Archived: Out and About at Office 8

People and their relatives were mostly happy with the service they received. One person we spoke with said 'I like going out with them (Out and About) they always take me to different places'. A relative we spoke with said 'I am really pleased with the service'.

We reviewed support plan files and found that risk assessments had not been reviewed and did not always provide sufficient information on how staff could minimise the risk.

The agency had their own safeguarding policy and procedure in the policy folder, however this did not provide sufficient details on how staff could report an allegation of abuse outside the agency. Staff we spoke with and records reviewed showed that staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults. Staff who administered medication had all received training; however the recording of medication obtained from, and returned to people's homes, was not clear.

The agency had a recruitment process in place, but we found that not all staff had received regular supervision and an annual appraisal. We looked at the agency complaints and we found that improvements were required. We found that the agency did not have a robust system in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service provided.