Alexandra House - Bury

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 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff understood the importance of learning lessons from safety events and taking action to embed good practice. This included staff checking peoples care plan and risk assessments prior to each care call visit. Information was shared with staff and followed up via team meetings and individual one-to-one meetings. This helped to avoid miscommunication.

Staff worked with people and with health and social care 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, for example, from hospital back home. Information related to people’s care needs was assessed prior to people joining the service. This helped to inform people’s care plans and risk assessments.

Systems and process to safeguard people from abuse were operated effectively. People told us they felt safe using the service. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood how to identify signs of abuse and raise concerns.

At the time of this assessment, no one using the service was subject to any restrictions on their liberty. Where liberty restrictions do exist, in the community this must be authorised by the Court of Protection.
 

The service 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. New and emerging risks were responded to timely manner. Systems and processes for managing accidents, incidents and untoward events were managed effectively.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Home environment risk assessments were completed when people first started using the service and were reviewed regularly. This helped to keep people and staff safe from risks associated with slips, trip and falls and fire safety around the 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.

We looked at electronic care call monitoring data for the month prior to our assessment and found most people received their care visits on time, including those people needing time sensitive medicines. Staff used handheld devices to ‘book in’ when arriving and leaving a call. We found some staff appeared to be in two different locations at the same time, although this wasn’t a widespread issue. We spoke with the provider about this and were assured continuous improvements were being made to ensure the use of technology better supported care delivery and management oversight. However, feedback from people around timekeeping and their care calls was positive. Comments included, “Staff are very reliable and rarely late.” and “The carers are very reliable most of the time and always turn up”.

Pre-employment checks were completed to ensure staff were safe to work with the people they were supporting. Staff had an interview, and their Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was checked and previous employment references sought. DBS checks provide information including details about convictions and cautions held on the police national computer. Newly recruited staff received an induction into the service, and opportunities for shadowing of care calls were provided.
 

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. Staff had access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at the point of care and were trained in infection prevention and control practice. Comments from people included, “The hygiene standards are brilliant. All the staff wear PPE and clean up all the time."

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning, including when changes happened. Staff were trained and were assessed as competent to administer medicines safely. Processes were in place to ensure the supply of people’s medicines arrived on time.