Background to this inspection
Updated
31 October 2019
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
This inspection was carried out by one Inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 7 October 2019 and ended on 10 October 2019. We visited the office location on 9 October 2019 and visited people in their homes.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection such as notifications. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the provider (who was also the nominated individual), the registered manager and care staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the quality and safety management monitoring of the service.
Updated
31 October 2019
About the service
Balkerne Gardens Trust is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people 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 the service was supporting 52 people with 32 of these people receiving support with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received an exceptionally caring service. Every person we spoke with throughout the inspection praised the quality of care. People told us they felt supported and truly valued as individuals and believed staff genuinely cared. We heard words such as 'excellent', 'wonderful', 'genuinely caring' and 'first class’ being used to describe the service and staff.
People's care was exceptionally responsive. Care plans were personalised and had been developed with people. Care and support provided was flexible and quickly adapted to meet people’s changing needs.
People were supported by small and consistent staff teams who knew people extremely well and trusting relationships had been formed. We saw numerous examples where the staff had gone above and beyond to ensure people's physical, emotional, leisure and cultural needs were met. We were consistently told that staff were sensitive and respectful when visiting people in their own homes and when providing personal care.
Balkerne Gardens Trust was exceptional at placing people at the heart of the service. The managers and staff had a strong focus on people having as many opportunities as possible to maintain their independence and reduce the risk of social isolation.
There was a very positive, enabling culture in the service. Staff attributed this to the standard of training, support and outstanding leadership. The service was exceptionally well led, and staff felt well supported by a caring management culture with a clear focus on continuous improvement.
People's voices were of paramount importance. Staff shared the same hopes and aspirations
for people to continue to live the lifestyle of their choice. People highly praised the quality of the service they received and the positive impact it had on them.
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.
The provider worked with other professionals and organisations to provide advocacy support and share training to ensure positive outcomes for people. The provider was involved in a number of initiatives to improve people's wellbeing. These included providing advice and support to enable people to stay safe from the risk of scams and health promotion.
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 Good (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.