The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated supported living and homecare services run by Catherine Tam Agency in Nottingham as outstanding in its first inspection under its current registration following inspections in May.
Catherine Tam Agency, which is run by Landermeads CSE Ltd, is a supported living and homecare service for people under 65, including autistic people, people with a learning disability, people with mental health needs and those with physical disabilities. At the time of the inspection, the supported living service was supporting eight people, while the homecare service was supporting three people.
CQC carried out the inspection in line with its ‘right support, right care, right culture’ guidance. This assesses whether a service guarantees autistic people and people with a learning disability the respect, equality, dignity, choice, independence and access to local communities that most people take for granted.
CQC had previously rated the service as outstanding in an inspection under its previous registration. This was the first time CQC had inspected the service under its new registration.
Following this inspection, both Catherine Tam Agency supported living and homecare services have been rated outstanding for how safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led they are.
Greg Rielly, CQC’s deputy director of adult social care for the East Midlands, said:
“When we inspected the services run by Catherine Tam Agency, we were delighted to find exceptional practice from staff who demonstrated an outstanding level of inclusivity across both services.
“Staff always placed people at the centre of their care and treatment and showed a deep and thorough understanding of each person. This included getting the information people needed in a way which was accessible for them, to ensure people could make informed decisions about their care and support.
“During our inspection of the supported living service, it was clear that staff thoroughly supported people’s independence. Many of the people they supported had moved from residential care and had successfully developed their independent living skills thanks to dedicated support from staff.
“We received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the agency from health and social care professionals, who worked in partnership with staff to help people achieve positive outcomes. People were proud of their achievements, including reducing their reliance on medicines and taking multiple trips abroad. Staff made people feel valued and that the care they received was provided with them in mind, and not something that was done to them.
“Overall, staff and leaders should be incredibly proud of these services and their commitment to ensure people get the best care outcomes. It is clear they deserve the hugely positive feedback we received from people, their families and external agencies.”
Inspectors found:
- Staff in the homecare service were described as kind and caring, and people appreciated the support they offered. This support aimed to maximise people’s choice and control in the least restrictive way.
- Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and supported them to feel safe and maintain their health.
- Staff received meaningful and personalised training which was tailored to the needs of the people they supported.
- Leaders enabled people using the supported living service to find a real sense of community by linking up with care homes for social events and friendship.
- Leaders encouraged people to provide feedback about their care via surveys and used this feedback to make any necessary changes to the service.
- Leaders acted quickly when safety concerns were raised and consistently took appropriate action to reduce any ongoing risks.
