Archived: Caremark Solihull

During our visit we spoke with the registered manager and the care co-ordinator. After our visit we spoke by phone with ten people who used the service, relatives of two people who used the service and with three care staff.

People who used Caremark Solihull and their relatives told us they were satisfied with the care provided. They said care and support needs had been agreed with them before the service started and copies of care plans were available in people's homes. A person who used the service said: 'They are wonderful.' A relative told us: 'I can't fault the carers in any way.'

The files we looked at contained care plans that were personalised and included people's preferences. People told us care staff were able to do everything they needed within the allocated time. They also said staff took their time and did not rush. One person who used the service said: "We can't fault them.'

We found evidence of quality management processes including complaints, compliments and incident management. People who used the service knew how to raise issues if they needed to. One person said: 'They are always contactable in an emergency.'

There were systems in place to monitor calls, review the quality of care and ensure staff training and competency.

We spoke to staff, observed policies and processes, reviewed four sets of notes and contacted five persons using the service or their families to gain further insight of the care provided.

Persons using the service were satisfied with the care provided stating that they were "very happy and staff did more than they needed to do", "the carers look after me very well", "they are very quick to respond when extra help is needed" and "I am very happy with the care I would just like more of it".

We found evidence of quality management processes including complaints, compliments and incident management. There was evidence of these being recorded and acted upon and evidence that people who use the service knew how to raise issues if they needed to. As one person said "they are always contactable in an emergency".

There were very comprehensive systems in place to monitor calls, review the quality of care and ensure staff training and competency. We found evidence of new training linked directly to patient requirements and mandatory training to ensure ongoing competence. Staff felt very satisfied with the training provided and had attended induction and ongoing development but felt it would be helpful to deliver training closer to their workplace because of the cost of travel and time commitments of their calls.