All inspections: Premier Homecare East Limited

We carried out the inspection over two different days. The first day was spend in the office speaking with the manager and care staff and looking at records relating to the management of the business, staff recruitment and care records.

We found this was a well-run service which was responsive to the needs of people using the service. Staff told us they felt well supported and there were good systems in place to support staff and ensure they were adequately trained.

We spoke with six people using the service and they told us they were happy with the service they received. People told us they had a rota telling them which carers would be coming but this was subject to change and they did not have regular carers. Some people said they minded this. The other people told us they got to know many different carers and they were all very nice. Some people told us that there were a number of inexperienced carers who were still learning and did not act on initiative. However people said new carers were supervised and read the care plans on arrival. They told us time keeping was not too bad but they wished to be informed when carers were running late. Several individual concerns were raised and passed on to the manager and these were dealt with swiftly, which meant the manager was proactive in dealing with issues raised to ensure people were satisfied with the service received.

We identified minor concerns with records as the ones we were inspected were not accurate. We have made a compliance action.

The purpose of our inspection was to follow up on areas of non compliance identified during the last inspection on 20 July 2012. During this inspection we inspected four care plans and reviewed actions taken by the service to become compliant with regulation. We looked at their action plan submitted following the issue of their final inspection report. On this occasion we did not speak with care staff or people using the service.

We looked at daily records which showed us how people's needs were being met. We inspected medication recording sheets and how people who required help with finances were supported, as we identified non compliance with this area at the last inspection. We spoke with four staff working in the office and looked at records relating to the management of the business, to see what progress had been made.

We have found the service compliant on areas where we previously found non compliance. However we identified during this inspection that records relating to the care and welfare of people using the service were not as comprehensive as they should be. This meant we could not be assured people's needs were being fully met.

We spoke with eight people over the telephone about the service they received. One person said, 'Some staff are more considerate than others and do their job properly.' They told us that new staff were supervised by more experienced staff initially. Some people reported missed calls or calls not falling within the agreed times. One person told us a recent call had been over two hours late, another told us staff came to give them their night time drink at tea time. One person told us communication with the office was good and complaints were resolved. They told us the agency asked people for their views of the service. People told us they did not always have regular care staff, but one person said "I get on with all of them.'

Archived: Premier Homecare East Limited

All Inspections

21, 29 November 2013

During a routine inspection

6 November 2012

During an inspection looking at part of the service

13 August 2012

During a routine inspection