Home Instead Senior Care has secured a sixth outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following the first ever inspection of its Rugby franchise.
The national homecare provider which cares for more than 8,000 older people celebrates this latest outstanding rating with Rugby franchise owner Sarah Slater, who opened the business just 18 months ago.
Home Instead Senior Care Rugby received the highest rating possible for the quality of its service thanks to the hard work and dedication of Sarah and her team.
The business, which provides care to people in Rugby, Daventry, Lutterworth and the surrounding areas, was commended by the CQC inspectors for its caring, relationship-led approach to supporting older people.
A mum-of-two, Sarah worked in care earlier in her career and had been left concerned by the gruelling hours and lack of time to build relationships with those she cared for. She had vowed never to work in care again.
Several years later and after much persuasion, Sarah joined Home Instead Market Harborough as a Care Scheduler. It was in this role that she discovered her earlier experiences hadn’t been representative of care as a whole.
Said Sarah: “Home Instead’s ethos of relationship-led, person-centred care really chimed with how I felt care should be delivered. And it wasn’t just an ethos, it was put into practice every day in every single care visit that we did. I knew then that this was a company I could get behind 100%.”
Sarah, 36, was inspired to set up her own Home Instead franchise after losing her mother to breast cancer two years ago at the age of just 52. Feeling that she wanted to ‘do something with her life’ and make a difference to others, she decided to take the plunge and approach Home Instead about opening an office in her local area.
Her aim from the outset with her own business was to provide a service that lived up to Home Instead’s promise of care that passes the ‘mum test’ – the quality of care you would want for yourself or your own loved one.
Leaving clients ‘awestruck’
The CQC report on Home Instead Rugby highlights the impressive lengths that Sarah and her dedicated team of CAREGivers go to in order to give clients the best possible experience.
One client told inspectors: “I have to say we have been delighted, even awestruck, by the quality of care.”
A relative of another client commented: “They have really improved his health and wellbeing. It’s the extra bit they do that makes the difference.”
The CQC inspectors were also warm in their praise of the recruitment and training process for Sarah’s team of committed CAREGivers. And the CAREGivers themselves were equally full of praise for the business.
One CAREGiver told inspectors: “They leave no stone unturned to support me. It’s made it the most enjoyable and fulfilling job I’ve ever had.”
Preventing social isolation
The Home Instead Rugby team was also praised for their efforts to ensure clients were not isolated. This included supporting clients who wanted to, to develop and maintain friendships with other clients by setting up outings and events to introduce them to one another.
Added Sarah: “I feel we have a responsibility not just to provide care to our clients, but to improve their quality of life. Everything we do here is with that in mind. I’ve grown the business slowly so that I can ensure we’re delivering a perfect service to the people we care for. This outstanding rating from the CQC is a fantastic seal of approval for the work of the whole team.”
Acosia Nyanin, CQC’s Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care in the central region said: “We were impressed with what we found during our inspection of Lutterworth and Rugby and inspectors saw people being cared for and supported by staff who had excellent and innovative training who understood how to meet people’s individual needs.
“Those using the service and their relatives were consistently complimentary and positive about staff and said they were always treated with dignity and respect. They said the care and support they received had a significant and positive impact on their lives.”
Trevor Brocklebank, Chief Executive of Home Instead Senior Care said: “The achievement of an outstanding rating from the CQC after such a short period of time is a real testament to Sarah’s absolute dedication to delivering top quality care. She and her team should be rightly proud of all they’ve accomplished so far and I’ve no doubt that Home Instead Rugby will continue to go from strength to strength.”
