Archived: Somerset Care Community (Surrey)

At our last inspection we identified a number of areas in which the provider needed to improve. These areas included the continuity of care people received and care workers arriving late or not staying for the allocated time of the visit. There was insufficient evidence that people had had an assessment of their needs before the agency began to provide their care. Appropriate checks had not been carried out before staff began work and some people were dissatisfied with the agency's response when they had contacted the office.

At this inspection we found that the provider had taken action to address these issues. An action plan had been drawn up to address the areas in which regulations were not being met. This included updating and auditing all staff and service user records, planning training sessions for staff and implementing quality monitoring systems.

People told us that they were supported by regular care workers and that timekeeping had improved. They said that their care workers stayed for the allocated time of the visit. People also told us that they had been satisfied with the response they received if they had contacted the office.

People said that when their regular care workers could not attend, the agency supplied replacement care workers. Some people told us that they did not mind having different care workers but others said they were not happy with the service provided when replacement care workers visited. One relative told us, 'We often get different people, which is a problem as they don't know him.'

We found that not all the people who used the service had an assessment of their needs before the agency began to provide their care. Care plans had not always been reviewed regularly to ensure that they continued to reflect people's needs and some care plans had not been updated following advice from healthcare professionals.

None of the people we spoke with, or their relatives, had any concerns about the way they were treated by their care workers. However we found that some staff files did not contain all the information necessary to demonstrate that appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work.