Archived: Sutton In Ashfield

We found support staff took care when handling people's medicines and made sure people were protected against the risks associated with medicines.

People told us they liked the support they received from their support staff. We saw that staff were very patient with people. At the agency's office, we looked at a sample of three staff files and saw the recruitment processes that were followed. With a recent addition of a health declaration form in use, we found everything was in place to ensure people were supported by staff who were fit, suitably skilled and were physically and mentally able to do their job.

Staff told us they had contact with people's relatives each week and a quality survey was used twice a year to gain relatives' views on the service. We found there was an effective system in place to monitor the quality of service that people received.

Due to the complex communication needs of the people who were supported by the service we used a number of different methods to help us understand their experiences. We looked at records. These included care records and information about how the service operated.

During the visit we also spoke with two relatives of people who used the service and asked them for their views. We spoke with two care workers and the registered manager

We found people gave consent to their support when they were able to and received care and support that met their needs. A relative told us they felt support workers 'tried very hard' to find out what their relation wanted.

We found people were safeguarded from abuse. A relative said, 'If they (their relation) didn't feel safe they wouldn't want to go back to them after visiting me.'

We found the staff team were supported through training and the provider assessed and monitored the quality of the service. A relative told us, 'They seemed to train them (support workers) as they go along, they all seem to be doing well.'