People who used the service and their relatives told us that the care and support they received was good. They said that their care workers were friendly and treated them with respect. One said 'they are lovely girls, really good'. Another said "the carers are very willing and very nice". They told us that the care workers usually arrived on time and stayed for the time they should. However, several people told us they were not informed if the carer was running late. We found that people received safe and appropriate care, and that this care was reviewed on a regular basis.
People were protected from abuse as the agency took action to identify and prevent abuse from happening. Arrangements were in place for dealing with foreseeable emergencies.
Care workers told us that the provider was supportive, and enabled them to obtain relevant qualifications. They said that they had regular supervision and annual appraisals. At our last inspection in November 2011 we found that supervision and appraisal arrangements for some office-based staff were not adequate. At this inspection we found that office staff were receiving adequate appraisal and supervision.
We found that the agency had a number of systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. However, it had not carried out the records audits referred to in its own policies and procedures.