Our Story
A Little More About Us
Sukoon Care was created from a simple belief: care should never make someone feel that they have lost control of their own life. I have spent more than eight years working in care, supporting people in the community and seeing first-hand the difference that genuinely good care can make. But some of the experiences that shaped my understanding of care the most did not happen while I was at work they happened within my own family. Like many families, we reached a point where people we loved needed support from others. Along the way we met some wonderful carers, people whose kindness and patience made difficult days easier. But we also experienced the other side of care: missed visits, poor communication, different carers constantly arriving at the door, a lack of continuity and times when it felt as though completing a list of tasks had become more important than understanding the person receiving the care.
When you experience care as a family member, you realise how important the things that can sometimes seem small really are. A care visit may be one of several visits in somebody's working day, but to the person sitting at home waiting and to the family relying on that support that visit can mean everything. You need to know somebody will arrive. You want to know who is coming through the door. You need confidence that they understand the person they are supporting, how they like things done and what matters to them. You want changes to be noticed and communicated. Above all, you want the person you love to be treated with patience, kindness and dignity. When care was not working as it should for members of my own family, I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I could become much more involved in their care myself.
That experience changed the way I looked at care forever and left me asking a question that stayed with me: if our family is experiencing this, how many other families are feeling exactly the same?
When Everything Changed
Several years ago, someone very close to me was living with Alzheimer's alongside other health conditions. Their health deteriorated significantly and there came a point when our family was told that they may have only days to live. It was an incredibly difficult time, but what happened afterwards became one of the experiences that most shaped the philosophy behind Sukoon Care. With the right support, encouragement, patience and people around them, they came through that period. Over time, they regained a level of independence that at one point we could hardly have imagined. More than five years later, they continue to do remarkably well, participating in everyday life and continuing to do things that bring familiarity, purpose and enjoyment to their days.
That experience taught me something I have never forgotten: never stop seeing the person because of their diagnosis, age or circumstances. A diagnosis may be part of someone's life, but it does not define who they are. There can be good days and difficult days, and people's needs and abilities can change. Behind every care plan is a person with a lifetime of experiences, relationships, routines, preferences and memories. When somebody begins to need support, those things should not become less important if anything, they become even more important. That is why care at Sukoon starts with listening. We want to understand what matters to the person, how they like to live, what they can and want to continue doing, what a good day looks like for them and what a not-so-good day may look like. We build support around their life rather than expecting their life to fit around a care service.
I have also experienced the loss of people very close to me. Those experiences gave me another understanding of care particularly the importance of dignity when somebody is approaching the end of their life, the reassurance of familiar surroundings, the importance of keeping families informed and how much the smallest acts of kindness can mean when time together becomes precious. Those experiences stay with you. They certainly stayed with me. Rather than taking away my belief in care, they strengthened my determination to create the kind of service I believed people and their families deserved. That became Sukoon Care.
Why Sukoon?
The name Sukoon was chosen deliberately. It is a word associated with peace, comfort, calm and reassurance, and after everything I had experienced both professionally and personally, that felt exactly right. We cannot promise that care will make every difficulty disappear, but the right support can make difficult circumstances feel more manageable. It can help somebody remain surrounded by familiar possessions, memories and routines, give families reassurance that someone dependable is there and help a person maintain their independence rather than unnecessarily taking it away. Sometimes good care can simply bring a little more calm and reassurance into a home during a difficult period. That is what I want the name Sukoon Care to mean when somebody welcomes us through their door.
Our Parent Test
My own experiences also led to a simple principle that I want to remain part of Sukoon Care no matter how much the service grows.
We call it our Parent Test: “Would we be happy for this person to care for someone we love?”
Qualifications, experience, background checks and training are essential, but they do not tell you everything about the person standing in front of you. We also look for kindness, patience, reliability, respect and genuine warmth. We want carers who listen, who do not rush somebody simply because they are having a busy day and who understand that behind every care plan is a person with their own history, personality, relationships, routines and way of doing things. Put simply, we want carers we would feel comfortable welcoming into the home of someone we love.
But the Parent Test goes further than recruitment. It should influence how we think about the care we provide every day. Would we be happy if someone we loved constantly had unfamiliar carers arriving at their door? Would we want them rushed while receiving personal care? Would we accept a missed visit being treated as though it did not matter? Would we want their preferences ignored because another way was more convenient? Would we be satisfied if a significant change in their wellbeing was noticed but nobody communicated it? If we would not consider something good enough for someone we love, we should not consider it good enough for somebody else's family either.
Compassion – Dignity – Support
Three words sit at the heart of Sukoon Care: Compassion – Dignity – Support. They are not simply words associated with our name; they describe how we want people to experience our care. Compassion means taking time to listen, recognising when somebody may be having a difficult day and understanding the little things that help them feel comfortable, valued and understood. Dignity means remembering that needing support does not take away somebody's right to make choices about their own life. We ask rather than assume, protect privacy, respect culture, faith, relationships and routines, and encourage people to continue doing the things they can do for themselves. Above all, we remember that we are entering somebody's home they are not entering our workplace.
Support means more than completing the tasks written on a care plan. It means being dependable, recognising when something changes, communicating appropriately and helping people maintain the relationships, routines and activities that give their life meaning. Sometimes support may mean help with washing, dressing, medication or preparing a meal. On another day it might mean helping somebody get ready to see family, attending an appointment, going shopping, getting out for a cup of tea or simply sitting down and having a conversation. Care should support someone's life not become their life.
Helping Families Find Their Way
I also understand how confusing arranging care can be. Most families do not spend their lives thinking about social care, and then suddenly something changes. There may be a hospital admission, somebody's health may deteriorate, a relative may begin struggling at home or a family may realise that they simply cannot manage everything alone anymore. Suddenly there are assessments, care packages, funding, discharge arrangements, professionals and decisions to understand. Families can find themselves asking where to start, what support is available, what assessment is needed, what happens when someone leaves hospital and who they should speak to.
Having experienced some of those questions personally, I want families to feel comfortable talking to Sukoon Care even when they are not yet sure what support they need. Sometimes the first thing a family needs is not somebody trying to sell them a care package. Sometimes they simply need someone prepared to listen, understand what is happening and help them work out what comes next.
The Care We Want to Be Known For
Our ambition is not simply to provide care visits. We want to build a service that people in Preston and the surrounding communities can genuinely trust, but I know that trust is not created by what we write on a website it has to be earned. It is earned by turning up when we say we will, listening, communicating, providing familiar carers wherever possible, noticing when something changes, involving people in decisions about their own care and being open when something has not gone as it should. It also means working appropriately with families and the wider professionals involved in someone's care, including GPs, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and other health and social care professionals.
As Sukoon Care grows, I never want systems, schedules or paperwork to become more important than the person at the centre of them. Strong systems and good governance are essential because they help keep people safe and make sure we remain accountable, but ultimately, they exist for one reason: to help us provide better care to people. So, no matter how much Sukoon Care grows, there is one question I want us to keep coming back to: would this be good enough for someone we love? If the answer is no, then we need to do better.
That is the standard I want the name Sukoon Care to represent: Compassion in every interaction. Dignity in every decision. Support every step of the way
How We Care
Listen & Understand
Good care starts with listening. We take time to understand who you are, what matters to you, how you like things done, and the routines, relationships and choices that make your life your own.
Care Built Around You
Your care should fit around your life not the other way around. We work with you and the people important to you to provide support that respects your preferences, promotes independence and adapts as your needs change.
The Person, Not the Task
Care is about more than completing a list of tasks. We want every visit to feel respectful, unhurried and meaningful, with carers who see the person first and provide support with patience, warmth and dignity.
OUR STANDARD
Would we let this person care for our own parents?
That is the simple question we ask when selecting people to join Sukoon Care. Qualifications, experience and training matter but so do kindness, patience, reliability and character.
We look for carers who will respect your home, listen to how you want things done and notice the little things that matter. People who communicate clearly, protect your dignity and treat you with the same patience, warmth and respect we would expect for our own parents.
If we wouldn't trust someone to care for our own parents, we wouldn't expect you to trust them with someone you love.
The Parent Test
We look for carers who will respect your home, listen to how you want things done and take notice of the little things that matter to you. People who communicate clearly, protect your dignity and bring patience, kindness and warmth into your home.
For us, the standard is personal. We ask ourselves whether we would feel comfortable placing someone we love in that carer's hands.
If we wouldn't trust someone with our own family, we wouldn't expect you to trust them with yours.