27 April 2012
During an inspection in response to concerns
People said that their experience of the quality of care depended on the individual care worker assigned to them. Most of the people spoken with said that some care workers did not have basic house work skills, communication skills or interpersonal skills. Sometimes care workers seemed rushed and did not give the impression of being happy in their work; people gave examples of care workers not applying common sense to some tasks.
People said that the agency responded well to concerns. People were able to contact the registered manager and ask for a change of care worker and this was arranged.
People commented that some care workers did not present as having received skills training in care. People said that overall care workers were reliable and they were informed if their usual care worker was not available. Some people required two care workers and commented that this was scheduled correctly the majority of the time.
We spoke to people using the service who could not recall meeting a supervisor conducting a spot check of the care provided in their home.