Archived: Empress Business Centre

We looked at the management of medication and saw that the service had appropriate policies and procedures in place. Staff received annual training in medication and people who used the agency confirmed that staff supported them with administration of medication when necessary.

We visited three people who used the agency and spoke to one relative on the phone. We also spoke with three staff members. People we spoke with confirmed they were satisfied with the service.

People who used the service said: 'The companionship is very good', 'If the staff are delayed, which is rarely, they will always phone to let me know', 'I am very satisfied', 'Staff complete the care file during each visit', 'The manager is very good and keeps an eye on things' and 'The staff are lovely and do whatever I ask them.' All of the people we spoke with agreed that the carers turned up on time and stayed for the allocated length of time.

Staff commented: 'The communication is good here, we get phone calls and texts to keep us up to date', 'It's good to help people and make them laugh', 'The training is good', 'We are introduced to clients before we start to support them' and 'It's nice to see clients improving.' All of the staff we spoke with said they got good support from the management team and that they had no concerns about the welfare of the people they supported.

We looked at staff training and supervision. We saw training records which showed that this was relevant to their work and saw that regular supervision sessions were undertaken which gave staff the opportunity to discuss their work with their line manager.

We looked at records and policies and procedures. We found a wide range of policies in place which were reviewed regularly. We spoke with the manager and provider about cooperating with other providers and we spoke with three people who they regularly liaised with. These people confirmed that they had a good professional working relationship with the manager and provider. Other comments included: 'The manager was very good and helpful' and 'The provider had a very professional attitude.'

During our inspection people told us that they received the care and support that they requested. We saw that their needs were assessed by the manager and people were fully involved in this assessment process. People always knew the care worker who visited them, and they felt they were treated respectfully.

People's comments included '[My care worker] is so nice and really flexible', 'I must admit, I can't fault them' and 'I feel very safe with [my care worker] and my family, who all live away, know I'm safe'.

The manager followed a robust recruitment process when recruiting care workers. We saw that training, including safeguarding training, was completed prior to staff starting to deliver care, and six references had been provided for each employee.

Care workers and people receiving care knew how to make a complaint and were confident they would be listened to if they complained to the manager.