Former Cobblers captain's Northampton home care company scores top accolade

Back Row L-R: Denise Hill, Christine Allen (registered care manager), Ray Warburton, Jo Warburton, Theresa Pocklington. Front row L-R: Cassy Buzzard, Kelly Mennim, Marcia Lawrance, Bianca Bounds

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said ex-Town defender Ray Warburton and wife Jo's Home Instead Senior Care Northampton had achieved consistently outstanding outcomes for clients.

The report, published this week, stated that Ray, Jo and their registered care manager, Christine Allen, ensured that "people were at the heart of everything" the company does.

Ray said: “Everything that we do is informed by the needs of our clients and their families.

"We work very hard to ensure the wellbeing of our lovely clients and to bring peace of mind to their families.

“This is our focus and it is a whole team effort. We are very grateful to our caregivers who deliver such compassionate care and to our office staff who keep everything running smoothly.

“Jo and I were delighted to read the report and feel very proud of being named as outstanding.

“It’s been a bit of a journey from the football pitch – I loved that career and feel blessed that I have been able to turn my hand to something completely different, working alongside Jo. It is just so rewarding.”

Ray - who captained Northampton to victory at Wembley in the 1997 Third Division Playoff Final - and Jo set up the Home Instead office in 2011. The business provides care for 90 clients and employs 80 staff.

The CQC report states: "The service demonstrated an excellent commitment to providing outstanding care, which put people at the heart of everything. The provider and registered manager led the staff to deliver person-centred care, which had achieved consistently outstanding outcomes for people. People were at the heart of everything.

"Staff continuously went the ‘extra mile’ to ensure that people remained living in the comfort of their own home. They respected people’s individuality and empowered people to express their wishes and make choices for themselves. Positive therapeutic relationships had been developed and staff were proud of the support that they had provided to people and the positive outcomes they had observed."

In achieving its 'outstanding' rating, Home Instead Senior Care Northampton joins a select group of companies as only two per cent of adult social care providers have achieved this rating since the introduction of CQC’s new Ofsted-style approach to inspection and regulation in 2015.

Clients of the home care company, whose service allows them to remain living in their own homes, praised the care they received. One said: “All the caregivers are very friendly and they are here for me, they will always have a chat.” Another said, “No one could be better.”

Inspectors were also impressed by the effort the care team made to empower clients. In order to allow one particular client to share their views and express their wishes the caregivers learnt Makaton, a form of sign language used by the client.

Another caregiver took time to carry out research on strokes to enable them to better understand the needs of clients who had suffered strokes and how they may need to adapt their approach.

"The provider was not only committed to providing the most trusted and respected home care service in Northampton but also to work alongside other agencies to change the face of ageing," states the CQC report.