The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has again rated Hegarty Care in Beeston, Nottingham, as outstanding following an inspection in March.
Hegarty Care, run by a company of the same name, is a care home providing support for up to four people. The home supports autistic people and people with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities. The CQC carried out this inspection as part of its routine monitoring of services.
The CQC assessed the service using its Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture guidance. This guidance 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.
The CQC has upgraded the ratings for how caring and well-led the home is from good to outstanding. It has again rated how responsive it is as outstanding, and how effective it is as good. How safe it is has moved from outstanding to good.
Greg Rielly, CQC Deputy Director of Adult Social Care in the East Midlands, said:
“At Hegarty Care, we found staff who cared deeply about the people they supported and put their needs and choices at the heart of any decisions they made. Leaders had created a familiar and comfortable environment for people where they received exceptional, personalised care.
“We saw staff truly understood people as individuals, tailoring their care to make sure support was as effective as possible. This continued throughout people’s care, as staff consistently reviewed people’s support plans to ensure they remained appropriate and were responsive to any changes in people’s health.
“People living at the home, their families, and external professionals were all positive about the service and told us staff consistently went above and beyond to provide the best support possible. Relatives told us people were supported to have choices in their care and lives, with staff supporting them to follow their interests. One resident wanted to experience a music festival, so staff found a local festival and accompanied them, enjoying bands together.
“During our inspection, we found the home had detailed plans and assessments in place for people who had placed themselves or others at risk in the past. We saw staff deal with a person who became distressed very well. They recognised subtle signs, reassured them with warmth and sensitivity, and gave the person meaningful choice about their medication, which could help.
“Leaders and staff should be delighted with the positive findings in the report. Their exceptional care was having an incredible impact on the people they supported.”
Inspectors found:
Staff actively encouraged people to share their views, preferences, and choices to help improve and enhance the care they received. This helped people remain in control of how they wanted to receive support and meant their voices helped shape care.
The home worked closely with health and social care professionals to help people achieve positive outcomes and ensure they received the right care and support.
Staff told inspectors the manager supported and valued them and provided regular supervision and training opportunities. Staff felt comfortable raising any concerns and ideas to improve the service for people.
The home had clear routines which helped people by providing familiarity but also demonstrated flexibility when they proactively made changes to support people.
Staff knew the people they supported very well, respecting and understanding their unique communication preferences. They shared information in ways people could understand and treated people with kindness and compassion.
People’s bedrooms had been personalised to reflect their interests, hobbies, and individual identities. This created a welcoming home for people where they could feel safe and comfortable.
Staff also ensured people could be part of their local communities and supported them to visit local cafés and pubs and take part in educational programmes and social events.
