North Star Foundation is a domiciliary care provider for people with learning disabilities rated Good overall, with an Outstanding rating for Caring reflecting an exceptional, person-centred ethos where staff consistently went above and beyond to help people achieve their goals. All other key questions remained Good, with no identified regulatory breaches or significant areas of concern.
Strengths
· Staff were exceptionally caring, going above and beyond to help people achieve personal milestones and life goals including travel abroad, moving house, and accessing education and employment.
· Strong person-centred ethos embedded across the whole organisation, with people involved in care planning, staff recruitment, and service feedback.
· Flexible staffing model tailored to individual needs, with small dedicated staff teams providing consistency of care.
· Robust medicines management with trained staff and competency checks in place.
· Effective multi-disciplinary working with health and social care professionals, including specialist training such as diabetes and behaviour support.
North Star Foundation is rated Outstanding overall following a March 2020 inspection of this small domiciliary care service supporting 19 people with learning disabilities, with Safe and Effective rated Good and Caring, Responsive and Well-Led all rated Outstanding. The service demonstrated exceptional person-centred care, inclusive leadership and a deeply embedded culture of empowerment that enabled people to achieve significant life goals, with no failure themes identified.
Strengths
· Exceptionally person-centred care with highly individualised support plans reflecting people's life histories, communication preferences and aspirations, which people truly owned.
· Strong, consistent staff teams built around each person, fostering trusted relationships and enabling people with learning disabilities to achieve significant personal goals and independence.
· Outstanding leadership with a deeply embedded culture of inclusion, equality and empowerment running as a 'golden thread' throughout the service.
· Creative and proactive approaches to communication, including picture books, electronic applications and liaison with speech and language therapists.
· Robust partnership working with health and social care professionals, families and advocacy services, with consistently positive feedback from community professionals.
Quality-Statement breakdown (24)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
North Star Foundation, a domiciliary care service for people with learning disabilities, was rated Good across all five key questions following an announced inspection on 20–21 April 2015. The service demonstrated strong person-centred practice, inclusive leadership, well-trained staff, and effective involvement of people in shaping their own care and the wider service.
Strengths
· People felt safe with regular, consistent care staff who understood their individual needs, routines, and preferences.
· Staff received comprehensive induction, ongoing training including safeguarding, MCA, and communication methods, and felt well-supported by approachable management.
· People with learning disabilities were actively involved in care planning, staff interviews, and service development, with plans written from their perspective using pictures and key words.
· Strong person-centred culture focused on independence, inclusion, and enabling people to lead fulfilled lives in the community.
· Open and transparent leadership with a clear vision for inclusion; incident learning was evidenced, including action plans following a medicine error.
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely care; supporting people to live healthier livesGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityOutstanding
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careOutstanding
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceOutstanding
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesOutstanding
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsOutstanding
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolation; support to follow interests and activitiesOutstanding
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsOutstanding
responsive: End of life care and supportOutstanding
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringOutstanding
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsOutstanding
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staff, fully considering their equality characteristicsOutstanding
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; duty of candourOutstanding
well-led: Working in partnership with othersOutstanding