Bristol BBA Care 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 assessment for this service. This key question has been rated 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 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.

Staff understood their responsibilities in raising concerns and recording incidents appropriately. The provider ensured accidents or incidents that occurred were fully investigated and any areas of learning or improvement identified.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored.

The provider had established systems to promote people’s safety. Care visits were monitored by the registered manager to ensure people received the care they needed. People’s needs were assessed prior to them receiving a service. Information of care needs assessed by the local authority prior to people joining the service was used to inform people’s care plans and risk assessments.

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.

People were protected from the risks of abuse and staff were trusted to keep them safe. People told us, “I feel safe. I am happy here” and “I feel safe with the carers.”

The service had systems to report, investigate, and respond to concerns. One staff member told us, “If I saw something that concerned me, I would report it.” Staff had received training for safeguarding and there was a whistleblowing policy informing staff how to raise a concern internally within the organisation and with outside agencies such as the local authority, police, and the Care Quality Commission. All staff we spoke with told us they had undertaken safeguarding training and were aware of the whistleblowing procedure.

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.

People’s needs were assessed prior to them receiving a service. Care plans provided guidance for staff to ensure people received safe and responsive care and support. Risks were assessed by the registered manager and mitigated to keep people safe. Risk assessments were person-centred and regularly reviewed. The registered manager told us “We review risk assessments monthly or when there is a change in needs.”

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

People's care plans contained information which evidenced the safety of people’s home environment had been considered. The service used environmental risk assessments. Where people required the use of aids for safe moving and handling, they had risk assessments to support staff to be able to use this equipment safely. Staff told us “We visually check the environment when entering the (person’s) home.”

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.

People were supported by enough staff to meet their needs and preferences. People had continuity of seeing regular staff. One relative told us “There are enough staff to support my (relative).” Staff received regular supervision and ‘check ins’ from the provider to see how everything was going. Staff spoke positively of the training the provider arranged for them. A member of staff said,“The management are good at arranging training and making sure we have refresher training on time.”

The provider operated safe recruitment practices when employing new staff. This included requesting references from previous employers and checks with the disclosure and barring service (DBS). DBS checks are undertaken to confirm whether prospective new staff had a criminal record or were barred from working with people at the time of the report.

The provider 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 received infection prevention and control training and understood how to mitigate infection risks.Staff understood national guidelines in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). One member of staff told us, "We must use protective equipment to support with personal care.”

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities, and preferences.

Medicines risk assessments were completed which identified if the person had allergies, and if any medicines had specific requirements. Staff completed regular training on the administration of medicines, and their competency was assessed. Medicine refresher training was undertaken on an annual basis. People we spoke to told us they were happy with how staff supported them with their medicines.