All of the people we contacted about receiving a service from Angels Homecare services were in agreement that care plans were written with them and accurately reflected their current needs. When speaking with relatives of people using the service they said where it was appropriate they had been involved in the process of creating care plans.People spoken to about their care clearly understood their needs and stated that the service they receive meets those needs. Relatives of people using the service supported this.
When speaking to people and their relatives about their care we asked them what they thought of the service they received.
People made the following comments, 'Lovely, real angels', 'Couldn't be better', 'I'm delighted', 'My service is excellent', 'The agency looks at the individual needs of people', 'People are treated as individuals', 'it's a really good staff team', 'The continuity of care is really good, I am supported by the same five or six staff', 'I am more than content', 'They take me shopping', 'They are a wonderful team of carers, I couldn't of hand picked them better', 'They do the business, I can't sing their praises high enough!'
When speaking with some of the staff team we asked them what steps they would take if they identified suspected abuse. They confirmed the agency has a safeguarding policy and if they suspected abuse they would report it as detailed in the safeguarding policy.
When speaking with staff we asked them about infection control. Staff explained that the agency provides them with disposable protective equipment (gloves, aprons and paper towels). Staff confirmed they had completed health and safety training and this was reflected in training records we examined.
Staff commented that there is an 'open door policy' for staff employed by the agency. If they needed to speak to the management team they could either contact via the phone or just pop into the office.
As part of this review we spoke to six staff (from a total of 16). One of the questions we asked some members of the team was about the recruitment process. The staff we spoke with agreed that they had completed application forms, Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosures where applied for and references were taken. Once starting with the agency they completed a period of induction which included; shadowing established staff and completing the Common Induction Standards (CIS) as well as other training.
All of the staff we spoke to were really positive about working for the agency saying that the management team are really well organised.
When speaking to staff about their working patterns; we asked whether they usually visited the same people? Whether they had enough time between appointments? Whether the management team asked them to 'fit in' extra visits?
All of the staff were in agreement that the agency is well organised and they are given their rotas in sufficient time. They all agreed that they usually have a regular group of people that they visit, and that there are only odd occasions (due to staff sickness usually) where they might have to squeeze in another visit. They stressed this was rare though.
When speaking to people receiving a service from the agency we asked them about the staffing. They all agreed that they had small teams of regular carers and that, 'The time allotted is excellent', 'They are rarely late, if they are they usually phone and tell me', 'I am given a sheet of paper to show who is going to visit'.
As previously identified we spoke to six staff employed by the agency; we asked each of them about the training they received, supervision, observations and team meetings. Staff commented; 'We are always doing training, the training is brilliant', 'The manager is really good at supporting us to do specialist training, I have recently done training in Dementia', 'We complete all of the mandatory training and annual updates as required', 'We get regular supervision, this is monthly as a team and then by ourselves from time to time. The management team have an open door policy and if I want to speak to them about something I can', 'The care coordinator carries out observations regularly when we are working with people', 'The team meetings are good, and we discuss issues including the care of people we support and any changes that may need to be made. It is a good team'.
All of the people receiving a service from the agency are sent a questionnaire annually. When examining the latest completed questionnaire one of the questions asked people what they thought of their service. Comments we saw included; 'Excellent', 'Quite satisfied', 'Extremely satisfied, could not be faulted', 'I consider I have an excellent service', 'Very satisfactory in every way', 'Exceptional', 'Very satisfied, the carers are all lovely' and 'I am very satisfied with the standard provided'.
We spoke to five people receiving a service from the agency. We asked them if they were unhappy could they make a complaint. Each of the people with spoke with confirmed that if they needed to complain they could and that there was a complaints procedure in place. All of the people we spoke with felt they would never have to make a complaint as they are so satisfied with the service they receive.
All of the people being supported by the agency that we spoke with confirmed that they had care plans and they accurately reflected their needs. When speaking with staff they also confirmed that everyone has care plans.