Carepoint Services Ltd (Prescott House)

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 unrated service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

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.

Lessons were not always learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.Staff knew what action to take in the event of an accident or incident occurring. Correct follow up actions were taken in all cases however it was unclear whether any trends or patterns were fully explored or whether any lessons were learned from accidents or incidents. The provider and leaders had been open to feedback and taken immediate actions to make service improvements.People knew how to raise concerns. They spoke positively about staff and leaders listening to them. One relative said, “I have the utmost respect for [registered manager]. They always keep me informed; very prompt in replying to my queries.” Leaders were aware of the duty of candour and their legal responsibilities to be open and transparent when things went wrong.

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 were supported to access other services should they be required.One person said, “the manager does appointments for me. The doctor usually comes here. The manager tells the surgery what I need, and they take it from there.”Staff told us how they worked with external professionals to ensure continuity of people’s care. The registered manager spoke positively about the relationships they had built and maintained with external professionals. Feedback from external professionals about staff and leaders was positive. Comments included, “[Registered manager] communicates well with us and will be proactive in asking for support or passing on their concerns” and “I have found [registered manager] and all the staff I have had dealings with to be professional, good communicators and advocates for the people I have worked with.”

The provider worked with people to keep them safe.People told us they felt safe with staff in their homes. The provider had safeguarding and whistleblowing policies. Staff had safeguarding training. Leaders performed competency checks to test staff’s knowledge. The provider shared events with appropriate external agencies quickly and had documented actions taken.

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 told us staff knew them well. They were confident staff had the skills to support them safely. A relative said, “When [person’s] needs changed, [the registered manager] was quick to contact Social Services and request an assessment.” Care plans contained detailed risk assessments for specific health conditions. These were regularly reviewed with people. The registered manager said, “You speak to people and see what effect a condition or risk has on them. We speak to the doctors to make sure they are on right treatment. If we have concerns, we’ll contact the right professional such as an occupational therapist to check mobility.”

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 were supported to keep their environment safe and tidy. Staff received fire training. They told us about environmental risk assessments and how they keep people safe. This included risks associated with people smoking in their homes.

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support and supervision. They worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.Feedback from people about staff was positive. People told us they had support when they needed it. They said staff did not rush their care and knew what they were doing. Staff had been safely recruited. They had received training, and their certificates were stored in their staff files. Although there was no training matrix to ensure good oversight of when training was due for renewal, leaders had provided in-house training and told us when courses were due. During the assessment, leaders created a training matrix tailored to their service. Competencies and spot checks were completed to ensure staff were suitably skilled to do their roles.

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.People told us staff used personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff had training in infection control and understood how and when to use PPE. Spot checks were completed by leaders to ensure staff demonstrated good practice.

The provider did not always make sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences.People told us they had received their medicines safely. We observed medicine support being delivered in a person-centred way. Staff had received medicines training and competencies were carried out to check their knowledge and skills. However, we identified that medicine audits had not always picked up recording errors. Audits did not include checking physical stock of medicines to ensure they were in date, or the correct amount was present. The provider and leaders had been open to feedback and taken immediate actions to make service improvements.