Archived: Sunshine Care - Central Offices

The service is required to have a registered manager and at the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

People told us they felt safe and were well cared for by Sunshine Care. Their comments included; “I feel safe with them,” and “Oh yes the carers are like family.” Family members were generally positive about the support their relatives received. They said, “They know the job backwards. It’s been excellent.” Another commented, “We have monthly carers working two weeks and then a replacement. Not a problem with staffing so far.”

People told us that due to the agency changing to live in care meant there was no chance of missed visits or staff being late. One person said, “It’s the best thing the agency did.” The operational manager told us this approach was continuing to be developed but that it was working well and could be managed more effectively than daily calls.

A few people told us communication had been difficult on occasions due to some staff not having English as their first language. One person said this had recently improved. Another person said they had informed the agency of their concerns. The agency was asked about this and said all staff had to have an acceptable level of English but agreed to look into the concern.

The registered manager was confident about the action to take if they had any safeguarding concerns and had liaised with the safeguarding teams as appropriate. Risk assessments clearly identified any risk and gave staff guidance on how to minimise the risk. They were designed to keep people and staff safe while allowing people to develop and maintain their independence. Staff told us they had attended both classroom training and e-learning (computer based training) to learn what action to take should staff witness or suspect abusive practice.

The recruitment process was safe and ensured all new staff had undergone suitable checks to ensure they were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable. The service was actively recruiting more staff to improve the flexibility in staffing levels.

Staff received a four day classroom induction based on familiarisation of the organisations policies and procedures, health and safety and practical learning including moving and handling, use of equipment and first aid. A staff member told us they had completed the care certificate induction standards so they felt competent in delivering care and support. They said, “They (managers) are good at making sure we are up to date with the training.”

People said staff were well trained and understood how to meet their specific care needs. Training records showed staff had been provided with all the necessary training which had been refreshed regularly. A staff member told us, “I have the training I need to carry out my role.”

Staff received regular supervisions and annual performance appraisals. In addition ‘spot checks’ by managers were used regularly to confirm each member of staff was providing appropriate standards of care and support.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Care plans were in place detailing how people needed to be supported. The service had risk assessment procedures in place. This was held at the person’s own home as well as a copy being available at head office so this could be monitored.

Suitable medicine procedures were in place should the agency be required to administer medicines. Staff told us they had received training which gave them confidence to support people with medicines safely. Regular auditing of medicine records meant errors were identified and acted upon quickly.

The management team had systems in place to regularly measure the service’s performance and look at ways of developing the quality of service they provided. There were processes in place to seek people's views on the service and monitor the quality of the service. Information from customer surveys and the actions the provider took were shared openly and honestly with people.

People told us that all staff respected their privacy and dignity and treated them with kindness. People felt able to express their views of the service to the office and they felt involved with the planning of their care. People felt they had their personal care preferences respected.

We found people's needs were assessed and care plans reflected people's needs and risks were identified. People told us that they had consistent care workers visit and a missed visit was very rare. People felt the staff were well trained to meet their needs and when people's care needs had changes care plans had been reviewed.

All staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable people from abuse and the staff we spoke with were confident at recognising potential abuse. People told us they felt safe with the agency care workers who visited and they would raise any concerns they had with them or the office staff.

All staff had a thorough induction when they started working at Sunshine Care and were well trained to meet people's care and treatment needs. Staff were supported by Sunshine Care and had regular access to supervision (one to one meetings) with their manager. Staff told us they loved their work and were very happy.

At this review on 27 February 2013 we found that the service had made improvements. The service sent us an action plan that showed us how they had achieved compliance. We found that the service had made changes to their care plans so that they contained more information and were reviewed more frequently. The service had commenced an audit of service user's paperwork.

The action plan stated and the manager confirmed that the service now had a team of staff to manage complaints. The service regularly completed an audit of complaints which was taken to weekly manager's meetings.

The action plan stated and the manager confirmed that the service now made thorough checks to ensure that references for new employees were obtained from previous employers. The manager told us that the service now ensured that they view all original certificate copies and on the copies write that the original has been seen.

We found that the service now had a robust record management system in place.