Archived: Sterling Homecare (Newark)

Following our visit to the offices, we spoke with people who used the service and relatives by telephone for their views, and this represented 20 per cent of the total number of people who used the service.

Consent had been given by people to their care and support which we found met their needs. People told us they had been visited by the service before they received a care package to discuss their needs.

People spoke highly about the care workers. Comments included, 'They (care workers) are always cheerful and treat me with dignity and respect.' And, 'All care workers are good and care for me in a professional way.' People spoke less complimentary about the organisation and told us they were not always happy about the timings of visits and the inconsistency of care workers.

We saw the provider had internal quality, monitoring and audit systems in place. We saw the complaints procedure and the compliments received in the last 12 months.

People expressed their views and were involved in making decisions about the support they received. Comments included, 'I prefer to have the same carers where possible, I asked if I could have the same two visit. In the last few months this has been happening.'

People's needs were assessed and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. Comments included, 'I remember someone visiting me asking me lots of questions about the support I need. I have copies at home of my care plans that I've signed.'

The people we spoke said on the whole they found carers to be competent and knowledgeable but this varied. Comments included, 'Some carers are better than others, some rush and don't do simple jobs properly.' And, 'I can honestly say, I was surprised how good the service is, the carers are professional, caring and very nice.'

People who used the service were asked for their views about the support they received and they were acted on. Comments included, 'I received a questionnaire from the service asking about my views.' And, 'I like to know who is visiting me each day so I call the office each week and they tell me who will be visiting me the following week.'