Rievaulx House Care Centre

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 was an unrated service. At this assessment the rating has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 69 (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. The registered manager monitored, analysed and responded to incidents to ensure people were protected from harm. They kept a clear log of all accidents and incidents and routinely monitored this to track any patterns or trends. Learning from incidents were shared with the staff team to ensure there was consistent learning and development.

Staff 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. Staff worked closely with partner organisations including district nurses, GPs and ambulance staff. Visiting professions told us staff knew people well and there was always a detailed handover.

Staff worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They 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 risk of abuse or neglect. Staff understood their role in safeguarding procedures, and they felt confident raising concerns to leaders. The registered manager was open and transparent where they shared concerns with CQC and the Local Authority without delay.

The provider did not always work with people to understand and manage risks. Consistently, people and their relatives told us they were unaware of what their care plan was, and they had not been consulted in the creation and review of their risks. While the registered manager confirmed people are asked by staff on how they are, they did not recognise staff had not been made aware people the assessment of risk and care needs had been reviewed. In response to this, they planned to change the approach to reviews and offer people copies of their care plans and risk assessments.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment however maintenance tasks were not kept up to date. Areas of the home were not well maintained with some carpets stained and locks and radiator covers were broken. The management team attributed this to the absence of a member of staff responsible for these tasks. However, sufficient alternative measures were not put in place in a timely way. The registered manager responded immediately to these issues and had locks replaced, radiator covers repaired and would escalate again to the provider the need for carpets to have a deep clean.

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 and relatives felt were enough staff to meet their needs. Call bells were answered promptly and people told us staff responded to them in a timely way. The registered manager completed a dependency tool which identified the service had more staff than needed to ensure people received the right support. Staff were largely up to date with their training and staff were safely recruited.

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 were observed wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and they regularly washed their hands. The environment was largely clean and housekeeping staff worked hard to clean people’s rooms and communal areas.

Medicines were managed safely and staff had a good understanding of medication management. People received their medicines on time and staff knew people’s health needs and medication needs well. Key documentation was in place, and it was specific to the person.