Sunderland Home Care Associates (20-20) Limited

Sunderland Homecare Associates (20-20) Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to older people living in their own homes. It also provides a supported living service providing personal care to adults with a learning disability or autism spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 114 people using the service, including 22 people receiving the regulated activity in the supported living service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

Systems were in place to ensure care was person-centred and to make sure people were at the heart of the service.

People were well well-cared for. Staff knew the people they were supporting very well and care was provided with patience and kindness. One person told us, “I didn’t want the carers in at first, I was too embarrassed, but I love them all now, they are so kind. They say take your time. They are very patient. I can’t find fault with one of them, they come in as happy as Larry.”

Records provided detailed guidance to ensure people received person-centred care. Risks were assessed and mitigated to keep people safe.

Right Culture

Systems were in place to ensure the right culture was being promoted, people’s human rights were respected and their opinions were listened to and valued.

Staff spoke positively about working at the service and the people they cared for. Staff said the management team was very approachable and they were supported in their role.

Staff were trained, knowledgeable and passionate about the service giving people the very best experience they could. People told us they were appreciative of the support provided to them. Their comments included, “They [staff] do everything well. They are lovely. The service do not have to improve anything because they are spot on with [Name]’s care” and, “When staff come they always have a chat to you, especially when they have done their job. The carer I have now has been awesome with me.”

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

There was consultation with staff and people. People and relatives were encouraged to express their views about the care and were involved in decisions making, as far as they were able. People said they knew how to complain. A relative told us, “They left a manual of information. Up to now we have absolutely nothing to complain about because the service being provided absolutely meets our needs exactly.”

Right Care

People felt safe with the service provided. Staff knew about safeguarding procedures. Rota management was well-managed to ensure people received timely and consistent care from the same staff.

Staff recruitment was carried out safely and effectively. People were correctly supported with their medicines.

The provider was monitoring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for effectiveness and people’s safety. A quality assurance system was in place to assess the standards of care in the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 30 August 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sunderland Homecare Associates (20-20) Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Sunderland Home Care Associates (20-22) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older adults, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 167 people receiving a service.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe receiving support from staff. Staff had completed training in safeguarding people and the service actively raised any safeguarding alerts with the local authority in a timely way.

Risks to people’s safety and wellbeing were assessed and managed. Environmental risk assessments were in place in relation to people’s own homes.

People’s medicines were administered in accordance with best practice and managed in a safe way. There were some ongoing issues with medicines administration records and work to improve these was ongoing.

People and relatives felt there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The service used an electronic system to organise rotas and ensure enough staff were deployed to calls. Staff were recruited in a safe way with all necessary pre-employment checks carried out prior to starting work for the service.

New staff received a structured induction programme which included face-to-face training as well as shadowing shifts and assessments. All staff received regular training, supervisions and annual appraisals to support them in their roles.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible, the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported with their nutritional needs where required and to access a range of health professionals. Information of healthcare intervention was included in care records.

People and relatives felt the service was caring and staff were friendly. Staff treated people with dignity and respect when supporting them in their homes. People were supported to be as independent as possible.

People had access to advocacy services if they wished to receive support. Some people also had Lasting Power of Attorneys or relatives they appointed as advocates.

Care plans were in place for meeting each person's individual needs. They were personalised, detailed and included people’s preferences. Regular reviews were carried out with people about their care and support.

People and their relatives knew how to raise any concerns they had about the service. The provider had a complaints procedure in place and kept a log of any complaints received. All complaints received were investigated, acted upon and outcomes were fed back to complainants.

There were audit systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The views of people were sought by the service via questionnaires. All results were analysed and improvements were made, where identified. Any trends and lessons learnt were also recorded and acted upon.

The service worked in partnership with a number of agencies, including the local authority, safeguarding teams and multidisciplinary teams, to ensure people received joined up care and support.