We carried out a review of the data available to us about Solo Support Services Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Solo Support Services Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
About the service
Solo Support Services ltd is a domiciliary care agency. The care agency provides personal care and support to people living within the community. At the time of the inspection, there were 68 people receiving support with personal care. The service mostly supported people with complex health needs. Due to their high health needs, these people generally had a Continuing Health Care Budget in order to pay for this support. The majority of people using the service, required one or more care staff at any time.
People’s experience of using the service
People told us they felt safe, where allegations of abuse had occurred the service had responded appropriately to ensure people were safe. Care plans and risk assessments guided staff to support people’s complex health needs safely. Medicines were managed safely and complex medicine regimes had clear guidance in place for staff. The service followed good infection control procedures.
The majority of people at the service had staff support at all times. These staff teams were recruited to meet people’s individual needs, including the recruitment of family members if needed. Safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure suitable staff were employed. Once employed, a thorough induction and training programme ensured staff were well skilled to support people’s individual and complex needs.
The service was effective in the way it supported people. People were supported in line with evidence based guidance to ensure their needs were met effectively. People were supported to have a balanced and healthy diet. Professional guidance was sought if people were at risk of weight loss or choking.
Staff worked collaboratively within the staff team, and with outside health and social care professionals. This ensured people received effective multi-agency support.
Decision specific mental capacity assessments were not always in place. This meant people may not be supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, or that staff would support them in the least restrictive way possible. We recommended that the policies and systems in the service were reviewed to ensure mental capacity documentation was in place as required.
People and relatives told us staff were caring. Staff spoke compassionately about people. Reviews included people, to ensure that people’s preferences were followed. The service followed the Equality Act (2010), by ensuring people’s diverse needs were recognised and supported.
Care was personalised to people’s preferences. The service used health budgets to support people to recruit staff of their choosing, the budget was then used to plan a suitable care package that met their needs. People’s communication needs were recognised in line with the Accessible Information Standard (2016). People were supported to access social activities of their choosing. Where people came to the end of their life, care plans guided safe end of life care that met the person’s preferences.
The service was well led. Staff spoke positively of the management approach and leadership. Feedback from people and relatives using the service was all positive, and this was supported by questionnaire results that the service had sent out. The service had a unique approach to supporting people, by supporting people to manage their personal health budgets. This provided people with a flexible service which met their health and social needs. The service had not always notified the CQC about events that had happened at the service, but records showed the service has managed these events safely.
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 7 April 2016). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.