'Outstanding' home care workers go nightclubbing with disabled

A home care service in Leicester, where staff in their own time went clubbing with a person they care for, has been rated ‘outstanding’.

Community Integrated Care in Leicester cares for older people as well as people with learning and physical disabilities.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that ‘staff continuously went the 'extra mile' to ensure that people lived as fulfilled and enriched lives as possible’.

An example of this was ‘when a person had been invited to a 30th birthday party which was being held in a night club. Staff supported the person in their own time to attend.

‘The person had enjoyed it so much they are now regularly supported to go to night clubs where they enjoy the music and company of people.’

In another case, staff ‘learnt to understand a person’s gestures and noises they made’ and developed a ‘'communication passport' to ensure that anyone who supported the person or needed to communicate with them would have the information they needed to help understand the person’.

In these ways, the care workers respect ‘people's individuality and enable people to express their wishes and make choices for themselves’.

Rob Assall-Marsden, CQC’s head of inspection for adult social care in the central region said: “We found people receiving care had an enhanced sense of well-being and quality of life because staff worked innovatively to enable them to have meaningful experiences and be active members of the local community.

“People, their relatives and the professionals involved in people’s care consistently told us the service provided exceptional care. We also found that people using the service experienced caring relationships with staff and positive interactions were evident.”

Care workers receive good training with one member of staff saying: "After we had done training about autism we noticed a significant change in one person's behaviour because we had a better understanding as to how to support them."

The report also revealed that people are supported in having a healthy balanced diet and those at risk of not eating and drinking enough get the support they require to maintain their nutritional intake.

Any changes in people's health are recognised quickly by staff and prompt and appropriate referrals are made to healthcare professionals. The staff all spoke of people with fondness and had got to know people well, with one saying all of the staff 'care and we really work together to give them a good quality of life. There is never a day I would not want to go to work', the report revealed.

CQC's chief inspector of adult social care, Andrea Sutcliffe, said: “The quality of care which our inspectors found here was exceptional and I am very pleased that we can celebrate the service’s achievements.”

Click here to see the report.