An in-home care provider where staff "become part of the family" has been given a "good" rating by the healthcare watchdog.

EdenCare, headquartered on Thicketford Road, provides domiciliary care to 62 people.

The care provider was awarded a "good" rating in a report by the Care Quality Commission, which was published on Tuesday, February 6, based on an inspection carried out in late January.

In the report, inspectors rated the service "good" in answer to all five "key questions" as to whether the service is safe, effective, caring, responsible, or well-led.

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Inspectors said the care provider supported people "to have maximum choice and control of their lives", with staff supporting users "in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests".

Relatives of users were said to have praised the "absolutely brilliant" staff as going "beyond and above what you would expect" in the report, adding that they had "become part of the family".

Staff were also praised for their caring attitude, with one user adding that the "kind and caring" staff would check what they wanted to eat each day, and discuss football and wrestling with them.

Deputy manager praises 'morale boost'

Speaking to The Bolton News, deputy manager Affy Ali commended her staff.

She said: “We are a small company, and our ethos is quality over quantity.

"Although there are quite a lot of domiciliary care providers in the Bolton borough, we pride ourselves with being on the top with the level of quality we deliver.

“We’re very person-centred, and we champion consistency to allow carers and service users to create bonds – as you can imagine, having personal care is quite an intimate situation and just to have different carers coming in – I wouldn’t want it to happen, so I don’t think anybody else does.

“We pride ourselves on that, that we can offer consistency to our service users.”

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Care staff say they are 'getting paid more for pricing tins of beans in Aldi'

Affy added that she believed more money was needed in the care sector as a whole.

She said: “The care sector itself is one of those jobs where, no matter what, you never feel quite appreciated.

“To get this kind of a report is a good morale boost – us in the office, in the management, and down to the field staff doing the hands-on care, it’s just a boost in morale, just to know we have been recognised for the good work.

“It’s the little things in life that matter, and things like that do go a long way – to feel appreciated in this role is difficult.

"At this moment in time, as a care provider, we do feel that the healthcare sector – especially when it comes to rates of pay for our staff – I think that needs to be looked in to.

“You’ve got staff saying that you’re getting more for pricing tins of beans in Aldi than you do for actually delivering hands-on care and supporting people with medication. These are vulnerable people they’re there supporting.

“It is hard – at the end of the day, with the cost of living crisis, people have got bills to pay, mortgages to pay, mouths to feed, and I do think that a big pot should be poured into the healthcare sector to be able to offer a higher rate of pay.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk or click to send me a message on WhatsApp or on Signal on 07517566383.