Before our visit we were contacted by Oxfordshire County Council. They told us they were closely monitoring the service because they had received numerous complaints from people who used the service, or their relatives, about missed or late visits.The Council staff provided us with details of contact from a person who had worked for the agency. They were concerned that staff were being sent to people without knowing what support they needed. They also told us that they were not using gloves and aprons and some staff had not had a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check.
A care worker told us that staff were working long hours and that families were being called to help when two carers should visit to support the person and the agency could only send one. A relative told us that the agency told them they were unable to supply care workers sometimes and the family had to make arrangements to support the person.
We spoke with seven people who used the agency who were selected at random. Some people told us they felt their needs were being met. One person said they found the agency to be very good but this was only when they had a regular carer. Another person said that they had complained about the changing care workers as they did not find this very satisfactory. They complained to the agency and this was resolved. They found the regular care worker to be 'wonderful'. Several people said they sometimes had missed visits when no one arrived to support them. Most people thought that care workers had the skills to enable them to perform their role however, one person said they thought the staff training was 'not good enough'. Another person said they thought 'one day of training and one day shadowing a more experienced care worker was not enough'.
We contacted three care workers by telephone. One of them had stopped working for the agency recently. They said this was because they found the long hours and working every day too demanding.
The others told us about their recruitment. They said they had three days training and people shadowed more experienced workers for up to one week depending on their experience and confidence in working alone. Staff told us they felt supported.
We had concerns that people were not receiving the care and support they required due to the provider not ensuring sufficient staff were available to meet people's needs. Staff were not supported by a permanent manager. Where people and their relatives had made complaints about the service these had not been dealt with and responded to.