Background to this inspection
Updated
2 October 2020
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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
One inspector and an expert by experience carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
This service provides short term personal care and support to people living in their own homes.
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 so they could provide us with documentation and contact details for people who used the service prior to the office visit.
Inspection activity started on 17 September 2020 and ended on 18 September 2020 We visited the office location on 17 September 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people who used the service and eleven family members about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, three care staff and one healthcare professional.
We reviewed a range of records relating to people’s care and support. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
2 October 2020
About the service
Sunderland Community Support Service provides a reablement and short-term support service to people in their own homes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only the short-term support service was being provided at the time of our inspection. 75 people were using the service, all of them were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Comprehensive assessments of people’s needs were carried out before they started using the service. Staff were fully supported in their role. People and family members told us staff were appropriately trained and skilled. The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff supported people with their healthcare needs and worked closely with healthcare professionals.
The registered manager monitored the quality of the service to make sure they delivered a high standard of care. People and family members spoke positively about the quality of the service. Staff said they were comfortable raising any concerns and the management team were approachable. The registered manager had identified and implemented improvements to 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 and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 April 2019). At this inspection, we found improvements had been made.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those Key Questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sunderland Community Support Service on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.