Marina Homecare Ltd T/A Visiting Angels Barnet and Enfield Also known as Visiting Angels Barnet and Enfield

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 newly registered service. This key question has been ratedgood.

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 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 identify and embed good practice.

The provider had put in place processes to review events when incidents and accidents happened. There was an incident process in place which the registered manager followed. When a person raised an allegation this was investigated and responded to. The registered manager identified an aspect of how this incident could have been responded to more effectively. Lessons learnt were shared with staff to improve the experience for another person, if this happened again.

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

The registered manager responded to concerns about a person whose needs were becoming more complex and they believed the person needed the input and oversight of health and social care professionals. They talked us through how they were managing this situation and getting professionals involved. So this person’s needs could be met safely now and in the future.

The provider worked with people and staff 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.

When potential safeguarding concerns were raised by staff the registered manager responded quickly. Staff knew what to look out for and they knew they had to report these concerns to the office straight away. Staff said they had been told they could also report their concerns to other agencies. But staff were unclear who some of these other agencies were, such as the local authority. The provider said they would revisit this with the staff. They later sent us information to show they had done this.

The provider did not always effectively work well with people to understand and manage risks. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe and supportive.

People had risk assessments in place which identified the key risks which people faced each day. However, some risks were not explored to ensure the management of the risk was effective and staff knew what they needed to do. We spoke with the registered manager and provider about this. They said they understood our feedback and they would review this aspect of risk management.

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 had full environmental risk assessments to promote people and staff’s safety. Staff told us any new environmental issues were reported and these risk assessments were updated. The registered manager highlighted who were responsible for the servicing of equipment [used to help people move and transfer] and when these services had been completed. This was to enable them to alert the appropriate person/organisation if there were any issues with the equipment.

Theprovidermade sure there were enough qualified,skilledand experienced staff, who received effective support,supervisionand development. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.An aspect of staff recruitment checkswas not fully completed.

Therewereenough staff to meet people’s needsand spend theallocatedtime with people. Staff did not feel rushed andthey felt able to go at people’s own pace. People felt staff had time to chat,ifstaffwere late, whichwas not the norm,the office staffwould let people know. The registered manager was alerted if there were any issues with timeliness and they responded quickly toinvestigatethese.

Staff received regular training and further training had been developed to go live this monthas the management hadidentifiedsome more in-depth training would be helpful to staff.Regular competency checks took place to check staff wereworking to the provider’s standards andthey were workingeffectively.

Staff were safely recruited, staff had 4 referencesas the provider felt this was an effectiveway of understanding their character.Staff had Disclosure and BarringService checks completed before they worked alone with people. However, theprovider was not seeking full employment histories andevidencingthe reason forany gaps. The provider said this would be corrected moving forward.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection.

Staff were trained on good infection prevention and control practices. Management checked staff were following these guidelines through spot checks. People had no concerns with this aspect of staff practice.

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

People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff recorded their administration of medicines on the provider’s electronic system. Any error with these records were quickly identified by the registered manager, who quickly clarified the situation. Some people had as required medicines, there were protocols in place for staff to follow when supporting people with these types of medicines.