SCC Agency Ltd (trading as South Coast Care)

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good.

This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

People and staff told us care was person centred, and the care plans we saw were individual and well managed. Staff added detailed notes of care provided and were encouraged to add comprehensive information, this could be used by other staff to ensure continuity of care. We saw detailed daily notes of care provided.

The provider told us, “There is a care summary on the app, staff can also see previous calls, this helps with dementia clients. There are notes to remind staff to read when a new care plan has an update.”

People felt included in their care and the plan for support and this was reviewed regularly. A relative told us, “It gets reviewed from time to time. It got reviewed when she came out of hospital, what she needed. The care plan was changed then.” And a person said, “It’s reviewed every three months. They do it here with me. They ask questions, I say yes or no or can you change that and we do it.”

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

Care plans were recorded electronically and could be retrieved and shared with other health care professionals if needed. Staff knew people well and were quick to react to their needs, including seeking help when needed. A staff member told us they had needed to seek help for a person, “We called their careline, we also called and told the family and it was out of hours so called the on call staff. I waited 2 hours until the paramedics came. Normally we will deal with any incident then call the office.”

Some people managed their own medicines but if needed care staff would liaise with the pharmacy for them. Most people had not needed any referrals to other healthcare providers, but one person told us, “They called an ambulance, I wasn’t very well and had to go to hospital.”

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

Most people received information via phone calls or talking to staff. The provider also used social media and had a website. They told us some people could not hear well, and staff used a white board to write information for them.

The provider said they use a newsletter to keep people informed about changes and events at the service. When there were major changes, such as when the office moved, a letter was sent to everyone.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

People could speak to a member of the senior team by phone very easily. During the assessment, several people called the office to ask questions or request minor changes to times or care.

The provider told us they spoke to people very regularly and staff always checked people were happy. People confirmed they could easily give feedback. A person told us, “They are very good. Very early on I wasn’t getting the emails for the rota. I didn’t know what time they were coming, and that mattered for my husband going to work. I asked for it to be done, they said that’s fine it will be done. You get a good response from them.” Another person said, “About every three months or so, they come round or phone. ‘Are you happy with the carers, is everything ok?’.”

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

People were confident in the service and the care staff. People knew they would get timely care in the way they needed it. A person told us, “It gives me a lot of rest. I was doing it all myself. I got very tired and very stressed. I’m managing quite well now with them.”

People were assured of receiving the care they needed when they needed it as the provider told us they did not take on a new package of care until they had staff suitable to support the person. Staff were trained prior to supporting people, and were aware of people’s communication needs to ensure they could provide the care in people wanted. The office premises were in an older building which lacked good accessibility, therefore staff visited people in their own homes for pre assessment checks and were available by phone or email if people needed to contact them.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

The provider was keen to be proactive in providing person centred tailored care. They told us how they arranged monthly training sessions to improve staff skills and how they ensured all staff were trained in specific conditions of people they supported even if only one person had the condition, to ensure any staff could cover and all staff understood the complex care.

One relative told us about a carer they felt was not knowledgeable enough about their relative’s condition, and said the manager sorted this out quickly, “The problem was with a [carer] who didn’t understand the disease. They said they would do training, they are always doing training. They had someone from the hospital to do the tubing with them.”

The manager sought out experts to train staff. Recently a nutritionist had visited to train staff. Staff told us they enjoyed the extra training. A staff member told us, “We have done PEG feed training. It broadens what we can do. Once a month we have a different training subject. We’ve had PEG feeding and challenging behaviour, I’m not sure what this month will be but it’s usually at the end of the month.

People were very happy with the care they received, one person told us, “They are perfect, angels every one of them ”

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Staff had training in end of life care. The provider told us they were not currently supporting anyone on end of life care, but one senior staff member had specific training from the hospice and another staff member had requested this training too. All staff took part in inhouse end of life care training. Care plans contained information about people’s wishes for the future such as ‘Do Not Attempt Resuscitation’ (DNAR) notes.