Archived: Altimate Agency

We visited the office of Altimate agency and spoke with the provider, manager and three staff. Will also spoke on the telephone with one person that used the service and the relatives of three people who used the service.

All the people we spoke with told us that they were very happy with the service. A relative told us, 'My relative has regular care staff I am really happy with the care they receive'.

All the people we spoke with told us that they were happy with the staff and felt safe. There were systems in place to recognise and report any abuse so people were protected from the risk of harm.

All the people we spoke with were said the manager and staff were friendly and helpful. We saw that systems were in place to ensure that only staff that were suitable were recruited.

All the people we spoke with told us that if they were not happy about something they would speak with the manager. We saw some systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and to make improvements.

The service was only offering personal care to a small number of people living in their own homes. The agency also provides agency care workers and nurses to registered services. This part of the agency is regulated by the Employment Agency Standards.

Some people using the service told us that they were generally happy with the service provided. One person said, "Staff are nice and they do ask you how you want things done. Some relatives told us that at times communication between staff and their relatives was difficult due to language difficulties. This meant people may not get the care they needed in a way they prefer.

People's needs were not appropriately assessed and planned for which could affect the safety of the care people received.

Risks to people's well being and safety had not been identified and planned for which meant people could be at risk of harm.

Staff had limited understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to protect people from the risk of harm which places people at the risk of harm.

There were some systems in place to monitor quality but these had not been effective or timely.