Helping Hands Brentwood

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 72 (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 had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Concerns about safety were listened to and the registered manager investigated and reported safety events. Incident reports were analysed to identify trends and themes. Managers completed lessons learnt bulletins which were shared with staff and across the wider organisation to improve safety and minimise the risk of future incidents.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services. The provider shared information and updates with other health professionals when required to support people’s needs.

The provider worked with people and those important to them to understand what being safe meant to them and how to best support people to stay safe whilst maintaining their independence. The provider shared concerns quickly and appropriately. Staff had received safeguarding training and knew how to report any concerns.

The provider worked with people to understand and manage risks. People told us they felt safe when being supported. Risks were assessed and monitored. Risk assessment guidelines were in place for staff to follow to ensure they provided safe care which met people’s needs.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure the equipment in place supported the delivery of safe care. Environmental risk assessments were completed for each person to identify and manage any potential hazards.

The provider made sure there were enough experienced and skilled staff available to provide people’s support. People told us they usually had a consistent team of care staff visiting and they spoke positively about their regular care staff. The provider had a recruitment policy in place. However, not all relevant checks had been completed, in line with the provider’s recruitment policy, prior to staff starting work. For example, we found the provider had not always sought evidence of applicant’s previous care experience or verified their conduct in previous care roles. Following our feedback, the registered manager told us they were reviewing their recruitment processes.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. The service had an infection prevention and control policy in place for staff to follow and relevant training and resources were in place to support staff to follow good hygiene practices.

The provider made sure people’s medicines were safe and met their needs. People’s care plans detailed what support they required to manage their medicines safely. Staff had received medicines training and had their competency checked prior to administering. The registered manager completed regular medicines audits to identify any shortfalls in practice. For example, where they found staff were not always using the correct administration codes on people’s medicines records, they promptly implemented tailored training to provide additional support.