Archived: SmartCare Epsom

We saw evidence that the provider ensured that people understood the care that was to be provided to them before they commenced with the service.

The people that we spoke with told us that they were fully involved in developing their care plan and that they felt that staff understood their needs. We were told 'Couldn't have been more thorough.'

We heard from staff that they felt supported and were encouraged to progress professionally. We reviewed the training records and saw that all staff had received appropriate training. Staff were happy working for Smartcare Epsom. One member of staff told us 'They care about their staff as much as their clients.'

We were shown evidence that the provider carried out satisfaction surveys as well as other audits that related to the care they provided.

The records that we saw on the day of our inspection were regularly reviewed and relevant to people's needs which ensured staff received up to date information on each person.

We spoke with five relatives of people who used the service. They all told us that they felt that the care their relative received was good and that they had been involved in their care plans. One relative told us 'Yes, very involved.' Another told us 'they have pulled all the stops out' and 'I feel I can rely on them.' One relative told us 'I just wish I'd found them sooner.'

Relatives told us that they felt their relative was safe in the agency's care and the two people who used the service confirmed this, with one person saying 'yes, I do, I haven't had any problems.'

We looked at staff files and found that the service had robust recruitment processes in place that ensured that the staff they employed were suitable for the role.

The service had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and identified when things needed to be improved. This included sending a questionnaire to people and relatives to gather their views of the service as well as carrying out regular checks with people and relatives for feedback.