Home Instead Senior Care Wimbledon and Kingston has become the first London homecare provider to receive an Outstanding Rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

As a quality homecare provider with a mission to change the face of ageing, Home Instead Senior Care couldn’t be more proud of this news and of its Outstanding franchisee Clare Jefferies.

It’s a first that recognises commitment to quality homecare provision in the country’s capital and Clare’s personal passion for Home Instead Senior Care’s relationship-led care model – inspired by an incredibly moving life story.

After losing her father to Motor Neurone Disease and her mother to cancer within seven months of each other, Clare wanted to make a stand for quality homecare provision.

Having seen an endless stream of different faces visiting her parents, carers with little time, who didn’t know her loved ones, their strengths and weaknesses, she was inspired to become part of the Home Instead care model.

Today, Clare has 130 elderly clients and as a local employer has a team of almost 100 CAREGivers who deliver care the ‘Home Instead Way’.

Celebrating the Outstanding news, Clare said: “My parents would be so proud of the fact that the homecare company I’ve built in their memory has been officially rated Outstanding by the CQC. Receiving the highest rating possible, and becoming the first homecare provider in London to receive an Outstanding rating, is a dream come true for what I set out to do, to change the face of ageing.”

“When my parents needed care, I often dreamed of having another me, a ‘carbon copy daughter’ who could help look after them just the way I would do, with kindness and dignity. That’s the kind of care we deliver at Home Instead Senior Care each day and I’m proud to be part of this franchise family.

“I’ve been supported every step of the way by National Office, I knew I saw my future in homecare but setting up a whole care business from scratch would have been a daunting prospective. Investing in a Home Instead Senior Care franchise meant I had the tools and support to make a viable business opportunity in the sector I felt so passionate about being part of.”

Connecting the community

Clare has become a champion of the wider community in turn. Together with her CAREGivers, they have been combatting loneliness amongst the elderly by starting a series of social clubs to give people a special diary date to look forward to with afternoon tea, lunch, and theatre clubs.

The CQC report recognised the difference this has made: ‘These clubs gave people the ‘feel good factor’ and a sense that they were being supported which helped them in their day to day life.’

When Clare started Home Instead, she had a dream of making a dementia friendly community too. She’s achieved that goal by launching memory cafes for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, social events with activities designed to stimulate reminiscence conversations. And when the Alzheimer’s Society lost its funding for an initiative called Singing for the Brain, her franchise stepped in to sponsor the group.

Home Instead Senior Care has 150 carefully mapped territories available for people who are passionate about quality care for our ageing population, as well as territory resale opportunities.

Ruth Brown, Head of Franchise Development at Home Instead, said:

“Clare is the epitome of the caring entrepreneurs that we are looking for to grow our homecare brand as we enter our second decade. Like many of our franchisees, Clare had experienced poor quality care and could identify entirely with our mission, to change the face of ageing, and through her team of CAREGivers, make the ‘carbon copy’ daughters that she had wished for.”