Archived: Sunnydene

Sunnydene is part of the Royal Mencap Society and provides care and accommodation for up to eight people who have a learning disability. At the time of the inspection seven people lived at the home.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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 registered manager did not visit the service on a daily basis but there was a manager in place, who was responsible for the day to day running of the service.

The atmosphere at Sunnydene was relaxed and calm. Interactions between people and staff were friendly and supportive. Staff were knowledgeable about how people wanted to be supported and what was important to them.

Staff had a good understanding of how to recognise and report any signs of abuse, and the staff took action to protect people if required.

Recruitment practices helped ensure people working in the home were fit and appropriate to work in the care sector. New staff were required to attend a thorough induction, which incorporated the care certificate, when they started their employment. This included attending external training sessions and shadowing more experienced members of staff. All staff were supported by ongoing regular supervision sessions and an annual appraisal.

People had their medicines stored and disposed of safely. People received their medicines as prescribed and on time.

People were supported to maintain good health through regular access to a range of health and social care professionals, such as GPs, chiropodists, social workers and speech and language therapists. People were supported to eat a healthy, balanced diet and any associated risks were carefully documented and managed.

People’s care plans were informative, personalised and updated regularly to reflect their changing needs. People were involved in developing and reviewing their care plans.

People took part in a range of personalised activities. This helped people remain physically and cognitively stimulated. People were supported to take everyday risks and to lead full and active lives.

People were supported by staff who were caring and who respected their confidentiality and privacy.

There was a system in place to receive, investigate and manage complaints and people and relatives said they felt confident to raise concerns if necessary.

People spoke highly of the registered manager and said they were approachable and took an active role in running the service. Communication was encouraged. People and staff were involved in a meaningful way and enabled to make suggestions about what mattered to them through team meetings and residents meetings

There was an effective quality assurance system in place to monitor the service and to drive improvements.

We found there were suitable arrangements in place for obtaining, and acting in accordance with, the consent of people who lived at Sunnydene in relation to the care and treatment provided for them.

We looked at three support plans for people who used the service and saw there was appropriate referral and care planning documentation used at the home in respect of people who lived at Sunnydene.

We saw the home was clean and welcoming. The management operated effective systems which ensured appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene were adhered to.

People who lived at the home were safe and their health and welfare needs were met by staff that had been appropriately recruited and were appropriately qualified, skilled, experienced and of good character.

During our inspection the atmosphere at Sunnydene was calm and relaxed.

People who used the service were able to make choices about how they spent their day and people told us about the activities they did. They told us about their support plans and how they were involved in the development and review of these.

Three people we spoke with told us they liked to choose the evening meal and prepare and cook it. They said everybody took turns to do this. We saw from the menu people were able to choose an alternative if they did not like the meal choice.