Hastings area care provider rated as outstanding by Care Quality Commission

The company, based in St Leonards, was rated ‘Outstanding’ in four of the five key questions the inspection asked. This is a rare achievement for any care provider with a quadruple ‘Outstanding’ rating placing them in the top 1% of home care companies in the whole of England.

Inspectors from the independent regulator of health and social care visited Radfield Home Care in April and looked in depth at whether the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. They also spoke to local health and social care professionals, people who receive the service, members of staff and reviewed a wide range of documents and practices.

In the recent report, the company was praised for providing “Outstandingly high quality care that met and exceeded their clients’ needs, and improved their wellbeing, independence and happiness”. In one example, the CQC found that the company had arranged for the return of a client’s beloved cat after they rehomed it due to an extended hospital admission.

When assessing leadership, the CQC found the service leadership to be “exceptional and distinctive’. They also found high levels of satisfaction among the team. In an interview, a staff member said: "I have experience of other care companies and Radfield isn't like that. They never overload you with work and respect the amount of work we can do. We want to do the job properly."

Radfield Home Care’s Director Samuel Holmes said: “I started Radfield Home Care as I could see there was a need for a high quality care service to support older residents to remain independent at home. I feel far too many local older people spend unnecessary time in hospital, or are admitted to residential or nursing care homes when they could be supported at home. I am incredibly proud of the whole team but special praise should go to our registered manager Amy Hilton and our senior team for leading the service through the pandemic."

Amy Hilton added “Achieving ‘Outstanding’ is a dream come true. It means so much to all of us.”