Springfield - Care Home Physical Disabilities

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 as good. At this assessment the rating has remained as 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 registered manager promoted an open and transparent culture where people, staff and others felt confident to raise safety concerns and report incidents. Concerns and incidents were thoroughly investigated, and learning was shared across the staff team to support continuous improvement and help keep people safe. A care worker told us, “If anything happens, we discuss it at handovers. If there are any incidents, we have lessons learned sessions where we discuss the incident and work out what we can do to make sure the same things don’t happen again.”

We did not look at Safe systems, pathways and transitions during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

There were effective systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. A care worker told us, “I had training on safeguarding. I would report any concerns I had to the registered manager. If need be, I would report to local authority safeguarding team or CQC. We have a speak up service here too where we could report higher up if we thought the registered manager was involved in the issue. We also have a whistleblowing policy that we can follow.”

Risks were assessed and people were involved in the process. Staff had access to current information and guidance to manage these effectively while promoting people's safety and wellbeing. We saw that people with diabetes had risk assessments in their care plans and staff knew how to recognise the symptoms of low and high blood sugar levels. A care worker explained, “I had training on Diabetes. I support people with a healthy low sugar diet. I am aware of symptoms of Hypo and Hyper glycemia.”

Regular health and safety checks of the premises were undertaken, and equipment and safety systems were serviced and maintained to ensure they remained safe and in good working order

People were supported by a consistent and skilled staff team, who knew them well. We observed kind and caring interactions between people and staff, and one person told us, “Staff are very caring; probably more caring here than when I’ve lived elsewhere.”

There were enough staff to provide people with the care and support they needed. The provider undertook employment checks on staff to make sure they were suitable to work with people using the service. Staff files included application forms, health checks, employment references, where required right to work in the UK checks, and Disclosure and Barring Service. Staff received appropriate training, supervision and support to enable them to meet people's needs effectively. Training was refreshed regularly to ensure staff delivered evidence-based care in line with current best practice.

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.

Where people required support to take their medicines, we saw this information was recorded in their care records. The provider showed us electronic medicines administration records, this indicated that people were receiving their medicines on time. This system was monitored in real time by the care coordinator to make sure people were receiving their medicines as prescribed. Staff had received training on the administration of medicines, and their competence had been assessed.