Archived: Home Choice Care Sheffield

We received information before our inspection that there had been some changes to the management of the Sheffield branch over the last six months. People had raised concerns that they had experienced unsettled staffing and lack of communication from the agency office. This was in terms of keeping them informed of the change of care workers and the call times.

Following our unannounced inspection visit to the Sheffield office we contacted five people. They told us that the care workers were friendly, treated them with respect and helped them maintain their independence. One person said, 'The girls are very pleasant and I like to see them. It cheers me up for the day.'

People said that care workers always asked them what help they wanted and were accommodating. They told us that care workers asked for their consent before carrying out care. One person said when new care workers visited them, the care workers checked how they liked to be addressed. They said, 'Its only good manners. I really like that.'

Three people told us that most of the time they had the same team of care workers and they only had different ones when the regular ones were on leave or off sick. They said the care workers arrived at the pre-arranged time and stayed for the agreed period of time. They also told us that when care workers arrived at their home, they called the office and when they left they did the same. They explained that the office staff checked the time of arrival and duration of stay by using this method. Two people said there had been problems on several occasions when staff had not turned up and they were not kept informed by the office staff. They said that often the care workers were delayed at the previous call. One of the people who used the service said, 'It's good to know that the staff would stay on and make sure I am safe without rushing off to the next call.' However, two people said this had improved and staff at the office had been contacting them to inform them if care workers were to be late.