Sun Health Care Domiciliary Care Services

Sun Health Care Domiciliary Care Services provides personal care and support to people from the age of 18 years old who have a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder and / or mental health needs living in their own homes and supported living services. Support packages are flexible and are based on individual people’s needs. There were 19 people receiving a regulated activity from the service at the time of our inspection.

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual arrangements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s care and support.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and relatives told us the support was good and praised the service.

The service provided person-centred support, which considered each person’s likes, preferences, needs and their required outcomes. People’s privacy was respected, but people were easily able to socialise with others and had access to the community.

Many people’s support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new experiences and become more independent.

Staff spoke about people with warmth and knew people well, including their histories, likes and dislikes. People had a say in the staff who worked at the service and who supported them.

The service helped people achieve positive outcomes, built their confidence, and independence and developed people’s life skills.

People were treated with equality and their opinions valued.

Support focussed on what people wanted to do each day. People were involved in support planning and were involved in their care plans.

The service was led by knowledgeable managers who used their skills to lead staff and ensure people using the service had safe and effective support.

Risks to people’s health and safety were individually assessed and mitigated. Medicines were managed in a safe way. There were enough staff deployed to ensure people received appropriate support.

Staff had access to a wide-range of training. Staff said they felt supported and were encouraged in their development.

Rating at last inspection:

At our last inspection the service was rated Good (9 December 2016).

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Sun Health Care Domiciliary Care Services provides personal care and support to people from the age of 18 years old, who have a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder and/or mental health needs. Support packages are flexible and based on individual people’s needs.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the time of our inspection there were 45 people using the service. We spoke on the telephone with three people who used the service and three relatives. We also briefly met two people who used the service when we visited the agency’s office. When we asked people about their experiences of using the agency they told us they were entirely happy with the service provided.

Systems were in place to keep people safe while maintaining their independence, People told us staff provided a safe environment for people using the service to live in, and supported them to access the community safely.

People’s needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and where possible they, and the relatives, had been involved in formulating their support plans. Care records sampled identified people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care and the environment they lived in. However some support plans were more individualised than others.

We found people received a service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. Changes in their needs had been identified and their care package amended to meet any changing circumstances. People were encouraged to manage their own medication if they were able to, but when needed appropriate levels of support were provided to enable them to take their medication safely.

Overall the system for recruiting new staff helped to ensure staff were employed with all of the required employment checks. There was sufficient trained and experienced staff employed to ensure people received their care consistently. People told us that the majority of the time they received support from the same care team, which gave people consistency.

People had been enabled to raise any concerns. We saw information about how to raise a concern and how it would be addressed was provided to each person who used the service and available to relatives and staff. This was also available in a pictorial [easy to read and understand] format. Relatives we spoke with told us they were confident that any concerns they raised would be dealt with swiftly.

The registered manager had a clear oversight of the service, and of the people who were using it. People were encouraged to share their views about the quality of the care provided, to help drive up standards and influence change. Quality assurance systems had been developed to monitor how the service operated and identify areas for improvement. This also gave the service an opportunity to learn from events and improve the service for people.