Sure Healthcare (Barnsley)

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 newly registered 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. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

We found the management team were open and transparent and wanted to drive improvement at the service. Accidents and incidents were reviewed and lessons learned were completed which were shared with the staff team through team meetings and discussions.

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. Communication between staff, people and families was timely and responsive. Information in care plans provided sufficient guidance to staff to allow them to support people safely and allow effective information sharing if shared with other parties. One staff told us “Sure Healthcare have assisted me with all care plans for individuals that I see to.”

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect.

Effective systems to provide robust oversight of accidents and incidents including safeguarding’s were in place. There was low reporting of both accidents and incidents which may be related to the service supporting only a small number of people. We asked the provider to remind staff to ensure that all accidents and incidents and near misses however minor were reported to ensure complete oversight was in place.

Staff had completed safeguarding training and the provider’s safeguarding policy guided staff about different types of abuse and how to raise a concern to ensure people were protected. One staff told us, “First port of call to raise concern to management and then to safeguarding. I am confident that if I had a concern, it would be looked into.” A relative commented, “I feel that [Name] is entirely safe in [Person’s] hands.”

The provider worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

Care records had detailed and up to date information to allow staff to support people appropriately and mitigate risks. One relative told us, “Even when the usual carer can’t come, the others are lovely too, and because everything is recorded, they have no difficultly in picking everything up.”

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.

Prior to support starting an assessment of the environment is completed with regular review by the senior team to ensure both people and staff are safe. Staff were aware of risks associated with the environment and knew where to find the information to guide them. One told us, “There’s risk assessments in the client folder that have been carried out and then I have obviously done Health & Safety training. Having common sense helps and being fully training on what to look out for.”

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. However, although staff told us they felt well supported they were not receiving supervision in line with the provider policy. We asked the provider to review the frequency of formal supervision to ensure staff received regular supervision in line with their policy.

Recruitment procedures were in place, so people were cared for by suitably qualified staff who had been assessed as safe to work with people. However, it was noted that on occasions some staff had commenced shadowing prior to a suitable Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) being in place. Risk assessments had been completed but we advised the provider to also complete an Adult First Check. There were also some gaps in employment checks for some staff. The provider agreed to follow this up immediately for those staff identified.

We reviewed the electronic records of support provided and noted occasional issues with the recording of overlap times for double handed support, call times and unlogged calls. We discussed this with the provider who advised of some system issues and that paper timesheets remained in place to ensure clear oversight of support provided. They also advised they were in the process of working with the software company to improve the effectiveness of the system to reduce system glitches and address poor signal issues.

We received no concerns from staff, people or families regarding staffing levels. One family member told us, “They [staff] come 6 times a day, and they are always on time.”

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. Policies and procedures were in place and staff received training in infection control. No concerns were raised by staff about the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). People and their families raised no issues with the management of infection. One person told us, “They [staff] wear their gloves and what have you, aprons and all that, when they wash me.”

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff were trained in medicines administration, and their competency had been assessed. People were supported by staff who followed systems and processes to administer, record and store medicines safely. People and their families told us that they received their medicines as prescribed and on time. One relative told us, “They are always on time, if anything 5 minutes early. This is important for [Name] as [person] has Parkinson’s and [person] has their meds through the peg, and timing is very important.”