Archived: ICare (GB) Ltd

The agency had an adult protection procedure [now called safeguarding] that complied with all of the relevant legislation and good practice guidelines. This was designed to ensure that any possible problems that arose were dealt with openly and people were protected from possible harm.

When we visited in September 2013, we found that mandatory training had been improved and moving and handling training was being provided from within the agency. The training officer employed by the company was also due to deliver more training shortly after the inspection date in order to ensure staff training was up to date.

Information about the safety and quality of service provided was gathered on a continuous and on-going basis with feedback from the people who used the service.

Since our previous inspection the care plans have been improved and they now gave sufficient information to confirm that an individual's needs had been assessed properly and we could see how care needs were being met.

Although people were positive about the staff members that visited them and the care provided they did raise some concerns. People told us that they didn't always know who was visiting them, staff members were sometimes late and they did not always stay for the designated time. This was discussed with the manager who was already aware of the problem and was working to address it.

The care plans did not give sufficient information to confirm that an individuals needs had been assessed properly, we could not see how care needs were being met and a lot of files did not contain any risk assessments. This meant that they did not reflect the individual's current circumstances which could put them at risk. New care plans were being written and we saw that the new plans were written in a style that would enable the person reading it to have a good idea of what help and assistance someone needed at a particular time.