Westmorland Homecare Lancaster welcomes new manager
20/04/2022
Westmorland County Show
08/09/2022
Westmorland Homecare is delighted that all of its three branches have now been rated ‘outstanding’ overall by the Care Quality Commission.
It follows the first inspection of Westmorland Homecare’s Lancaster and Morecambe branch by the CQC, the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
The CQC assessed the branch, which became operational in September 2020, on five key areas – whether the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The overall rating was ‘outstanding’.
Westmorland Homecare’s South Lakes branch – which is based in Kendal with a satellite office in Grange-over-Sands – and its Poulton, Fylde and Wyre branch are already rated ‘outstanding’ overall.
“It is absolutely fantastic that in the five years of setting up Westmorland Homecare we are achieving what we set out to do – providing one of the country’s leading homecare services,” said Dr Chris Moss, one of the three directors of Westmorland Homecare Limited.
“We are one of the very few companies to have all of its branches rated outstanding by the CQC. It is testimony to the dedication of our teams to providing a very special level of care, so that people can live life to the full. Whatever their age or ability we aim to allow people to remain at home, happy and peaceful.”
Westmorland Homecare’s branches provide hundreds of hours of care each week, which enable elderly and often frail people in the area to live independently in their own home. Services include home care, such as help with housekeeping and meal preparation, and personal care, such as help with dressing, bathing and getting in and out of bed and supporting clients to take medication.
The Lancaster and Morecambe branch employs more than 50 staff, including homecare assistants. It operates in the Lancaster, Morecambe and surrounding areas, including Bolton-le-Sands and Carnforth.
Registered manager at the branch Dan Stainer said staff were ‘absolutely ecstatic’ with the CQC rating. “It is a real reflection of all the outstanding work our carers provide,” he said.
He highlighted a specific case where staff had gone ‘over and above’ to look after a client.
“About a year ago there were power outages around Lancaster and we have a bedbound client with very complex needs who lives alone. She has an electric bed and uses assistance technology to communicate with the outside world.
“We recognised she would be vulnerable so the on-call care co-ordinator went to her home with an electrical contractor, who installed a stand-alone generator to ensure she had power and heating.
“The lady was a little surprised when they arrived as she had not called them but she was over the moon by how far we went to make sure she was safe.”
The CQC report highlighted how Westmorland Homecare had enabled a client, who was aged over 100, to attend her niece’s wedding, accompanied by her favourite homecare assistant in the staff member’s own time.
In its overall summary the CQC stated: ‘People were receiving care from exceptionally caring staff that provided continuity of support.’
One relative said: “Absolutely brilliant caring people, they go over and above what they should do.”
The report also stated: ‘People were encouraged and supported to lead as fulfilled a life as possible. They were supported to follow their dreams and goals.’
Under the ‘Is the service responsive?’ section, the report said an initiative had been introduced to support developing relationships between staff and people they helped. Senior staff had included a ‘pen picture’ of themselves for the person receiving support. It outlined their interests, background and professional expertise. One person said: “It definitely made me more aware of the people helping me – what an excellent way to make me feel more comfortable with the staff.”
Mr Stainer added: “We have developed a really good reputation in the area and have now been recognised externally for the quality of care we provide. We want to expand to help even more people in our community.”