We undertook an announced inspection of Sunshine Coast Support Ltd Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) on 1 November 2016. We told the registered manager two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because they were sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure they would be in.

Sunshine Coast Support Ltd provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection eight people were receiving a personal care service. Sunshine Coast Support Ltd provides support for people who require a range of personal and care support related to personal hygiene, mobility, nutrition and continence. Some people were living with early stages of a dementia type illness or other long-term health related conditions. People lived reasonably independent lives but required support to maintain this independence.

There is a registered manager at the service who is also one of the owners and a director of the company. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 provider and registered manager had good oversight of the service. They knew people and staff well and had a clear vision for the future of the service. Although some systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service these needed to be established and embedded into practice to ensure the service continues to develop and improve. Support plans were detailed and person centred however we found they did not include all the information to demonstrate the support people required and received.

People told us they were happy with the support they received and staff were very caring. People’s care was personalised to reflect their wishes and what was important to them. People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their needs and preferences. They were visited at times that suited them. People were introduced to staff before they provided them with care and they were looked after by a small team of regular staff who knew them well.

There were a range of environmental and individual risk assessments in place to ensure people were looked after safely. Staff had a good understanding of the risks associated with supporting people. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding; they were able to recognise different types of abuse and told us what actions they would take if they believed someone was at risk. There were systems in place to ensure people received the medicines they had been prescribed.

There were enough staff who had been safely recruited to meet the needs of people who used the service. People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service to ensure their needs and preferences could be fully met.

There was an induction and an ongoing training and supervision programme in place to ensure staff had appropriate skills to support people who used the service. Staff understood the principles of consent and the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

People’s nutritional needs were assessed and met. They were supported to receive enough to eat and drink. Staff knew people well and recognised when they may need to be referred to a healthcare professional for example the GP or district nurse.

The provider and registered manager had developed an open and positive culture at the service. The aim of the service focussed on providing a good level of support to people. Staff felt listened to and well supported.

We undertook an announced inspection of Sunshine Coast Support Ltd Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) 26 October 2015. We told the registered manager two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because they were sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure they would be in.

Sunshine Coast Support Ltd provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection six people were receiving a personal care service. Sunshine Coast Support Ltd provides support for people who require a range of personal and care support related to personal hygiene, mobility, nutrition and continence. Some people were living with early stages of a dementia type illness or other long-term health related condition. People lived reasonably independent lives but required support to maintain this independence.

There is a registered manager at the service who is also one of the owners and a director of the company. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

This was the first inspection of Sunshine Coast Support Ltd.

The service has been registered with CQC since December 2013 and until June 2015 all care and support had been provided by the registered manager. As the service had developed further staff had been employed. Although some systems were in place to support and protect people these needed to be established and embedded into practice to ensure the service can continue to develop and support people appropriately.

All staff were committed to providing a high quality service that met people’s individual needs and preferences. People spoke highly of the staff and the service they received.

Staff knew people really well, they had a good understanding of how to support them. However, support plans did not contain all the information staff needed to look after people.

Staff knew about people and the medicines they required. However, systems were not yet established to ensure medicines were always administered in a safe and consistent way. Guidance for people who needed ‘as required’ medicines or skin creams was not always in place.

Staff had a good understanding of the risks associated with the people they looked after. However, the risk assessments did not reflect all the identified risks.

The provider had introduced the care certificate to support staff new to care however there was no training plan in place for other staff.

Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and what steps they would take if someone was at risk of abuse or harm. There were enough staff who had been safely recruited to meet the needs of people who used the service.

Staff had an understanding of MCA and DoLS although not all staff had received DoLS training.

People’s nutritional needs were met and they were supported to receive enough to eat and drink.

Staff knew people well and recognised when they may need to be referred to an appropriate healthcare professional for example the GP or district nurse.

Staff and people were supported by a registered manager who was committed to providing a high quality service that met people’s needs.