Long Meadow

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. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Incidents, accidents and near misses were reported by staff and reviewed by leaders. Care plans and risk assessments were updated when needed and further measures to help reduce and manage risks were implemented. Leaders looked to identify where processes and systems could further improve and took steps to support these improvements. This helped to promote an open culture that looked to continually improve.

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. Information on people’s care needs to help other professionals understand people’s needs, for example when people went to hospital, was readily available. Referrals to other health and social care professionals were made when people’s needs changed.

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. The provider shared concerns quickly and appropriately however, they had not always notified the Care Quality Commission of all the safeguarding referrals they had made. We discussed this with leaders who told us they had improved their system to ensure these would be submitted as required. Staff knew how to identify potential signs of abuse and how to report these to help promote people’s safety. Staff understood the provider’s whistleblowing policy and told us they felt confident to raise any concerns. People told us they felt relaxed and happy in their home, and we observed staff were available to check on people’s well-being.

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. Policy guidance, care plans and risk assessments had been used to help guide staff as to what actions to take to help reduce risks when a person was at risk of harming themselves or others. Leaders had oversight of risk management and took appropriate actions in response to escalating risks to help keep people safe.

We did not look at Safe environments during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Safe and effective staffing during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.