Sure Healthcare

Updated 10 January 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

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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. A new manager had commenced at the service and they had submitted an application to the CQC for registration. The current registered manager was to de-register once this application had been validated.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 20 November 2019 and ended the same day. We visited the office location and made phone calls to people who used the service to gain their views.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at all the information we had received since the service was registered. This included notifications, which is information about important events the service is required to send us by law. 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.

We asked Healthwatch for their views. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service about their experience of the care provided and with two relatives. We spoke with the provider's nominated individual, acting manager, care-coordinator and with two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records, which included two people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We inspected a variety of records relating to the management of the service, which included policies and procedures, spot check records and audits.

Updated 10 January 2020

Sure Healthcare is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in Hull. There were 15 people receiving personal care at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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.

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

Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place to help protect people from harm and abuse and staff were aware of the action to take if they had concerns. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People’s care records contained information about the risks present to people’s wellbeing or within their home environment. Infection control training was provided for staff. Medicine management was robust.

Staff undertook induction and training to develop or maintain their skills. People’s dietary needs were assessed, monitored and met by staff.

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

People were cared for by compassionate and kind staff. Information about the service was provided in a format that met people’s needs in line with the Accessible Information Standards.

People’s needs were assessed, and person-centred care records were created for staff to follow. Care records detailed tasks people could undertake themselves to maintain their independence. Reviews of people’s care were held. Staff contacted health care professionals for advice and support to help maintain people’s wellbeing.

A complaints policy was provided to people. Issues raised were investigated and resolved. This information was shared with staff and was used to improve the service.

End of life care was provided, this type of care was to be developed further. More training was required to make sure staff were able to deliver more specialised end of life care.

Checks and audits were undertaken, and issues found were acted upon. Staff performance was monitored through ‘spot check’ visits to assess their practice and the quality of service provided to people. Data was stored securely to maintain people’s confidentiality.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 30 December 2018 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.