First Option Healthcare

First Option Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary and nursing care agency providing complex care and support across the country. It provides personal care and nursing care to children and adults living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of the inspection it was providing a service to 95 people.

Not everyone using First Option Healthcare receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the areas where people are in receipt of personal care or treatment of disease, disorder or injury. Where a person is in receipt of personal care CQC, only inspects the service provided to people receiving help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. First Option Healthcare also provided treatment of disease, disorder or injury. This meant they also provided nursing assistance to people within their own homes in respect of long-term healthcare conditions.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right Support: People and their relatives felt involved in the planning of care and support. Regular meetings and reviews allowed people to make any changes necessary to ensure the service continued to meet their needs. Staff supported people to achieve their best healthcare outcomes by working with other healthcare professionals, families and commissioners. When people were supported to follow their hobbies, staff worked with them to help them achieve their goals and aspirations. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.