Archived: Bridgeland Care Limited (Carewatch North Devon & Torridge)

During our visit to the office we met with the registered manager and her business partner. We looked at care records, staff records and a sample of policy documents and other records relating to the running of the business. We met with six people who used the service, who had agreed for us to visit them in their own homes. Some people were accompanied by friends or relatives. We spoke with four staff members.

People told us they found care staff to be reliable and always respectful. One person said, 'They are exceptionally reliable, I can't fault them.' They told us who their regular carers were. People told us that if new staff had to come to them, they were always introduced by a senior or by a carer who already worked with them.

People said their care staff knew what they were doing. 'It's all down to the training', one person told us. Senior staff said they were pleased that the service was well organised so they always had support if they needed it, even when they were on-call, out of hours.

We found that the senior staff had involved people in the planning of their care and had recorded their assessments and plans clearly. They had visited people to update these documents and to check whether people were satisfied with the service provided. We saw that satisfactory systems were in place to recruit staff and to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

People told us the staff were reliable and knew what they were doing. 'I think they're smashing, really expert' said one family member. Another person said, 'they are very kind to me and always ask if they can do anything more for me.' They were particularly pleased with those carers who were able to leave cheerfully making them feel happy.

People told us that they normally had their care provided by a few different carers and had been able to get to know them. One person said, 'they don't send me new staff ' I know them all.' Their family carer said, 'the staff know him so well they can see if he is not well.' New staff were always brought to visit by other staff before they visited alone to provide support and care.

Health and social care professionals told us that this agency had worked well with them to support people with complex care needs.

Staff knew how to work in a safe and hygienic way. 'They wear their protective clothing,' we were told. Staff took care when helping people with tablets or with creams and lotions but we found that not all care records were up to date and accurate in order to support consistent care provision.