- Homecare service
HomeLink Healthcare Limited
Report from 14 August 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
HomeLink Healthcare Limited provides Hospital at Home services including Virtual Wards for both Hospital and Community Health services across the country. This means they provide care at home for people who are too well to be in a hospital bed but not yet well enough to be at home without clinical support. This service helps free up hospital beds, whilst also having a positive impact on people’s physical and mental wellbeing.
The service mostly provides support from registered nurses, physiotherapists and healthcare workers. These staff provide clinical support such as IV antibiotics, wound care and collar care, as well as supporting people with physiotherapy and equipment. Most people only use the service for a few weeks before they are either discharged fully or discharged over to the community health and social care teams.
Date of assessment: 3 September to 17 October 2025. At the time of our assessment approximately 40 people were receiving support with the regulated activity of personal care and/or treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
The last rating for this service was good (report published 19 February 2019). We carried out this assessment because of the length of time since the last inspection. We looked at all the quality statements and the overall rating for this service remains good.
People received a safe service, were protected from abuse or neglect and had their human rights promoted. Robust recruitment procedures were followed. There were sufficient skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Risks to people were assessed and they were kept safe. Accidents and incidents were monitored and analysed, so lessons could be learned and recurrences avoided. Medicines were managed and administered safely. Staff followed effective infection control procedures.
People had their needs assessed and support packages were compiled to meet their individual requirements. People were supported to live healthy and safe lifestyles and had access to other healthcare professionals, as needed. Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and made sure people consented to their care and support. People were supported in the least restrictive way possible and had maximum choice and control of their lives.
Managers carried out regular spot checks and audits. People were supported to make a complaint if needed. They were listened to and responded to appropriately. Information from complaints, comments or concerns was used to help drive improvement.
People received a personalised service and were involved in all aspects of their care and support. Staff made sure people were encouraged to do as much for themselves as possible. Information was accessible and available to people in a format suitable for their communication needs. Equality and diversity were consistently promoted and respected for everyone.
People's experience of this service
People told us they felt safe. They confirmed that lessons were learned if things went wrong and changes were made to improve the service. People said they were comfortable raising concerns and knew who to contact if they needed to do this. A person who used the service told us, “There is no negativity whatsoever and no cause to complain. All the staff I’ve had have a good personality and are easy to get on with”. Another person said, “I’m very safe with the care I’ve been getting.”
People had regular care staff who were kind and caring.They said staff were mostly punctual and stayed for the agreed length of time. People also told us staff were always respectful and asked for their consent before doing anything. People told us that staff respected people’s homes and followed appropriate infection control procedures. People gave positive feedback about the support they received with medicines when required and said staff helped them to access other healthcare professionals when needed.
People told us they had been fully involved in having their needs assessed and compiling their treatment plans and risk assessments. They said these were continually monitored and updated if changes were needed. People said they felt in control and their choices were respected.
People told us they felt they were treated fairly and nobody had experienced any discrimination or inequality. A person who used the service told us, “The staff have been very supportive and they try hard to understand what I need. They communicate with me and help me to understand the healing processes”.
People told us they felt the service was well managed. Comments from people who used the service included, “From my perspective, I think the service is very well run. I would not hesitate in recommending the company based on my experience in using them”. and “I would rate the quality very highly.”