Archived: Advantage Healthcare - Nottingham

People expressed their views and were involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. We spoke with four people using the service. They all said they were happy with the service they received. One person said, 'They are very conscious that it needs to be about what I want, not what they want.' Another person said, '[The manager] has brought new staff to meet me.' A third person said, '[The care is] absolutely excellent. I've got two brilliant carers.'

We found there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. We spoke with two relatives of people using the service. One relative said, 'Yes they know what they're doing. They do listen to what you say.'

We asked people who use the service if they were given the opportunity to talk about the quality of the care they receive. One person said, 'The manager rings me every month and visits to see how I'm getting on.' Another person said, 'I have filled out a questionnaire. The manager visits and rings regularly. I fill out assessments about the staff.' A third person said, 'I'm able to raise anything I want about the care.'

We asked people using the service if they would feel comfortable to make a complaint if they needed to. One person said, '[The manager] said if anything's wrong I should ring [them].' Another person said, 'I would go to [the manager] I always feel comfortable with [them].'

One of the people we spoke to on the day of our inspection was waiting for their carer to arrive. The care plan stated that their call should have taken place an hour and a half before it did. Some visits were not taking place at the requested time and there was no recorded information to suggest an alternative time had been agreed with the person using the service.

We spoke to two relatives of people who were using the service and one person said, "I can't fault the carers. They are excellent' Another person said, 'The service has been erratic and variable. I have lost confidence in it. I feel I have to monitor things and I can't rely on the service at the moment.'

People told us they felt safe with the support they were being provided. One person said, "I feel safe.'

The provider was making appropriate checks before a new member of staff started work.

Three of the people we spoke to said there were not enough staff available to support them to fulfil their own needs or support their relative's care. One person said, "There is nowhere near enough staff now. The staff are often in a hurry.'

We also found that the provider was not taking sufficient steps to assess the quality of the service being provided.