18 January 2012
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Before we visited the agency we spoke to the relatives of five people using the service and asked them about the service they received. Following the visit we spoke to two staff who worked for the agency.
Some people told us they were happy with the care provided by the agency and told us 'Privacy and dignity I would say is a priority, on the top of their list' and 'They do additional things, just because they care'. Some people told us that their needs had not been assessed and they did not have any care plans. This could mean that staff do not have any instructions about what they need to do to assist people.
Staff told us that they had not received training in dementia care. A relative said 'The carers don't understand how to deal with dementia'.
All of the people we spoke to told us that the staff were punctual and friendly. They told us 'There are always two staff and the staff are very friendly' and 'Mom loved the staff, nothing was too much trouble'.
We saw that recruitment checks on staff were not robust to ensure that people are safe from harm and supported by suitable staff.
People told us that they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. People told us about concerns they had raised and we saw what action the management had taken to resolve them. One person said 'If I had any problems I would call, they are really helpful and it would be resolved'.