Caring Hands (Wiltshire)

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 and near misses were recorded and reviewed by the management team to ensure actions were implemented. Learning from incidents was shared with all staff to ensure they understood changes in the way they needed to support people.

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. People and relatives told us the process of moving into the service worked well.

The provider worked with people 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. However , the provider did not always share concerns quickly and appropriately. The provider had identified one occasion when people had not received care in the way it was planned. No-one was harmed and the provider took appropriate action with staff members involved, however, the incident was not shared with the local authority safeguarding team or the Care Quality Commission. The provider said this was due to an oversight and took immediate action to share this concern during the assessment. People told us they felt safe in the service. Staff had received training and demonstrated a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities.

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. Risks to people’s health, safety and welfare had been assessed and action taken to manage those risks. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the risks and said plans were updated quickly when people’s needs changed.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. The provider assessed the service for risks and took action to ensure people, staff and visitors remained safe. Equipment, such as fire systems, water systems and hoists had been regularly serviced and tested to ensure they were safe.

There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. People told us there were enough staff to meet their needs and staff had the right skills and knowledge to safely support them. Required pre-employment checks had been completed for staff before starting work. This included a check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). New staff received an induction which included training and shadowing experienced staff. Records demonstrated staff had regular supervisions and an annual appraisal. The registered manager had a record of training staff had completed and a system to plan when refresher courses were needed.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of infections spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. People told us the service was always kept clean. We observed staff following good infection prevention and control practice, to help keep people safe. Staff said they had completed infection prevention and control training and had access to all the equipment they needed.

Medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. People told us staff provided good support for them with their medicines. Staff received training in the safe management of medicines and the registered manager observed their practice to ensure they were doing this safely. Staff kept accurate records of the medicines people had been supported to take.