A FAMILY run care agency in Tavistock is celebrating this week following a glowing Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

Tavy Care Services, a domiciliary agency, received a rating of ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ in care after an inspection last month.

The CQC inspector said that for ‘is the service caring?’ Tavy Care had improved from ‘Good’ and added that staff always went the extra mile for people they supported and that clients were treated with ‘exceptional kindness, respect and compassion’.

Registered care manager and director for Tavy Care Janine Wiles, who set up the business in 2014 as she wanted to ‘raise the standard of care in the community’, said: ‘We are thrilled to receive such a positive inspection report with an outstanding rating for caring.

‘As a company that is only four-years-old, to receive an outstanding for our caring means a huge amount to us.

‘During these four years we have grown rapidly and expanded our knowledge to provide a high standard of care to people living in our community.

‘The care staff are skilled, qualified and experienced in some complex conditions and pride themselves on their standards.

‘We consider ourselves extremely lucky with our team as they are loyal and committed to their role with a genuine passion for supporting and improving the quality of lives of people in their own homes.

‘The local community services have been an invaluable source of support and training for the team, the local GP surgeries and community nursing teams, social workers and the St Luke’s Hospice community team.

‘This means a huge amount for the team’s hardwork and dedication to be recognised in this inspection report.

‘As a company we continuously look for ways to be innovative in our field and will be striving to improve further for our next inspection.’

When the company first began, Janine was working by herself — today though Tavy Care employs 34 people and visits 80 clients in the West Devon and Cornwall area.

In the report the inspector added: ‘People were given every opportunity to express their wishes regarding their care and support and how they were feeling at that particular time.

‘There were many examples of the empathy staff had with people and the action they took as a result — they changed rotas so they could eat their lunch with people who were alone.

‘The friendships that formed between staff and the people they cared for meant they sometimes spent time together enjoying activities.

‘One staff member asked for a particular day off so they could take someone to the ballet. Other care staff found time to take a person to visit their parents’ graves.

‘We visited three people receiving care and their relatives. On each occasion the arrival of the care staff resulted in a happy atmosphere.

‘There was laughter and conversation. People receiving support and their relatives were very positive about care they received.’

CQC monitors, inspects and regulates services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and it publishes what is found, including performance ratings to help people choose the care for them.