THE management team at a village care agency has been praised after they received a top rating from the Care Quality Commission.

Forest Homecare, in Alderford Street, Sible Hed - ingham, was rated “good” overall, the second high - est score, when it was inspected in December.

Leadership at the home was rated “outstanding” - the top score.

The home is a domiciliary care agency, provid - ing care and support to people so they can to main - tain their independence in their own home.

It provides services for about 320 people.

Responsiveness, caring, effectiveness and safety all received “good” ratings, with leadership receiv - ing the highest possible ranking.

The report stated: “There was an honest and open culture embedded within the service which was driven from the top down.

“The management team were proactive and placed a strong emphasis on continually striving to improve their service in order to deliver the best possible care for people using the service.”

In terms of safety, the staff knew how to recog - nise signs of abuse and the action to take to pro - tect people, risks associated with people’s care were managed well, and a robust recruitment pro - cess was in place.

Inspectors found the service was effective, and committed to promoting a positive learning envi - ronment and staff were continually supported to develop their knowledge and skills.

In terms of caring, the report stated: “People us - ing the service and their relatives were extremely complimentary and enthusiastic about the staff and the care that they provided.

“Staff engaged people in conversation and laughed and joked with them, as a result of which people were comfortable in their presence.”

Christine Richardson, Head of Operations & Business Development, said: "We are very pleased indeed with the results of our recent CQC inspection and to receive an Outstanding rating. This specifically acknowledges that Forest Homecare is an extremely well led organisation.

"Our objectives are to provide the best possible person centred care and support to our service users and to employ, train and support quality care and support staff. We have an extensive team of quality and monitoring officers who visit service users very regularly to evidence performance, customer satisfaction and a safe service and to ensure we are on a continual improvement direction.

"Our aims are to achieve an overall Outstanding rating when we are next inspected, something which only about 4% of all health and social care providers nationwide have received. We would like to thank and commend our care and support staff who do a fantastic job 365 days a year, without them we could not have secured such a splendid inspection outcome.

"We always welcome enquiries from applicants with the right qualities to join our friendly care teams. Our Human Resources team can be contacted on 01787 463222."