Archived: Advantage Healthcare - Cambridge

One family member commented that although recruitment has got better, "...there are several people in the office and poor communication means things can get missed". People said they were not informed in a reasonable time about late calls and cancellations. This meant some family members had to re-schedule their own work as a result. One family member said, "Both carers let me know if they are going to be late. In the past sometimes I've only had ten minutes notice that the carers aren't going to come."

One member of staff we spoke with said, "I like it (the work). It can be very challenging as every client has their own advantages and disadvantages." They explained that they understood the people they cared for and they were gaining experience every day.

We reviewed a sample of care plans and noted that improvements were needed to ensure that the plans were kept up to date so that staff had accurate guidance reflecting the care each person needed.

There were safeguarding procedures and training in place for staff to ensure that vulnerable adults and children were protected from harm or abuse.

Staff received an induction, ongoing mandatory training and additional training so that they were equipped to meet the needs of people using the service.

Quality assurance procedures were in place to monitor the effectiveness of the agency's services. The opinions of people using the agency's services were sought to ensure that any concerns or changes were identified and actioned.