Archived: Meritum Independent Living (Maidstone)

People said that staff respected their privacy and dignity, involved them in their care and treatment plans and helped them to maintain their independence.

People said that staff met their or their relatives’ individual needs and carried out the support tasks contained in their plan of care. Most people were complimentary about the support that they received. Comments included, "They’re very cheerful and chatty”; and “They’re wonderful I couldn’t ask for better”.

Staff knew how to report any concerns in people’s well-being, so that action could be taken to address them. People said that they felt safe when being supported by the agency. One person told us, “It’s good to have people you can trust”.

There was a rolling programme of training in place to ensure that staff had the skills that they required to support the adults and children in their care.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service; and to gain and act on the views of people who used the service. People’s views were listened to and acted upon. For example, one person asked for a male carer and they were provided with one.

We found that people were thoroughly assessed by appropriate staff and that people received the support and care they needed. People said that the care staff understood their individual needs and preferences. One person said “My main carer is an excellent girl. She thinks ahead and does things before I have even thought of them myself”.

Staff understood their responsibilities regarding safeguarding vulnerable adults.

Staff said that they received the training and support they needed to enable them to care for the people using the service. Specific staff members were employed to provide the dementia crisis support service and they received additional training to enable them to carry out their roles.

There were systems in place to enable the manager to monitor the quality of the service and we saw that action was taken to address any shortfalls.