We spoke with eight people who used the service or their relatives by telephone. People told us that on the whole they were happy with the support received by care staff. Most people said that staff were polite, supportive and appeared to be confident about the support they were giving however some people had some concerns. One relative told us, 'They hoist her and toilet her etc. I have no concerns about safety when they are doing these things.' Other comments included: 'Very good, they meet her needs', 'Really good attitude from staff', 'They get training and know what to do', 'Most do know, but sometimes they send people with bad backs to go to hoist call', 'The girls are very good', 'Staff are always very caring, respectful, keep her dignity and call her by her preferred named', 'New people come but they know what they are doing to help me', 'The staff are very good, they are excellent and do a very good job', 'No problems with them not turning up, or time keeping', '(Sometimes they) leave toothpaste around his mouth after brushing his teeth. In the past when his t-shirt was wet, they don't change it and sometimes they don't seem to know what to do.' We received mixed comments about the organisation and co-ordination of staff. Two people told us that they thought the co-ordination and management of staff needed to be improved. One person told us, 'A rota is sent to us and on the whole it reflects what happens, but weekends are terrible, hit and miss. Sometimes people don't turn up, sometimes they are late and sometimes I don't know them.' Another person told us 'Organisation is hopeless, sometimes, it's hit and miss'it's not as good as it could be and needs to improve.' They added, 'Carers are committed, but I think they are losing patience because of the office attitude to them. '
Four people told us that they didn't have regular carers. Comments included: 'I would prefer one person or a few same people but it's unfortunate that there are quite a lot of different people', 'It was a different person every day. It would have been nicer if the same person came so I got to know them', 'Sometimes different people come, it's not usually the same staff more than two days in a row.'
People who used the service thought that staff respected their privacy and made sure that their dignity was preserved whilst promoting independence and safety. They also felt as though they had been involved and consulted about their care plans and were able to contribute to them.