Our Services
Support Solutions Healthcare Limited is a domiciliary care agency, which provides a range of personal care, social activities and essential domestic support services for individuals living in their own homes who may be unable to carry out these tasks for themselves. While the exact nature of service provided to each customer will be personalised and tailored to their needs, the following are examples of the services that are offered:
• Palliative care
• Learning disabilities
• 30 minutes to 24 hours care services
• Live in Care
• Sensory needs and physical disability
• Assistance with dressing and grooming
• Help with personal cleanliness (Washing, bathing, and showering)
• Assisting with getting in and out of bed
• Preparation of meals, snacks, and drinks
• Help and assistance with general mobility needs
• Befriending services
• Hospital assistance after Discharge
• Prompting or administration of medication
• Assistance with domestic tasks including cleaning, washing, ironing, hoovering, bed making and changing
• Escorting / accompanying within the community to day centres, doctor’s surgery, opticians, shops.
• Providing company and companionship
• Providing care to cover for family/carers to take a break
We do not do the following
• Assist or administer illegal substances
• Do not administer medication which is not in their original packaging
• Give injections
• Manage syringe drivers
• Change complex dressings Visits
• Do not handle client finances.
• Give medications through specialist routes such as PEG, Rectal etc. without specialist training and competency assessments
• Insert or withdraw catheters (we can change and empty catheter bags/stoma bags)
• Cut nails
Visits
Support Solutions health care Limited provides flexible care at home service commencing with a minimum half an hour visit upwards to full-time or Live-in Care. The shorter visits are generally to provide support and prompting with day-to-day tasks. Longer visits will usually be required for more comprehensive support such as bathing for example.
Responsiveness
Our aim is to create a care plan with you based on your wishes and needs, which is both realistic and effective. You will be fully involved in this process as will your family or advocates if you so wish. Whilst our customers are our central focus, others such as health professionals and social services may have an input to make sure your plan is effective, safe and meets a customer’s needs and wishes.
Reliability
Care Workers and everyone involved in Support Solutions Health Care Limited system, acknowledges that reliability and consistency is the cornerstone of any form of care at home. Customers have an absolute right to receive what they have been promised. Training and supervision focus strongly upon reliability and customers are requested to let us know if the standards they expect are not being achieved.
How Our Care Workers Relate to You
We will always brief your care worker so that you should not need to explain their tasks to them. We will endeavour to ensure consistency in care and will be providing you a small ‘team’ of care workers who will get to know you and provide therapeutic care.
All care workers are trained on how to treat you with dignity, be courteous and friendly and to respect your needs and wants. If you have any specific cultural, religious or other personal requirements we will respect and honour these.
The Right to Choose and Manage Independence
We support and value all our customer’s rights to choose and remain as independent as possible. Customers have the right to make informed judgements about their care and should therefore be furnished with all the relevant information to enable them to make those choices.
Safety and Security
All staff are subject to a robust recruitment process including face to face interviews, identity, history and employment checks as well as written references. Every Care Worker also has a criminal record check and go through an in-depth induction and training programme prior to starting work.
Each Care Worker will have an identity badge which will be available to be shown to you at every visit for your protection. We do not permit staff to hold keys for customer’s doors for safety and security reasons, in the event that special arrangements need to be made for access to a customer’s home, we strong advise you to use a Key safe. Keys should never be ‘hidden’ near the door or carry a name or address; this is for the customer’s protection.
Use of CCTV Recording Equipment
You or your representatives are of course able to unilaterally use a hidden camera if you feel you require that additional security, want your representatives to be able to visibly reassure themselves of your wellbeing or because you have concerns about any aspect of your care delivery. We do ask for a co-operative approach and for the Registered manager to be informed.
However, Customers and representatives must be aware of the CQC guidance that use of a hidden camera without the express permission of the Service may contravene, and therefore, cancel the contract between the Service and the Customer, possibly resulting in the ending of service provision.
We at Support Solutions Healthcare Ltd welcome all comments, compliments, concerns or complaints and this is also embedded in the use of convert CCTV equipment. Please do report any concerns and we shall respond appropriately to those.
Range of Qualifications For Domiciliary Care Staff
All of our care staff our encouraged and supported to gain qualifications to a minimum of QCF Level 2 within 12 months of employment. All members of our team will receive the full range of training in line with statutory requirements which will include training on:
• Moving and Handling
• Health and Safety
• Equal Opportunities safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults and children
• Infection Control
• Food Hygiene
• First Aid/CPR
• Medication
• Effective communication and confidentiality
• Privacy, dignity and respect
• Role as a care worker
All staff are thoroughly trained, and training refreshed on an annual basis in the prompting and administration of medication. Additionally, our care staff also receive Stoma care and Catheter training along with Dementia training/awareness and End of Life training.
We continually review and support our staff with any additional training they may require. All staff have an induction period of twelve weeks, this includes company induction, the Care Certificate standards, mandatory training including practical classroom training, shadowing and competency observations.
Quality Assurance
The satisfaction, feedback and views of customers and/or their representatives and other stakeholders is important, and we are proactive in seeking out and acting upon this wherever practical and appropriate. Annual satisfaction surveys are carried out to find out what customers think about our service and help us to review and improve our services.
We also visit customers on a regular basis for face-to-face discussions and feedback. Systems are in place to conduct quality audits in areas such as staff supervisions, care plan reviews, recording practices and complaints. Support Solutions Healthcare Limited operates a transparent and open culture and is happy to provide additional information including copies of any policies and procedures at the request of customers for their information.
Comments, Compliments, Concerns, and Complaints.
improve our services.
It is only by taking notice of these compliments, concerns and complaints made by our customers and others that we are able to check whether we are delivering the service we promise and to the standards expected. Customers must not under any circumstances feel they may be discriminated against for making a complaint and will receive the necessary support to do so from our management and staff.
We wish you to feel confident in the knowledge that there will be no negative impact on you or your care and support. If there are occasions when a person needs help to voice their concerns or complaints, Support Solutions Healthcare Ltd will enable them to do so or try to facilitate this by providing information regarding local advocacy services for example.
If you wish to make a complaint, we will:
• Respond sensitively and listen carefully to your concerns in confidence.
• Acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working days and keep records of your complaint.
• Tell you the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
• Investigate thoroughly as soon as possible, taking no longer than 28 days to resolve your complaint where possible, providing you with a written report.
• We will keep you advised of the progress relating to your complaint on at least a weekly basis.
Where a Local Authority or Primary Care Trust is commissioning the care, a complaint can also be taken to them. Contact details will be available in your care plan. If you feel this hasn’t been resolved satisfactory you could always take your concerns to CQC directly.
Fees Payable
Customers who are paying for their own care or receiving funding from elsewhere such as direct payments or individual budgets, will receive details in advance of the when to pay. A private contract will be provided which encloses all the above details and will need to be signed by the person agreeing to pay for the care to be provided.
Customers will receive invoices for their care provided and may request a statement of their account at any time and will be provided with receipts for any payments made. Some customers will receive financial assistance from social services or the CCG/NHS. In this situation they will agree with the customer what, if any contribution they are required to make and how this should be paid (this may not happen until sometime after care has started).
Insurance
Support Solutions Healthcare Ltd has both public and employer’s liability insurance. It is important however to point out that we do not insure customer’s homes or contents and we strongly recommend that this is covered by the homeowner.
Data Protection
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 Support Solutions Healthcare Ltd must operate systems which prohibit unauthorised access to, or disclosure of customer’s personal information. You also have the right to access the personal information held about you. For an appointment to view your records, please contact us. All information relating to our customers is securely and confidentially stored in line with our confidentiality policy.
Breakdown of Services
Personal Care
• Assist with dressing
• Assist with washing and bathing
• Assist with daily clothing selection
• Dementia care
• Help with incontinence care
• Assist with meals/eating
• Alzheimer’s care
• Respite care
• Provide medication reminders
• Provide convalescence care
• Assist with morning/wake up routine
• Assist with evening/bed time routine
Domestic Services
• Dusting and vacuuming
• Attend to bed making/changing linen
• Help with washing and ironing
• Provide light housecleaning duties
• Collect prescriptions
• Meal preparation
• General shopping duties
• Grocery stock check
Companion Services
• Arrange and escort to appointments
• Encourage social inclusion activities where possible
• Encourage mental stimulation activities
• Assistance with reading
• Participation with crafts and hobbies
• Plan visits, outings and trips
• Accompany to lunch or dinner
• Visit neighbours or friends
• Help with travel arrangements
• Attend clubs or sporting events
• Monitor diet and eating
• Companionship and conversation