Helping Hands Northwich

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 registered service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

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.
Records showed incidents such as falls and sudden deterioration were analysed, with care plans updated and referrals made to health professionals. Staff described learning from feedback and incidents.
 

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.
Records and feedback showed the service responded when people became unwell, including arranging urgent reviews, contacting professionals and supporting people during emergencies. For example, staff told us about a time someone was unwell and they stayed with them until an ambulance came.
 

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 shared concerns quickly and appropriately.
People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm because staff understood safeguarding responsibilities and knew how to report concerns. Staff described different signs of abuse and neglect they would look for, including physical, psychological, financial and organisational abuse. They also explained concerns would be reported promptly to managers, on-call staff, external bodies or emergency services if needed.
 

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.
Staff assessed, monitored and managed risks so people could receive safe support in their own homes. Care records contained a wide range of risk assessments. These were regularly reviewed. Records showed the provider reviewed accidents and incidents, particularly falls linked to deteriorating mobility, dementia and neurological conditions. The provider involved professionals such as occupational therapists and speech and language therapists in reviews about people’s care needs when needed.
 

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

Staff identified and managed environmental risks to help people stay safe in their homes. Environmental risk assessments were in place and considered issues such as fire safety, access, pets, space and escape routes. Care plan reviews showed risks linked to equipment, mobility, pressure area care and emergency evacuation had been considered. Staff described raising concerns when equipment was not right so that issues could be addressed with the office and relevant professionals.

The provider had arrangements in place to support staffing and workforce development recruitment processes were safe, and many staff told us they felt trained and supported. We did feedback however, some more information would be beneficial with regards to staff employment history, which the provider took on board.
However, there was some mixed feedback with regards to staffing and rotas from people and staff.
Some feedback from people, relatives and staff identified ongoing concerns about continuity, rota changes, travel time and communication. Some relatives described “quite a number of different carers” and said they were not always told who would be attending, while a staff member told us, “The main thing is the travel time; now and then we don't get enough travel time to get to customers on time, which causes extra pressure and gives more room for mistakes.” However, we saw rotas generally looked satisfactory. We raised this with the provider during feedback, who assured us they would take action to address this.
 

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 told us they had access to personal protective equipment and records showed staff undertook regular infection control training. Care records included infection-related risk assessments where needed, such as for people with reduced immunity. Staff described following handwashing, hygiene and protective equipment guidance to help reduce the risk of infection spreading.
 

The provider 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.
Medicines training and competency checks were in place, and Medicines Administration Records were audited so shortfalls could be identified and addressed. Staff described using safe processes when administering medicines and escalating concerns to the office or pharmacy when medicines were missing, had unclear labels or found on the floor. Audits identified some medicines errors and recording issues, including missed entries, delayed stock reporting and 1 example where a topical medicine was used for longer than directed. The provider had taken prompt action to address these concerns and ensure staff learnt from these to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.