The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Ashfield Care Agency

Kern Place, Alton Road, Ross On Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5AX (01989) 565309

Provided and run by:
Ashfield Care Agency Limited

All Inspections

1 October 2012

During a routine inspection

We spent time at the agency's office, reviewing records and speaking with office staff and the manager. We spoke with four people who use the service and four staff members by telephone. People were positive about the service they received from the agency, and told us 'I'm more than happy with them' and 'they're doing a very good job for me'.

People said that the agency kept them well informed. They told us that staff were respectful and kind. People told us that staff were punctual and that they were always informed of any delays.

We found that there was not enough information about people's care needs for staff to refer to. This meant that people might not receive the care and support that they needed.

Records showed that all staff had received training in how to protect people from abuse or neglect. Staff were able to explain how they would identify signs of abuse, and knew how to report any concerns.

There were effective recruitment and selection processes in place. New staff told us that they had spent time working alongside a more experienced staff member before they worked on their own.

People told us that they were confident that they could raise any issues and that they would be listened to. We saw that people had been asked for their views about the service, by means of questionnaires. There was no evidence of any effective system for checking that the care provided to people met their assessed needs.