This inspection took place on 19 and 20 March 2018 and was unannounced. This was the first inspection since recent registration changes. This service is run by two companies, Sunrise Senior Living Limited and Sunrise UK Operations Limited. These two companies have a dual registration and are jointly responsible for the services at Sunrise of Sonning.

Sunrise of Sonning is a care home with nursing. The service provides nursing and personal care for up to 103 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 87 people. The accommodation is arranged over three floors. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager and the deputy manager supported us during our inspection. They worked closely together and were involved in the running of the service along with senior staff. Therefore, we will refer to them as ‘the management team’ further in the report.

The service had clear and effective governance, management and accountability arrangements. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities, were motivated, and had confidence in their management and senior staff team. Moreover, they were supportive of each other to ensure people received excellent care. The management team placed a great importance on ensuring everybody was treated as an individual and giving them person-centred care. They have worked hard and had established a strong and visible person centred culture. The service built and took a key role in the local community being actively involved in finding and building further links. They encouraged and sustained contacts with other resources and support groups. These links reflected changing needs and preferences of the people who use the service.

The staff and management teams showed a genuine and in-depth understanding and compassion for people they supported. They had a number of schemes and initiatives in place driving improvement and continuously encouraging innovation to benefit people in the service. The staff team always tried to enable people to express their own views ensuring people received the care they needed and wanted. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible. The management and staff team monitored people's health and wellbeing and took appropriate action when required to address concerns. The service had dedicated champions called ‘link nurses’ for different areas of speciality such as tissue viability, Parkinson’s and falls to effectively support people’s health and wellbeing. They were constantly researching for creative and innovative ways to ensure people lived their lives to the full. The whole staff team were very responsive to the needs of the people and enabled them to improve and enjoy their life.

People were able to engage in a wide range of meaningful activities and maintain regular links with the community. This helped them avoid becoming isolated. People really enjoyed getting involved in activities and outings because it made them feel busy and useful. People could also spend time with their visitors or occupying themselves if they wished to. Their choices were always respected by attentive and understanding staff. We observed staff were positive, respectful and considerate of people and their relatives. It was paramount to the service to ensure people's wellbeing was respected and protected. People and relatives confirmed staff always respected their privacy and dignity. People benefitted greatly from living at a service that had a very