Blossom High

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 rated 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 service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported incidents. The registered manager identified lessons learnt following accidents, incidents and complaints and care plans and risk assessments were updated accordingly, to ensure staff had up to date guidance to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Management shared learning with staff following incidents, accidents, complaints and safeguarding so that the service could continually improve and develop positive outcomes for people. Information was shared with staff through supervisions and meetings. The registered manager told us, “I have a WhatsApp groups which I use daily to ensure everyone gets the information they need instantly.” A member of staff told us, “The manager keeps us informed of any changes to a person’s care plan or if there is anything else we need to know about.”

The service 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. The registered manager told us, “A meeting takes place to carry out a full assessment before we commence a support package to determine if we are able to support the individual or not. We also look at what additional training our staff may need to ensure the person receives the best support. We get health professionals involved in the initial assessment too. We have also introduced a new initial assessment checklist before we commence a new package.”

Staff told us they read through the care plans to ensure they had all the information they needed to provide support safely. A relative told us, “The manager was very good. They visited the house and went through everything. The discussion was very in depth and included times [relative] eats and hobbies etc. They did this for my other [relative] too, which was only very recently.” Another relative told us, “I was given an information pack, there is one in [relative’s] kitchen and all important information and phone numbers and so on is in the care plan.”

The service 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. Staff understood how to recognise the signs of abuse and could describe the actions they would take to safeguard people. This action included informing other agencies if there were concerns about how the service was responding and what actions were being taken. A staff member told us, “I would report to my manager, and I would escalate to Local authority if I needed to.”

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. Risks to people had been assessed and risk assessments had been put in place to help mitigate these. Risks included areas such as supporting people with physical healthcare needs, use of mobility equipment and with personal care. Staff knew the risks to people well and told us they were kept up to date if there had been any changes to risk assessments. Staff told us they always read the care plan, read the daily notes and had regular discussions with the registered manager to see if there had been any changes to the care package.

People received personal care and support in their own homes. The service detected and controlled potential risks in the environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. The registered manager told us, ''We involve families and health professionals when formulating and reviewing the care plans and work closely with them on a regular basis.'' Risk assessments had been completed to provide staff with guidance on how to keep people safe and minimise risks. For example, there was a risk assessment in place describing risks to people's home environment.

The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. Staff worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. The registered manager had processes in place to ensure all staff received an extensive induction and staff we spoke to confirmed this. Appropriate checks were in place before staff started work including providing full work histories, references and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. DBS provide information including details about convictions and cautions held on the Police National Computer. The information helps employers make safer recruitment decisions.

Staff told us they were supported with an induction and given the opportunity to shadow more experienced staff when they first started working. However, the induction was only for 1 day which did not demonstrate a robust induction had been completed to enable staff to carry out their role and responsibilities effectively. Following the inspection, the registered manager revised their induction template to ensure the induction was robust, clearly documented and supported staff to work safely and competently.

Following the inspection, the registered manager also introduced an additional staff file audit process to further strengthen oversight.

There was enough staff available to provide safe and consistent care to people safely.

A health professional told us, “Staff working within the service are appropriately skilled and experienced to provide the necessary care and support.”

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. Staff had undertaken infection prevention and control training and were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) which could be collected from the office. A member of staff told us, “I wear PPE when required, such as gloves and aprons during personal care and masks if needed.” A person told us, “All staff wear PPE, and I feel very safe when they are here.”

We could not collect the evidence to score this evidence category. At the time of our inspection no one required staff to support them with their medicines. The registered manager told us, when required, regular audits of medicines documentation and practical observations of staff competency will be carried out to ensure safe administration and support of medicines. Staff had completed their medication training, which meant they were prepared and appropriately trained should medicines administration be required.