Archived: Carewatch Meridian

We spoke to 10 people (or to their representative) who received a service from the agency. Each person said the agency provided a reliable service. Staff were said by people to be respectful and to treat people with dignity. People said staff provided a good standard of care. Each person had a care plan but we noted these did not specify the actual times care was to be provided. Two people commented that the agency was not able to provide care at the times they requested. The commission has continued to receive notifications from the agency of care appointments not being met.

Staff supported people with their medication. This mainly consisted of staff prompting people to take their medication. We saw records were maintained of this and that staff received training in medication procedures. We noted one person's care plan referred to medication procedures that were not being provided.

We spoke to four care staff and to the manager and regional manager.

We also spoke to two local authorities about the agency. One local authority had initiated its safeguarding procedures due to failures to see people at the times set out in care plans as well as a lack of care plans. The local authority commented that the agency has worked to resolve this.

Care staff were said to treat people with respect. Each person, or their relative, said they had a care plan setting out how the person was supported. We noted that care plans did not give sufficient guidance on the risks when supporting people with mobility and how staff should assist people.

People and their relatives gave us mixed views about the reliability of the service. One relative said the agency had recently improved after a complaint was made about a lack of consistency in staff. The relative also said the agency's staff often failed to arrive at the correct time. Issues were also raised with us that staff did not have enough travel time between appointments, which made them late. The agency has revised its staff roster so this did not happen in the future. The staff rosters for the week the inspection took place in did not allow for travel time.

Staff told us they received training and induction when they started work, but also said they did not always feel valued and supported in their work.