A person who uses the services said 'I like coming to stay here I get to go out with staff'. A person told us about the flexibility in the daily routines and respect for their personal freedom and lifestyles when they stay for respite care. Carers consulted said that overall they were satisfied with the standards of support their relatives received. One carer spoke of how they felt the service has deteriorated of late due largely they felt to financial constraints. Two carers told us that they felt the service could provide more activities and mental stimulation with one carer saying 'the level of activity is poor, I visited and they were just all sitting around in the lounge it looked very institutional'. A person who uses the service told us how they were involved in developing their care plan and could ask to see what was written about them if they wanted to. Carers spoke of being involved in development and review of their relatives care plans. A person who uses the respite service is involved in writing their own daily notes about the events and occurrences in their life.
Carers spoke of the good levels of communication between the service and themselves with any changes in their relatives needs or queries being communicated either directly or through communication books.
Some people who use the service have an opportunity to be directly involved in the recruitment and selection of staff.
People using the service were observed to be at ease with staff. The approach of staff towards people staying at the service was respectful and accommodating. Staff spoke fondly of people they supported. A person who uses the service described staff as 'my friends' and how much they looked forward to coming to stay at the service. A staff member was observed using humour to communicate effectively with a person they were supporting. A person using the service was observed clearly deriving much comfort from the gentle affection being shown to them by a staff member , to help ease their anxiety and to help orientate them.
We received consistent feedback from carers about a significant turnover of staff in the last year and how this has had a negative impact on their relative especially when staying for respite care. Another carer spoke of inconsistencies in the quality and skills of some staff. This they felt was because of the use of some bank staff until more permanent staff are employed. A carer said that when they recently contacted the service the staff member's command of English was extremely poor which resulted in them not being able to communicate with the staff member.
The provider has a service users 'involvement group' where people who use services are actively involved in service development and feedback about services and facilities being provided. Carers told us that they have an opportunity to feedback their views about the services being provided. One career spoke of feeding back to the manager about their relative concerns about the standard of food. They felt listened to and that action was taken to improve meals provided at the respite service.