Archived: Allied Healthcare Tunbridge Wells

The registered manager whose name appears on this report was not in day to day control of this location at the time of the inspection. The manager in day to day control had recently transferred from another of the provider’s locations and was in the process of changing their registration.

People told us that their privacy and dignity were respected and their independence was encouraged.

People we spoke with told us that they were satisfied with the care and support they received. People felt their care was personalised to their needs. One person said, “I’m very pleased with them”. Another person said, “It’s good I can’t find fault with them”. People were aware of their care plan folder (a records folder kept in their home), although not always of their care plan. We found that care plans contained information about people’s needs and preferences.

People felt safe using the service and when staff were present in their home.

People were generally very complimentary about the staff. They felt that the service on the whole recruited the right calibre of staff to meet their needs.

People said they had been asked for their views and feedback on the service provided. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

We telephoned two people who used the service and who received support from care workers with their medicines. We also telephoned a person’s relative. People told us that their care workers supported them to take their medicines at the times they needed them and that that the support was given safely. They were confident that the care workers were competent in giving medicines and knew that they recorded when they had given it.

People said “They are very good, they bring it in and supervise I take the right amount”, “They wouldn’t let me forget it” and “They give it at the right time”.

People who used the service told us that an assessment of their needs had taken place before they started receiving support. One person said they had “Had a thorough and lengthy assessment “.

People we spoke with told us their carers were kind and polite and supported them in a respectful and dignified way. People said staff understood that they liked to keep as independent as they could. People commented “I have a very nice carer”, “We are very happy with the carers, they are very nice girls” and a relative said “Carers are very, very good with him”.

People said their care workers usually arrived on time but on occasions had been late and they had not been informed about the delay. People were aware the agency was supposed to inform if their careworkers were going to be late but said often this did not happen.

People confirmed they had copies of their care plans at home and staff recorded visits in them. Some people said they regularly looked at the information in the folders. Some people recalled that their needs had been reviewed.

People and their relatives generally felt that staff at the office were helpful if they had any concerns or asked for any changes to their care package. A social care professional told us the service was “Pretty good, they keep me informed”.