14, 15 June 2012
During a themed inspection looking at Domiciliary Care Services
The inspection was led by a Care Quality Commission inspector who was supported by an 'expert-by-experience'. This person has had direct of experience of using the services of a domiciliary care agency. This person took part in telephone surveys of people who used this agency and their findings were incorporated into this report
We were able to speak with 14 people on the telephone and asked them about their experience. We also visited four people at home who told us about the care they had received from the agency care workers.
We found a mixed response from people we telephoned, although the people we visited at home were all very pleased with the support they received from this agency.
Most comments people made about the agency's service were positive overall, although some people who were generally happy with their care nevertheless expressed some disatisfaction with having too many different care workers scheduled to provide the help they needed. They told us they liked to get to know their care workers and this could sometimes be difficult when different care workers were scheduled to provide the support they needed.
People who regularly had the same care workers described them as "'lovely. They do come across as caring." One person who would have liked to have had more regular care workers still described most of the care workers as "'brilliant." A relative commented, "'it is a friendly face at the end of a busy day and it gives me peace of mind to know that they will be calling."
One person told us that new care workers were always introduced by one of their regular care workers. They said this reassured them that the care workers were supervised. One person said they had less confidence in new care workers until they became familiar with what they needed to do.
One person said that their relative was never "rushed" by the care workers, although some people thought their care workers were kept very busy by the agency. By contrast, another person said that the care workers were, "'pretty flexible and will do more or less whatever I ask them to do."
A few people thought the office staff could sometimes be more helpful when dealing with enquiries. For example, some people said the office staff could be more efficient at returning their calls. One person told us the office staff were "'very efficient'"