Sun Health Care Domiciliary Care Services

Updated 22 June 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

Sun Health Care Domiciliary Care Services is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to younger adults. Not everyone using Sun Health Care domiciliary care receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and we needed to be sure that staff would be in.

Inspection site visit activity took place on 5 June 2019. We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We spoke to people using the service and their relatives on 6 June 2019. We spoke to staff on 7 June 2019.

What we did:

Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback from the local authority and other stakeholders. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We spoke with three people who use the service, and three relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, two service managers, one senior support worker, and three support workers. We reviewed three people’s care records in full as well as various parts of another three people’s care plans, six staff personnel files, audits, and other records about the management of the service.

Updated 22 June 2019

About the service:

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