11 December 2013
During a routine inspection
People were asked for their consent before they were provided with care and their wishes were respected. One of the staff team told us, 'I have my regular [people] and even though you know what they need you still have to ask their permission or prompt them. It's about respecting their choice.' One person we spoke with said, 'When [the care staff] come in they always ask me what I want to be done and then they do what I ask them.'
People's needs were assessed and care was planned according to those individual needs. People spoke positively of their experiences of the service. One person told us, 'I get everything I am supposed to get.' Another person said, 'If I get a new [care staff] or someone I haven't seen for a while they read up on all the things the previous [care staff] have done.'
People were protected against the risks associated with medicines because there were appropriate arrangements in place to support people to take medicines in line with their care plan.
There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. The relative of someone who used the service said, 'They [care staff] never miss [my relative's] calls and they are hardly ever late.' A person who used the service told us, 'Sometimes I need two [care staff members]. They come from different places but they always arrive together.'
We found that the provider had a number of systems in place for routinely monitoring the quality of service people received. This included an in-depth review by the provider's regional quality assessor. The provider also took account of complaints, comments and incident reports to improve the service.