SCC Agency Ltd (trading as South Coast Care)

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

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

This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

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’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

The provider and senior team had excellent communication with people. We saw evidence of this during the assessment when staff answered calls in the office. We saw care plans had detailed information to guide staff. The provider said, “Care plans are updated frequently and it updates on the carer’s phones in real time.“

People told us, “They have always met my needs, if they aren’t sure how I need something done, they will be guided by me, that’s personal detail.” And a staff member said, “Everyone is different, we look at what a person personally needs.”

The provider told us care and needs were reviewed frequently, they said, “We will review care and mobility. We are reviewing someone today, talking to the occupational therapist and social services to add an extra carer as their relative can no longer help, so social services are reassessing and hoping to make that a double handed call.”

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

The provider told us they use online sources to keep up to date with current treatments and best care practice. They read monthly online newsletters focussing on patient care. The provider told us the electronic care system allowed them to add and audit tasks and care, and also gave staff access to all company policies. A staff member told us, “We have lots of training. Recently we had challenging behaviour training which was really interesting. I have completed my care certificate. We do some e-learning too. All the information we need is on the phone [app]. If I have to support someone new, I can read the app or call the office, but everything is usually on the phone.”

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

The provider was proactive in seeking help from other healthcare professionals when needed, for example a staff member told us, “A lady came out of hospital, straight home, and she had poor mobility. I needed to call 111 and call the office for support. She ended up needing to be in a care home.” The local authority told us they had no concerns about the service.

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

People lived in their own homes and were able to manage their time, friendships and hobbies. Staff helped people to live independently. Staff helped people to minimise risk but understood that people needed some risks in life. The manager told us, “We talk through the risk and we will note it in the care plan. Staff are aware people can take risks they like, for example we have a pet policy, so we minimise any risk where we can.”

People found staff engaging and interested in them, a person said, “They always say ‘good morning, what are you going to do today?’ they are interested in you.”

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The use of an electronic monitoring system allowed the senior staff team to monitor care in real time. There was an option to create reports showing various audit options, such as call times, when care plans were last updated and concerns staff had added to the system. The manager told us the supplier of the system was able to create new reports for them if needed .

The manager told us, “There can be tasks added to the electronic system, for example, observations, for recording what a person ate for lunch, what fluid they drank, their catheter care, to check urine colour and quantity. We can then use this for an audit report. We can export and analyse this information. If we have any concerns, we can add more observations tasks to improve auditing. It is better than paper notes.”

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Staff understood the need to respect people and to ask for consent before care. People had no concerns about the staff. A relative told us, “They are as good as they possibly can be. They draw curtains as we are overlooked. They think of him all the time,” and “They tell him what they are going to do before they do it,” another person said, “They come in and ask ‘are you ready?’.”

Staff had clear guidance on what to do if a person refused care, a staff member told us, “If a person refuses care, we will document it on the app, then contact the office. A new [different] carer might have more luck, staff will try again at the next call.”