Two large domiciliary care providers recently rated ‘Outstanding’

Two of Shropshire’s largest domiciliary care providers, commissioned by Shropshire Council to support people in their own homes, have recently been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.

SureCare Shropshire Limited, a franchise business operating from Merrington, near Bomere Heath, were inspected in May 2019 and the report, together with its ‘Outstanding’ rating, has just been released by the Care Quality Commission. This is the first SureCare franchise to have achieved an ‘Outstanding’ rating in the UK.

The inspection found that: “People were at the very heart of the service. They told us the registered manager and staff were exceptionally helpful and supportive and excellent carers. They said they were extremely pleased with the care they received, and staff were respectful, considerate and extremely thorough. Staff were committed to delivering outstanding and inclusive personalised care. They strongly focused on supporting people’s diverse needs and preferences.”

Chris Davies, SureCare Shropshire Limited’s Service Director, said:-

“You know what brings me the most pleasure about this award is the fact that it was awarded by a CQC Inspector who was very thorough, who made special efforts to interview as many staff as she could face to face, who spoke to as many service users as possible, and, just as importantly, their families and still felt able to award us the highest rating possible. We were able to prove to her satisfaction that we were deserving of this award, and I am personally very grateful to her for listening and then paying attention to all we said to her.

“This rating of ‘Outstanding’ is very special for any provider. For a large care provider such as ourselves it is doubly difficult to provide care of this quality, consistently and over a long period of time. I thank each and every one of our management team in the office and our care workers out in the community for this truly remarkable achievement; without them this rating would not have been possible. When asked, as part of our own quality monitoring this year, our service users gave us a satisfaction rating (again) of well over 98%, so it’s nice to know that the CQC Inspector was equally pleased and felt able to reflect this in her rating this year.”

Allcare Shropshire Limited, a family business based in Pontesbury, were also inspected in May 2019.

The inspection found that “Allcare were passionate about supporting older people and people living with dementia. They worked closely and extremely effectively with other organisations and groups promoting dementia awareness. The management team encouraged and rewarded high performance and innovation, and the staff team stepped up to this and were enthusiastic and dedicated.”

Allcare Shropshire Limited

Sarah Jones, Assistant manager at Allcare Shropshire Limited, said:-

“On behalf of Allcare Shropshire Limited we would like to say that we are delighted to have received an Outstanding rating in four of the five domains in our most recent CQC inspection. We are hugely proud of our exceptional staff and have always endeavoured, through extensive training and support, to equip them with the necessary tools to enable them to represent us in the way that they do.

“For the staff to be recognised for all their hard work and dedication to the people they care for is fantastic, but the icing on the cake was to hear the comments from our service users, who feel so lucky to receive the level of service that they do, from a team of staff who continuously go above and beyond what is expected of them to ensure their quality of life is the best it can be. This is what means so much to us.”

Allcare Shropshire Limited

They join a number of other care providers in Shropshire who have achieved this prestigious rating. Allenby Douglas Ltd, a domiciliary care provider based in Oswestry, also received the coveted ‘Outstanding’ rating from CQC in April 2018.

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said:-

“We are fortunate here in Shropshire to have many good providers of care, who enable people to live in their own homes for as long as possible. It takes a great deal of hard work and commitment to achieve an outstanding rating and is a measure of the fantastic service they provide to the people they support. We often see negative stories about care providers in the media, and it is great to see positive recognition for the sector locally.”

Nicki Jacques, chief officer of Shropshire Partners in Care (SPIC), who represent care providers in Shropshire, said:-

“It is excellent to see Allcare Shropshire Limited and SureCare Shropshire Limited join Allenby Douglas Ltd in the top 4% of adult social care services in England rated as Outstanding following their recent CQC inspections. These domiciliary care providers accompany four care homes in Shropshire who have also achieved this Outstanding rating.

“It is wonderful to see that the hard work, dedication and commitment of the managers and all their staff has been recognised with this highest rating. It’s important to recognise where care is good and to celebrate the services that are getting it right, and who ensure the support they provide every single day is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

“Despite these times of sustained financial challenge nationally and locally in adult social care, this shows continued drive and desire to provide quality care for individuals throughout this challenging period of funding for both providers and commissioners.”