What the people of Staffordshire are telling us

What we know – People drawing on care and support:

• Would prefer to choose their own provider and delivery times.

• Want care to be delivered in a way that meets their needs rather than a prescriptive approach.

• Only want to pay for the actual care that is delivered.

• Want continuity of care in terms of the same carers to build up a rapport, and at the same times.

• Sometime want a choice over the gender of their carers.

• Want their carers to stay for the full duration of their visit.

• Want to be able to contact the provider of their care in a timely and convenient fashion.

• Want to be treated with respect and dignity.

• Want good quality care from an agency that is registered ‘good’ or better.

• Want a timely assessment and fairer charging so that the cost of care is known.

• Want a single point of contact and to know how to make a compliment or complaint.

 While we understand what people drawing on care and support are asking for:

• We cannot always guarantee a choice of times, however we would work with the provider to enable them to have the time of their choice later wherever possible.

• We cannot always guarantee a choice of provider, however if the provider is not delivering a satisfactory service we work with providers and service users to improve the situation or agree a change to another provider.

• We work with providers to support them to improve their quality if they are not rated as at least “Good” by CQC.

• We take complaints seriously and investigate fully,communicating the outcome of these investigations to all parties concerned. There is an expectation that the provider gets the opportunity to respond to the complaint first, as part of their CQC registration. We ensure that lessons learned areincorporated into processes and services.