Thornhill Health Care

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 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. The provider had systems in place to learn from lessons following accidents and incidents. At the time of our assessment no records of incidents or accidents had occurred. The registered manager told us, if any incidents, accidents or safeguarding occurred then they would look to see if any lessons could be learned.

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. Prior to people starting care with the service, the registered manager took their time to get to know people and their relatives. They made sure they found out important information about people, which included who was involved with their care. Some people had more than one care service who supported them. The registered manager ensured good communication was maintained with the other service. A communication book was in place, regarding people’s wellbeing.

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 had systems to ensure any concerns would be raised quickly and appropriately. The provider had a safeguarding policy in place, which detailed the types of abuse and how to escalate concerns around abuse. We have asked the registered manager to add the local authority safeguarding teams’ contact details to the policy. The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of safeguarding. A staff member told us, “I would report any concerns to my line manager.”

The service had not needed to make any safeguarding referrals. This was partly due to being a small service and incidents having not occurred. People felt the service they received from staff was safe. A person told us, “They are marvellous, there are 3 of them.”

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. People had risk assessments in place to help ensure they received safe care and that risks were minimised. When risks had been identified, such as people at risk of falls, risk assessments were in place. The assessments contained guidance for the staff to follow, with what actions should be taken to manage risks to make sure people were safe. The registered manager reviewed risk assessments regularly or sooner, when people’s needs had changed. Staff were aware of how to reduce any risks to people. A staff member told us, “Staff have had training on safeguarding and manual handling. We ensure their immediate environmentis clutter free, dry and also ensure, the use of appropriate aids.”

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Risks within people’s environments had been assessed by the registered manager with risk assessments in place. These were routinely monitored and reviewed to ensure they were effective. Staff were informed about any risks within people’s homes and took steps to manage them appropriately.

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. Safe staffing levels were in place at the service. At the time of are assessment 3 staff were employed, with 2 people being supported by the service. Staff rotas were completed in advance and sent to the carers and to the people, the service supported. This was to let people know which staff, would be completing each call. People gave feedback that the staff arrived on time, and they felt the service had enough staff. A person told us, “Yes, enough staff, who arrive on time and are not late”. Another person told us, “They will let me know if someone new is coming.”

Staff had completed mandatory training which included for example, medicines administration, safeguarding, moving and handling, infection control, first aid and food hygiene. The registered manager kept an overall spreadsheet of staff training and was aware of when training courses were due to expire.

Safe recruitment practices were in place with pre-employment checks of staff carried out, prior to starting at the service. This included checks in relation to references from previous employment, exploring gaps in employment, the right to work in the UK and criminal record checks. Each staff member had completed an application form and attended an interview. The registered manager kept a spreadsheet with an overview of the staff recruitment checks. This included the date any information was requested and returned.

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. Infection control policies and procedures were in place, which contained information for staff on how to reduce and manage the risk of infection, required to prevent the spread of infection. Staff had received infection prevention and control training, and their competency was assessed in practice by the registered manager. This included ensuring the staff wore the appropriate uniforms and PPE.

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. People’s medicines were administered by staff, who had received training in medicines administration. The registered manager had systems in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. Medicines administration charts contained information about people’s medicines, dosage and timings. These were signed for, when people’s medicines had been administered. The registered manager completed audits of people’s medicines and competency checks were carried out with staff. People were happy with how their medicines were being managed.