Yourlife (Dover)

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

The registered manager had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. The registered manager had a process in operation to record and review any accidents or incidents. This included investigating what happened and why. People told us their support had been reviewed with them following an accident. For example, 1 person told us the position of call bells had been reviewed with them following an accident to make sure it was always accessible when they needed it. This helped the person feel safe.

The registered manager 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 worked with healthcare partners to ensure people had the right support in place when they returned home from hospital or respite care. This included reassessing people’s needs to make sure staff could continue to support them. They had worked with occupational therapists to make sure any adaptations were made to people’s apartments and equipment was in place so people could be safe when they returned home.

The registered manager had established a handover process with the local enablement team to provide consistent care which maximised people’s independence. This included care staff shadowing the enablement staff and updating the care plan to ensure consistency.

The registered manager 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 registered manager shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

People told us they felt safe when staff supported them. They told us staff were honest and trustworthy, and they had no concerns about them. People were confident to raise any concerns they had with the staff and registered manager. Staff had completed safeguarding training and described the signs they may see if people were at risk. They were confident to share any concerns with a member of the management team and were assured they would act quickly to protect people from the risk of abuse. The registered manager had shared any concerns they had with the local authority safeguarding team so they could be investigated.

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 they worked with staff to mitigate any risks to them. They told us staff did this in a positive supportive way. A person told us, “Staff pull my leg because I leave my shoes all over the place and I might trip on them.” Care plans contained guidance to staff about how to support people to remain safe in the way they preferred, such as the equipment they used to mitigate the risk of them falling.

The provider also managed the building people’s apartments were in. They detected and controlled potential risks in communal areas and people’s apartments. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. They kept the safety of the building under review and acted to address any shortfalls.

Plans were in place to keep people safe in an emergency and people told us they had practiced these. They told us when the fire alarms sounded for a drill staff reminded them what to do, to remain safe and reduce the spread of smoke and fire. One person told us, “If I pop my head out of the door to see what is happening, staff remind me to keep the door closed.” The registered manager worked with local fire and rescue crews, who visited regularly to review the plans in place to respond to an emergency.

Before people were offered a place, an environmental risk assessment was completed in their home to identify any risks to people or staff. This included looking at any falls risks, the management of clinical waste and infection control. People and the registered manager worked together to agree how risks would be mitigated and both signed the risk assessment to demonstrate their agreement.

The provider had not always ensured staff were recruited safely. The registered manager 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 provider had not always checked staff conduct in previous care roles. The registered manager took action to address this following our site visit and obtained verbal references for staff. We will review this at our next inspection. Staff had the skills and knowledge they needed to care for people safely. They all had experience in previous care roles and had completed the provider’s on-line and practical training.

The registered manager 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 completed training in relation to infection control and had access to personal protective equipment such as disposable gloves and aprons. Assessments had been completed on their practice, including their handwashing skills.

The registered manager had considered a local meningitis outbreak and checked with staff how they were feeling at the beginning of each shift. Staff who were off work sick were not permitted to return for 48 hours after their last symptom to ensure they were fully recovered and no longer contagious. People who were unwell were advised to remain in their apartment and not use communal areas to reduce the risk of infection spreading to others.

One hour cleaning of apartments was included in people’s service charge, and we observed communal areas were clean, including toilets and the dining area. People had access to a communal laundry, which included sluicing machines for any contaminated laundry. People were reminded to use these machines, when necessary, at regular meetings.

The registered manager made sure that medicines were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning, including when changes happened. No one was receiving support with their medicines at the time of our assessment. However, staff had completed medicines management training and their competence to manage medicines safely was regularly checked. People told us when they required support staff did this in the way they preferred. Staff had worked with community pharmacists to support people to obtain pharmacy filled dosset boxes to assist people to remain independent with their medicines.