Archived: Support at Home

At this inspection visit we viewed the administration of medication policy and procedure held by the service and talked with four members of staff. We looked at care records belonging to two people who used the service. We saw evidence which demonstrated that staff understood the actions they needed to take when people lack capacity to consent. We found that people were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.

We also contacted relatives as part of our inspection. One relative told us that staff were punctual and reliable and they felt the quality of the service was good.

We found that some of the procedures in place for supporting people with their medication were not fully effective. This could lead to people not being appropriately supported with their medication.

Staff felt well supported and appropriately trained. Communication across the staff team was reported to be good and staff were being provided with supervision meetings on a regular basis.

The provider had systems in place for checking on the quality of the service and these included seeking the views of people who used the service.

People’s comments included the following; “I feel comfortable because I have a small group of carers who know what I need”, “The service is very very good”, “Its’ excellent and I have never had any reason at all to complain. The carers are always punctual and totally reliable”.

We were given positive feedback about the care workers. People described staff as “Excellent”, “Reliable” and “Spot on”. One person said “The staff are very approachable, they’re warm and professional at the same time”.

We found that staff were supporting the aims and objectives of the service in encouraging people to make choices, use their skills, and participate within their local community.

Checks had been carried out on staff before they started working for the agency. These aim to ensure people are supported by staff who have the appropriate qualities, skills and experience they need to carry out their roles.

People told us they would feel confident to raise any concerns or complaints about the service but they had not had reason to do so We saw that when a complaint had been made it had been listened to and acted upon by the manager.