30, 31 October 2013
During a routine inspection
We surveyed people who used the service and their relatives. We looked at six care plans and visited one person who received a service.
People had care plans in place which showed what they needed support with and how that support should be given. On occasion important information was not recorded correctly which placed people at risk of harm.
The service's recruitment procedures were not consistently followed to ensure all necessary checks were undertaken prior to an individual starting employment.
The service has almost doubled in size since our previous inspection and supported approximately 200 people. We found that staff schedules which showed which visits they would complete did not include travel time. This had led to staff arriving at visits late, and not being able to stay for the allocated period of time for that visit. The manager reported that work was being undertaken to improve this area. However, people who returned surveys told us they still experienced late visits, and on occasion, missed visits and they were not informed of why this occurred.
The provider had systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive. However, information received was not consistently analysed and reviewed to improve the service.