Care Qters Ltd

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 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 service has only been operational since September 2023. The registered manager told us to date there had not been any significant accidents or incidents, safeguarding allegations or complaints received. We found no evidence to contradict this. The service had a policy for staff to follow should things go wrong, and we saw there was an incident form template to use should staff need to. The registered manager demonstrated a good understanding of how to respond to any such incident. Relevant policies were in place setting out guidance about how to respond if necessary.

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.

People who used the service and their relatives felt they received a safe service. They told us they felt listened to and able to raise concerns or complaints. People and their relatives were aware of who they could contact if they needed to raise any concerns.

At the time of this assessment, the provider had only taken on privately funded people, already living in their own homes. This meant there had been no need to work with other health and social care providers with a transition from another care setting or provider. The provider carried out an assessment of people’s needs before they began to use the service. This meant they were able to plan any resources such as staff rotas and visit plans.

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.

People, and their relatives, told us they felt safe receiving a service form the provider. One relative said, “Yes, [person] is safe.”

The registered manager told us there had not been any safeguarding allegations since the service became operational. Appropriate systems were in place to help protect people from abuse and neglect. The provider had relevant policies in place including safeguarding adults and whistleblowing. The safeguarding policy made clear the providers responsibility for reporting any allegations of abuse to the local authority and Care Quality Commission.

Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures. They knew how to recognise and report abuse and were able to tell us the signs of abuse. A member of staff told us, “Any safeguarding incident, I will contact the manager, police or social services.”

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 and their relatives told us they were involved in planning their care which involved managing any risks to their safety.

Staff were aware of the risks to people and the steps they would take to keep them safe form harm. Care plans included details about possible risks to people and how to manage the risk. The registered manager carried out spot checks on staff which included observing that they supported people in a safe way.

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

As this is a domiciliary care service, providing support to people who live in their own homes, the provider had only limited responsibility for ensuring the physical environment was safe. However, risk assessments were in place relating to the environment, which covered things such as slip and trip hazards in the person’s 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.

The registered manager told us as they only had 1 person using the service, it was easy to monitor staff punctuality. They added if the service grew they had plans to introduce a system of electronic monitoring to check staff punctuality and that staff stayed for the full amount of time. A relative told us, “[Person] has the same carer and have been consistent.”

There were robust and safe recruitment practices to make sure that all staff were suitably experienced, competent and able to carry out their role. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were carried out. These provide information including details about convictions and cautions held on the Police National Computer. The information helps employers make safer recruitment decisions. Staff received the support they needed to deliver safe care. This included supervision, appraisal and support to develop and improve services.

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 confirmed they had completed training in infection prevention and control and demonstrated a good understating of the measures to manage and prevent the spread of infection.The provider had a policy in place on infection prevention and control to provide guidance to staff in this area. Staff were provided with personal protective equipment [PPE].

At the time of our assessment, none of the people using the service required support with medicines at the time of the assessment, and records indicated no concerns in this area.

Staff told us they had received the appropriate training and were confident in administering medicines to people, when required. The provider had effective medicines management systems in place. For example, staff had received training in medicines administration and there were relevant up to date policies in place.