Trust Homecare Solution South Suffolk Limited

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 inspection for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated as good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

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 service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Staff reported incidents which were quickly investigated by the registered manager. For example, one person had fallen when answering the door to a member of staff and measures were put into place to mitigate the risk re-occurring.

The service 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 registered manager was able to adapt people’s appointment times to accommodate health appointments in the home and the community. The management team gave examples of supporting people during review of care needs when relatives were unable to support, for example when on holiday. The provider was sometimes a second care service supporting people in their own home and had put in place mechanisms to share information across care staff relating to changing needs and concerns. For example, a decline in a person’s dietary intake.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. The service shared concerns quickly and appropriately.  Staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and knew how to raise concerns. People told us they felt safe and felt the managers were approachable if they had concerns.

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.  One person had declined to go to hospital when their health deteriorated. The registered manager worked with a range of external agencies and the person’s loved ones to ensure that a collaborative care package was put in place to manage their needs at home and keep them safe and comfortable.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.  People’s living environments were assessed to identify potential hazards to people and staff and how these could be mitigated.

The service made sure there was enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff. However, they did not always record how staff received effective support, supervision and development. Staff undertook the national care certificate on employment at the service by completing modules online. The registered manager worked alongside staff daily, but did not always formally record competency observations. Where these were completed, they did not always contain information about what was being observed. However, people told us “Staff are competent and know what they are doing.” Regular staff were on sponsorship from other countries. The provider had undertaken relevant checks to ensure staff could support people safely. However, they had not always explored all employment gaps. The registered manager took action to update staff files with information.

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. Staff had undertaken infection control training and had ready access to protected personal equipment (PPE) such as aprons, hand sanitiser and gloves. The registered manager conducted observations and audited staffs use of PPE.

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning, including when changes happened.  Staff had undertaken medicines competencies training and competency observations, and the registered manager carried out medicine's audits. Staff advocated for people and contacted pharmacists and GPs when needed, such as a person refusing medication due to not liking the flavour.