The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Affinity Trust - Domiciliary Care Agency - Central & Bedfordshire

Basepoint Business Centre, 110 Butterfield, Great Marlings, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 8DL (01582) 434336

Provided and run by:
Affinity Trust

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

5, 6 December 2013

During a routine inspection

During our inspection of Affinity Trust Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA), we used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. This was because some of the people using the service had complex needs, which meant they were not able to talk with us about their experiences. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk with us.

From our observations and our conversations with people, we found that staff discussed things with people, or checked their reactions, to make sure they understood and agreed to what was happening. People told us that staff knew them and what to do for them.

We saw that each person received an assessment of their care needs, including any risks associated with their care provision. In all the cases we looked at, we found that the care provided matched with the care required and was what people had agreed to. We found the service had completed the appropriate checks before staff began work and that the care workers employed were appropriately trained and qualified.

We saw the service had effective systems to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. These included surveys and audits. There was an effective complaints system available and comments and complaints people made were responded to appropriately.

1 August 2012

During a routine inspection

The people we spoke with told us they or their relatives had their privacy and dignity respected and were encouraged to be independent where possible. They said that decisions they made in relation to their or their relatives' care were well respected. They said they were given relevant information relating to the care provided by the service.

People said they or their relatives had received an assessment of their needs when they started using the service and that staff displayed a very good understanding of their or their relatives' needs and how to meet them.

The people we spoke with told us they or their relatives felt safe being cared for by staff from Affinity Trust DCA. They said the staff were kind and polite and appeared qualified and experienced to carry out their roles. They said they felt the standard of care provided was very good.

People told us they had no concerns about the service. They said they knew how to raise concerns if they needed to. People told us that they could feedback on the care provided at meetings or with managers who were very accessible.

One person summarised the general feeling of the people we spoke with by saying: 'I'm happy with my care. I'm happy with my care workers and can't think of anything they could do better for me'.