Fountains Court

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 72 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Accidents and incidents were monitored to see if lessons could be learnt to reduce risk. People told us they felt safe at the service.

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. One external professional told us, “I have no worries related to care provision and know any request I make will be completed.”

People were safeguarded from abuse. Staff received safeguarding training, and told us they would not hesitate to report any concerns they had. One member of staff said, “If I saw something that concerned me I would report it immediately.” The provider shared concerns and investigated them quickly and appropriately.

Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. Risk to people were assessed and plans were put in place to manage these. In some cases we saw care records did not contain consistent information on risks to people. We spoke with the registered manager about this, who said records would be reviewed and updated. Staff were knowledgeable about managing risks and knew how to keep people safe. One professional told us, “I have no worries related to care provision.”

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Plans were in place to support people in emergency situations that disrupted the service, such as fire or loss of amenities. The registered manager had worked closely with the local fire service to train staff and share knowledge of good practice.

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. The registered manager monitored staffing levels to ensure there were enough staff to provide safe support. One member of staff said, “Staffing levels are excellent.” Regular training took place to ensure staff had the knowledge and skills to carry out their roles. Supervisions and appraisals were used to support staff and allow them to raise any issues they had. One member of staff said, “Supervisions and appraisals are always informative and helpful in our role.”

The provider did not always effectively assess or manage the risk of infection. Infection prevention and control systems were in place and were regularly reviewed. Most areas of the home were clean and tidy, but in some areas this was not the case. For example, items were being inappropriately stored in bathrooms or communal areas. We also saw that some furniture was in need of replacement to ensure it could be effectively cleaned. We spoke with the registered manager about this, who said the areas would be immediately reviewed and improved.

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Medicines were safely and securely stored. For most medicines we checked stock balances were correct, however on a small number of occasions some medicines counts were not correct. We brought this to the attention of the registered manager, who took immediate action during the inspection.Protocols were in place to support staff in managing as and when required medicines. Audits took place to monitor medicines management.