Sunningdale House

Updated 31 May 2023

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.

As part of this inspection, we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Sunningdale House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Sunningdale House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. 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 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 spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 4 care staff, 1 senior, 2 agency staff, the area head of service, and the registered manager. We looked around the service and observed the medication process. We reviewed a variety of records used to manage the service and associated risks, safety, and the home environment. We looked at 3 care plans, 3 staff files, and records used to manage people’s medicines and daily health needs.

Updated 31 May 2023

About the service

Sunningdale House is a residential care home for up to 13 people. The service provides support to people who live with mental health, learning disability and autism. At the time of our inspection 8 people were using the service.

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

Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support: 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.

Staff were safely recruited in line with the provider's policy and legislative requirements. Enough staff were employed to spend quality time with people to develop skills and promote independence. Staff received supervision and appraisal along with spot checks to ensure they followed best practice. For example, when supporting people to take their medicines.

People received initial assessments of their needs with care plans in place to manage known risks.

People's care plans and risk assessments reflected their needs and preferences, and staff were knowledgeable about the level of support people required. Regular reviews ensured information remained relevant and up to date as an accessible point of reference for staff.

Right care: Care was person-centred and promoted people's dignity, privacy, and human rights;

Staff were respectful, caring and understanding around people’s emotional and physical needs.

People were involved in planning their care and support. Care was delivered following a robust assessment of needs to ensure people’s wishes preferences and any personal characteristics were recorded and supported. Regular reviews with people ensured adjustments were made to meet people’s changing needs and aspirations.

Where people received support to take their medicines this was done safely. Medicines management and administration followed best practice guidance. Risk assessments were reviewed to help staff to keep people safe, for example, when buying over the counter medicines.

Right culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services led confident, inclusive, and empowered lives; The culture of the service was open and empowered individuals to express their views and be in control of their lives with the support of staff. We saw people felt confident to approach staff and management and that their suggestions were listened to.

A range of quality assurance checks including regular audits were completed to manage and improve the service and to maintain compliance with required regulations.

Staff followed latest guidance to maintain effective infection prevention and control and had good access to any required protective equipment which helped to reduce the spread of any infections.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (06 October 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider review their staffing levels and the tools used to determine these, to ensure person-centred care in line with best practice. We recommended the provider reviewed the service model and delivery to ensure this was in line with current best practice. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on our recommendations and improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of people’s medicines. This inspection examined those risks.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sunningdale House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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