines. They also review all documentation that the office files and their protocols. From our inspection, the CQC rated us as “Good” overall. This means they were exceedingly happy with our safety and were satisfied our clients we’re secure and protected from harm.
The provider ensured new staff had the right skills and personal qualities to support people safely in a person-centred way. Describing her approach to recruitment the manager told us, ‘We employ caring people. Any that are not wouldn’t pass the interview.’
We reviewed recent recruitment decisions and saw that the necessary checks had been carried out to ensure that the staff employed were suitable to work with the people who used the service.”
– Care Quality Commission report.
Effective – Good Expand
CQC looks at service providers’ effectiveness by measuring 2 key qualities. The service that is provided is of a satisfactory standard and how the service provided positively impacts the service user. The positive outcomes are then reinforced by feedback from the service user. We were rated “Good” overall for the effectiveness of our home care service. Most noteworthy was the feedback received from our clients about how our staff helps them in their day-to-day lives.
From talking to people and looking at their care records, we saw that staff worked proactively with GPs, district nurses and other health and social care professionals to ensure people had prompt access to local health and social care services whenever this was necessary. For example, one person said, ‘Sometimes I have an appointment at the doctors’ so I will ring [the office] and they will sort out a carer to go with me. I like to have someone with me, as I don’t always remember what’s been said.’ “
– Care Quality Commission report.
Caring – Outstanding Expand
Caring is assessed by looking at how a service provider shows evidence of compassion, kindness, dignity, and respect within their service. We were rated as “Outstanding” by CQC, furthermore, they described our service as exceptional. As a result, we are over the moon to receive this rating. We were also delighted with the remarks our wonderful clients said in the report.
Without exception, people told us that the staff who worked for the service were warm-hearted, caring and kind. One person said, ‘They are very caring, friendly and chatty. They come in and make me feel comfortable. I can get anxious at times and they … know how to treat me, so I don’t get anxious. I feel very happy and relaxed with them.’ “
– Care Quality Commission report.
Responsive – Good Expand
Responsiveness is defined by CQC as whether or not a service user’s needs are met by said service. For example, when a service is being delivered, the service user is receiving all the care they require in the time allocated to them. CQC rated our responsiveness as “Good”, also, highlighting the length of our service, how clear our care plans were and the great understanding our staff had of our clients’ needs and preferences.
Staff had an excellent understanding of people’s individual needs and preferences. A home care assistant told us, ‘Some people like their bed made in a particular way. It’s their care, they should have what they want.’ Commenting approvingly on the attentive, person-centred support approach of staff, one person told us, ‘They will notice if I haven’t had my medication. They will [also] remember [when] I have aches and pains and … ask me how I am feeling. They are very good indeed.’ “
– Care Quality Commission report.
Well Led – Good Expand
We are very proud of our management team. Not only do they show great leadership they also have managed our Home Care Assistants exceptionally well. This has led to our rating of “Good” by the CQC, with them remarking on how they have created a culture of high-quality, person-centred care.
The leadership team’s open, democratic style set the cultural tone within the service and was clearly respected and appreciated by staff. Talking of one of the managers, one member of staff told us, ‘I really do like her. She is easy to speak to, and very approachable. We are all part of the same team and pull together.’
Commenting on the director, the same staff member said, ‘The thing I like about [name] is that he knows my name. My last boss didn’t know who I was, even though we lived in the same village. [Here] I am not just a number.’ “
– Care Quality Commission report.
What Our Clients Think?
As a company, we are very proud of the type of service we deliver to our clients. This is because not only does our service positively impact someone’s life, but we also get to see first-hand the benefits.
This is why we are very honoured to continuously receive great feedback from our clients and their loved ones. Especially when this is reflected through a homecare.co.uk score of 9.9 (at the time of writing) and an Award of Top 20 Care Provider in the East Midlands. All of which, help us set a high standard of care that we reinforce through our recruitment, our training, and our service delivery.
What Our Staff Think?
Our team is a collection of people, each different and unique. Each with their personalities, interests, and tastes. Yet, there is one definitive thing that connects them all, they all care.
We are very proud of each and every member of our team. Their dedication to their role is truly outstanding. This is why we offer our staff an employment package that reflects their great qualities. We are always grateful when our staff talk kindly about us and what it is like to work for The Great Care Company. We here at The Great Care Company want to create an environment for our staff where they not only love their role, but they don’t see it as work.
What The Future Holds?
This rating has now set the standard for future inspections. Therefore, we are eager to take on the challenge of achieving the highest rating possible. However, how we will do this we hear you ask.
Firstly, by continuously improving our service based on the feedback we receive from our clients. As you can see, feedback is a very important part of the process. Not only does it give us reassurance about the quality of our team, but it also gives us an opportunity to learn and develop.
Secondly, we feel it is crucial to keep up to date with current developments. It is quite fair to say, the health and social care industry can often seem outdated with how fast the modern world grows. This is why it is extremely important to develop as a company. Especially with new improvements to how a person’s data is recorded and the security processes that are required, or even something simple as going paperless to do our bit to help reduce waste on the environment’s resources.
And Thirdly, focusing on staff happiness. We know how important it is to enjoy your job. If you love your work, then it simply isn’t work. And we want to encourage this mindset with all our staff. Therefore, they can continue to provide the great service they deliver to you and your loved ones.
