Nottingham Mencap delivers a service which includes, accompanying young people who wish to use the service on social activities or going into the person's home and interacting with them to give their carer a break. At the time of our visit the assistant manager told us that the service did not offer support with the administration of prescribed medicines and so staff did not have any responsibility to deal with the prescribed medication. She told us there were currently only six people who were receiving minimal personal care from staff. The rest of the people using the service were not receiving any personal care and so we did not assess the outcomes for those people.

We were only able to speak briefly to one person using the service due to people’s limited communication abilities. We gained the views of people using the service by speaking with their relatives, the staff and looking at records.

The person we spoke with answered our question positively when we asked if they were happy with the support they received from staff. The two relatives we spoke with gave positive feedback about the service. One relative said, “They [the agency] are very good, I don’t know what I would do without them.”

We saw there were effective procedures in place to ensure staff were recruited safely.

We saw there were systems in place to make sure people and/or their relatives could have a say in how the service was run. There were also systems in place to ensure people could raise concerns if they wished to.

Nottingham Mencap offers sitting in the home for people aged 5 and over, befriending for those aged 8 and over and supporting change for those aged 14 and over. At the time of our visit the assistant manager told us that the service does not offer support with the administration of prescribed medicines and so staff did not have any responsibility to deal with the prescribed medication.

People were encouraged to make choices for themselves. For example people were asked what was important to them and how they would like their care delivered. Relatives told us people were supported to choose what they would like to do during support sessions and staff would facilitate this. People were involved in planning the way staff would support and care for them.

We spoke with three relatives of people using the service during our visit and received positive comments about the care provided. People said, “staff do everything you ask for” and “the service is very good. It allows me to have a break and I know my relative looks forward to the sessions.”

We found staff were given training to enable them to do their job safely and they were given regular feedback by the management team on how well they were working.

We spoke with the relative of one person using the service and they told us, “I have been completely happy with the service provided right from the first contact with them. They meet my relative’s needs well and they have made friends with the member of staff who visits. It is always the same member of staff which is important.”

We spoke with the relative of one person using the service and they told us, “Whenever I phone the office the calls are always dealt with professionally. They are always checking that I’m happy with the service and I have also had a feedback form to fill in.”