SummerCare Office

Updated 25 January 2024

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

SummerCare Office is a domiciliary care agency. It can provide personal care to people living in their own houses. The service also provides care and support to people living in 6 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. 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 registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 18 December 2023 and ended on 2 January 2024. We visited the location’s office on 18 December 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited 2 of the supported living locations. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with 6 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided and 2 relatives. We spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager and care staff.

We viewed a range of records. This included 2 people's care records and multiple medication records. We reviewed 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 25 January 2024

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

SummerCare Office is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own home or in supported living settings. The service provides personal care to people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people receiving a regulated activity.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, Right care, Right culture. People told us they were happy with the support they received. A relative said, “[Person name] is really happy, they like where they live, and they go out all the time.”

Right Support:

Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way which was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and to learn lessons from accidents and incidents. Medication was dispensed by staff who had received training to do so and assessed as competent.

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

Right Care:

Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. The registered manager promoted learning and training with staff to develop their skills and provide good quality care. People were supported to access health professionals to maintain their health and well-being.

Right Culture:

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services led confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

Care was focused on supporting people to remain independent. Staff supported people to engage in their local community. Care was personalised to people’s needs and staff reviewed and adapted support as people’s needs or wishes changed. The registered manager had systems in place to monitor the service and outcomes for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

The rating at the last inspection was good (published 4 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.