As part of this inspection we spoke by telephone to 9 people who were supported by the Homecare Service and saw groups of staff at every locality office. We also spoke with organisation's operational managers and Domiciliary Service Organisers (DSO) at the locality offices and senior officers at the Adult Social Care Department's headquarters; they all gave us a perspective about their work. All of the people we spoke to expressed very positive relations with the staff who provided support and care, and good relations with the agency's office based coordinator and management staff. They told us that staff worked sensitively and carefully, that 'they are all excellent, warm and friendly people', and that 'one worker in particular was very helpful with tips on how I could be more independent'. However we were also told that 'the care staff are quite varied and one or two don't clean up after they have finished.
Patterns of care delivery generally worked well for the people being supported. A small number commented on the high numbers of staff supporting them and also expressed their concerns with the timekeeping aspects of the service.
People told us in general terms about their confidence in the agency's staff to work safely and the staff that we spoke to all told us that they had received proper training about abuse of vulnerable people and they demonstrated an understanding about their responsibilities to report any concerns.