Staff at St Luke’s Care are beaming with pride this week as the government’s care regulator rated the domiciliary care service as outstanding – an accolade that puts it in the top 0.5% of organisations inspected nationwide and makes it one of the three out of 198 providers in Plymouth to receive the highest rating.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked at the work of St Luke’s Care over a three-day inspection in the autumn, talking with clients as well as meeting staff at the service’s headquarters at Brooklands in Crownhill, Plymouth.

St Luke’s Care provides paid-for care and support to adults of any age with illness, disability or frailty so that they can continue to live as independently as possible in their own homes. Covering Plymouth and South West Devon, the team gives support with personal care, as well as help with daily living tasks and activities.

Rating the service outstanding overall, the CQC highlighted in particular the ‘extremely caring’ way St Luke’s Care staff look after people, and the ‘exceptional’ leadership demonstrated by the management team.

Placing people at the heart of its service and providing them with personalised care is key to its achievements, St Luke’s Care believes. This was evident to the CQC, its report noting that people were ‘supported to be involved about how they received their care and support’.

Going the extra mile for the people they help is also central to St Luke’s Care’s ethos of compassion, as the inspector’s report demonstrated. “The staff are excellent. They brought me flowers when I came out of hospital. They do everything and more – they never make me feel like a burden,” said one person who used the service, while another said, “It’s the little things that make all the difference. They pick up fish and chips for me once a week and make sure I have fresh bread.”

Without exception, relatives met by the inspector also spoke very highly of the care their loved ones received, describing the positive impact St Luke’s Care has on their quality of life and the life of their family and loved ones.

Sarah Roberts, Business Care Manager for St Luke’s Care, said: “We are very proud to receive this outstanding rating, which is testament to the exceptional commitment of the whole team. Whether they receive care every day or for a few hours a week, we are passionate about enhancing people’s well-being and quality of life, and strive to keep clients and their families at the centre of our service. They consistently tell us what a difference our team’s holistic approach makes to them, and to have this recognised by the CQC is a wonderful endorsement”.

“Developing staff and sharing best practice with other organisations helps ensure we provide the highest standard of care. We’re currently recruiting new domiciliary care staff and as part of this, we’re holding a Recruitment Open Day on 16 January. This is a great opportunity to meet the team and find out about the very rewarding work we do, helping people to live as independently as possible.”