Enter and View: Leelin home care
The purpose of this Enter and View was to look at the domiciliary care provided by Leelin Homecare.
Domiciliary care is support provided in a person’s own home to help them maintain independence, hygiene, and safety. Often called 'home care' or ‘visiting care’, it ranges from hourly visits to 24/7 care, covering personal tasks (bathing, dressing) and domestic tasks (cooking, cleaning).
Summary
- Leelin Care was first registered with the Care Quality Commission in July 2018 and received a ‘Good’ rating at its most recent inspection in 2022, offering a useful baseline for this work.
- Five service users agreed to take part, representing around 7% of the provider’s caseload.
- Residents ranged in age from mid-sixties to mid-eighties in age giving an average age of 75 years.
- Length of provision of care was between one and two and a half years.
- Four of the clients who participated were male and one female.
- Care provision on a daily basis varied from three carers twice a day to four carers twice a day plus night-time care. The majority had four visits twice daily.
Although the overall feedback was positive, service users identified several opportunities for improvement. These included offering greater flexibility in visit times, exploring whether occasional showers or baths could be facilitated where safe, and considering the option of male carers for male service users during personal care.
The findings suggest a service that is caring and well-regarded, but one where small, practical changes could further enhance people’s independence, comfort and sense of choice.
What we heard:
"Only get a bed bath as they don’t let me use the stair lift, so I can’t have a shower anymore."
"As I can’t use my legs, I don’t have the option of getting into the bath or shower."
Our recommendations include:
- Consider ways of offering a shower or bath to clients at regular intervals, rather than always bed baths.
- Ensure that conversations around preferred time for rising and going to bed, as well as preferences around personal care are included each time the care plan is assessed.
- Consider gender matching for personal care
- Ensure care staff stay with clients for their full allocated visit time, for some individuals this can be a significant of part of their daily human interaction in any 24 hours.
Examples of best practice
Having an established team of care givers allows for rotation of staff for holiday and sickness cover, ensuring that clients are never reliant on a single person or faced with unfamiliar faces without notice. This gives the client base confidence in their care provider.
