A Nottinghamshire home care service has been rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission following its first inspection.
Pinnacle Care Professionals, based in Gringley on the Hill, was inspected by the health and social care regulator in March.
The service, run by Pinnacle Care Professionals Ltd, provides home care support for adults, including people with sensory impairments and physical disabilities.
Although the service supports a wider group of people, the CQC said it only assessed the care and support provided to the seven people who received the regulated activity of personal care.
Following the inspection, Pinnacle Care Professionals has been rated outstanding overall.
The CQC rated the service outstanding for being caring, responsive and well-led. It was rated good for being safe and effective.
Greg Rielly, the CQC’s deputy director of adult social care in the East Midlands, said inspectors found a service that was “passionate about providing personalised care” and treated people as valued partners in shaping their own support.
He said: “We know that when a service has the right leadership in place it enables it to deliver a high quality of care, and the positive impact of the registered manager’s approach shone throughout the inspection.
“People told us about their positive experiences of receiving care and support. They said staff were well-trained, knowledgeable and treated them as individuals, which helped them build strong relationships with people. Relatives told us they felt their loved ones were completely safe and said staff fully involved them in their care.”
Inspectors said staff and leaders treated people with kindness and respect, and had a strong understanding of people’s needs and preferences.
The CQC also found that people were supported by a consistent staff team, helping them to become familiar with those providing their care and to build trust in the support they received.
Care plans were found to be detailed, up to date and based on thorough assessments of people’s needs. Inspectors said the plans reflected people’s preferences and helped ensure care and support was personalised.
Staff also kept people’s care under regular review so they could respond to changes in people’s needs and make sure support remained effective.
Mr Rielly said the registered manager provided strong leadership and was “compassionate and knowledgeable”.
He added that the manager ensured people received care that met their individual needs while respecting their preferences, and gave staff appropriate guidance on best practice while emphasising the organisation’s values.
The report highlighted examples of staff responding promptly to minimise discomfort or distress.
One relative who lived a long distance from their loved one praised the service for being responsive and easy to contact when a visit was needed. Another relative told inspectors that staff had visited their loved one outside scheduled support hours to allow a GP access and provide reassurance.
Inspectors also found that the service worked closely with partner organisations so people received consistent care across different services. The CQC said this meant people only had to tell their story once, because staff shared information effectively when people moved between services.
The report said staff helped people to live as independently as possible, supported healthier lives, and worked to reduce people’s future need for care and support where possible.
Leaders were found to have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of care being provided.
The CQC said there were enough staff to make sure people received scheduled visits on time, and contingency plans were in place to provide cover at short notice if staff were absent.
Staff and leaders also reviewed incidents thoroughly to identify learning opportunities or recurring themes, with the aim of reducing the risk of similar incidents happening again.
Inspectors said leaders made it easy for people to share feedback, ideas and concerns.
Mr Rielly said: “Staff and leaders at Pinnacle Care Professionals should be delighted with the many positive findings in our report on their first inspection. We look forward to seeing their continued progress and development.”
