Archived: Kennedy House

The staff members we spoke with told us how they involved people in their own care and treatment and checked with people for consent before treatment was given. We spoke with four people who use the service they told us the ACE staff were experienced in their work roles, and they felt safe being treated by the staff members that were sent to their homes.

We saw examples of co-operation with other providers through agreements held by ACE.

The staff told us they felt supported in their role and were encouraged to develop their skills to support the care they provide to the people who use their services.

We found records were kept securely and could be located promptly when needed. Records were also kept for the appropriate period of time and then destroyed securely.

People were respected and involved when they used the service. Staff were able to describe how they maintained dignity, privacy, and the independence of people they cared for. This was confirmed by people and their relatives. One relative told us, "When they come, they always maintain privacy and dignity."

A staff member told us "When we go in to a person's home, you just can't move stuff around - you have to respect how the person wants to live."

People received effective, safe and appropriate care. Care plans we looked at were centred on individual's needs and had been used to properly assess and plan the care. One person told us, "I don't think they could have done better and they wrote everything down that I needed to know."

The service had suitable arrangements in place to safeguard people from abuse and respond quickly to safeguarding issues.

Staff were well supported, however we saw that mandatory training was not being provided to all staff on a frequent basis. People could not always be assured that staff were competent because there were not always suitable arrangements in place for mandatory training to be delivered.

We saw a wide range of audits and other feedback from people who used the service. People were protected form unsafe care because there was regular monitoring and assessment of the service.