Archived: Sevacare - Wigan

During our inspection we gathered evidence to help us answer our five questions;

Is the service caring?

Is the service responsive?

Is the service safe?

Is the service effective?

Is the service well-led?

Is the service safe? People who used the service all told us that they felt safe when staff visited their home. People told us that they felt their rights and dignity were respected and they felt in control of decisions about their care and support. One person told us: "I feel safe when they come. You're always introduced to new staff." Another person told us: "Previous agencies were really awful. I wasn't getting my medicines. Now they check that I have enough medicines and it works really well." There were systems in place to protect people from poor practices or abuse. In general safeguarding procedures were good and staff understood their role in safeguarding the people they supported. Recruitment records were well organised. It was therefore straightforward to establish if practices were consistent across the service.

Is the service effective? People told us that the service met their needs. People's support files showed evidence of regular reviews.

Is the service caring? People were very complimentary about the staff and said that they respected people's privacy and dignity. One person told us: "The staff are very caring and supportive. The client comes first.'

Is the service responsive? People told us that the service was responsive to their needs and that staff would change their usual visit time if they had an appointment. They said that the management team would provide another support worker if they were not happy with them for any reason. Some concerns had been raised about individual members of staff. The records demonstrated that the manager had investigated and resolved the concerns.

Is the service well-led? The management team had an effective quality assurance system in place to monitor and improve standards within the service. The manager had systems in place that catered for the assessment of people's needs and staff recruitment, supervision and training within the teams.

Comments included ''The carers come every day and we have no trouble at all '' ''Sometimes the carers are not on time and they don't always let us know, but they provide a very good service when they are here...there has been a high staff turnover and good staff have left '' and ''The staff are lovely''.

The manager told us that they had experienced some staffing difficulties but they were now resolved.

Four of the five people we spoke with told us that at times the carers could be late and one person was concerned about the travel time they were allowed. Carers that we spoke with told us that the time allowed for care delivery only started when they arrived at the persons home and they logged in to the office.

All of the staff we spoke with said they felt supported and that they had sufficient time to provide care.

We reviewed the provider's safeguarding procedures but found that issues raised were not always being dealt with appropriately and we have referred our concerns to the local authority.