Empathy Care24 Northampton

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 Requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to safe care and treatment. Significant improvements had been made, and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.

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. The management team regularly reviewed incidents, complaints and safeguarding issues for trends and themes. Action plans were implemented and information shared with staff to continually improve the service. One member of staff told us, “We go through the incident thoroughly, involving the staff, service users and the families. We collect all the information. We then see how we can improve or what can we do to avoid or reduce such incidents in the future. We then discuss this with all the staff too.”

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’s care notes were available in their homes for visiting health professionals such as the ambulance service. Staff had the information they needed to ensure they could seek appropriate medical attention from GP, district nurses and emergency services.

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 had systems in place to record, analyse and investigate safeguarding concerns and had shared concerns quickly and appropriately. Staff had received safeguarding training and had discussions about how to keep people safe during supervision. One member of staff told us, “I am very confident with raising safeguarding. If there are any concerns, I always discuss this with the manager.”

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. For example, times of care visits were adapted to ensure people could attend appointments. Where people declined care regularly, staff reported this to their manager who assessed the person to ensure they were not neglecting their health and well-being.

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

The provider made sure 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. Staff had rotas that gave them enough travel time between calls. Staff were allocated to provide care to the same people as much as possible, to enable continuity of care. Staff received training to enable them to meet people’s needs. A member of staff told us, “Most of our training is online. There are a few training sessions which are face to face, such as moving and handling. During supervision, our manager will ask us if need any additional training or refresher training.”

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. The provider had systems in place to spot check staff practice and provide training. Staff had access to personal protective equipment and people told us staff used this when providing personal care. A person told us, “[Staff] always wear their gloves. The only time they don’t is when they give me my dinner. They wash their hands.”

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. People received their prescribed medicines and creams as planned. A person told us, “[Staff] do all my medication, they put them in an egg cup and I take them. No mishaps.” The medicine records were regularly audited and actions were taken to improve the medicines management where required. Staff received medicines training, and their competencies had been checked. A member of staff told us, “Sometimes the supervisors will attend the medications rounds. I am happy with my training. If there is any change in the medications, we inform the service user and families if needed.”