Archived: Headway Devon

We visited four people in their homes and we also spoke with four people on the telephone. We met two care workers during our visits to people's homes and we spoke with three care workers on the telephone. We visited the agency office where we spoke with the registered manager and a senior member of staff with responsibility for training. We looked at records held in the agency office including care plans, medication administration records, staff rotas, staff training records and systems used to monitor the quality of the service.

People we spoke with and visited told us the agency provided a good service. Comments included 'Really, really good', 'The service is excellent. They have such a lovely group of people who work for them' and 'They are definitely doing a good job. It's marvellous to have carers who understand strokes.' However, there was a risk people may experience missed visits due to weaknesses in the way the agency planned care worker's rotas each week. We also found some people did not have an up to date copy of their care plan in their homes and some care plans did not provide sufficient information about the person's care needs.

Most people who needed care staff to administer their medicines received their medicines safely. However, some unexplained gaps in the administration records meant people may be at risk of not receiving their medicines as prescribed. Some care workers had not received adequate training on the safe administration of medicines.

The agency did not have robust systems in place to seek people's views on the service and identify any areas where improvements were necessary.

We were able to review care rotas, checking visits were carried out on time with a consistent staff team attending. Rotas told us that staff are with the people for the agreed time.

People made very positive comments about the service telling us, 'I am very happy with the service indeed." Not all aspects of peoples care was recorded and monitored to ensure that their needs were addressed.

Staff felt supported in their roles and told us, 'I enjoy my job and getting a sense of satisfaction.'

The service had systems in place to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse.

The provider did not have robust systems in place to ensure that it monitored the care support and services it provided.

Records were not kept securely.