Storm Homecare Limited

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 78 (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 always worked with people and healthcare partners to design, establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was always well managed and monitored. They made sure there was always continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

The provider prioritised safety and continuity of care throughout people’s journey. They worked extremely closely with healthcare professionals to ensure people’s needs were communicated when the person moved to a different service.

A person with complex needs had recently been admitted to hospital, and the provider had arranged to continue to deliver the person’s 24-hour care package from their hospital bedside because consistency of staff and predictable routines were of paramount importance to the person. Collaborative working occurred at the hospital between care staff and nursing staff, to determine who was responsible for certain tasks. The deputy manager visited the hospital regularly to keep up to date with changes to the person’s progress, supported staff and kept in touch with family members. The registered manager and nominated individual regularly liaised with commissioners and clinical leads to keep them up to date. The person received an excellent quality of care during a stressful and worrying time because of the whole team approach.

Feedback received from other people and relatives was also positive. They told us they received a smooth transition when admitted and discharged from hospital.

The registered manager was confident in the referrals process when a new package of care was offered to the provider, and only moved forward with packages of care where they were certain they could meet people’s needs. Where people’s needs changed over the course of time, and they needed to move to an alternative service, the registered manger worked closely with commissioners.

The provider always worked with people and healthcare partners to design, establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was always well managed and monitored. They made sure there was always continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

The provider prioritised safety and continuity of care throughout people’s journey. They worked extremely closely with healthcare professionals to ensure people’s needs were communicated when the person moved to a different service.

A person with complex needs had recently been admitted to hospital, and the provider had arranged to continue to deliver the person’s 24-hour care package from their hospital bedside because consistency of staff and predictable routines were of paramount importance to the person. Collaborative working occurred at the hospital between care staff and nursing staff, to determine who was responsible for certain tasks. The deputy manager visited the hospital regularly to keep up to date with changes to the person’s progress, supported staff and kept in touch with family members. The registered manager and nominated individual regularly liaised with commissioners and clinical leads to keep them up to date. The person received an excellent quality of care during a stressful and worrying time because of the whole team approach.

Feedback received from other people and relatives was also positive. They told us they received a smooth transition when admitted and discharged from hospital.

The registered manager was confident in the referrals process when a new package of care was offered to the provider, and only moved forward with packages of care where they were certain they could meet people’s needs. Where people’s needs changed over the course of time, and they needed to move to an alternative service, the registered manger worked closely with commissioners.

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 shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

The provider had a clear safeguarding processes and practices to protect people from abuse and neglect.

People and their relatives told us they were treated well by staff and felt safe. One person said, “The carers have been coming for over a year, they make sure I have everything I need, it is satisfactory, I feel secure, I have no concerns. I know them well enough, everything is hunky-dory.”

Staff had completed safeguarding training and had access to the safeguarding policy.

The registered manager was aware of their role and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding concerns. They explained a recent concern about a person’s safety which they had escalated to the safeguarding team at the local authority. The registered manager had also completed the relevant statutory notification.

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 were cared for in a safe manner. They were involved in assessing risks and mitigating them wherever possible.

The registered manager had a good understanding of positive risk taking and shared this with staff members. The registered manager was able to provide examples of where positive risk taking had been implemented in people's care packages, such as actively encouraging a person to continue walking their dog.

Staff told us care plans and risk assessments contained enough guidance on how to manage risk.

Staff understood people's needs and were confident in responding appropriately to distressed behaviours. Where elements of restrictions were identified in people's care plans, these were robustly risk assessed and were always the least restrictive option.

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

The provider completed robust environmental risk assessments prior to commencing people’s care packages to ensure the environment was safe for both the person, and the staff entering the person’s home.

The registered manager and nominated individual told us about a particular situation where a person was inclined to hoard, and the property was unsafe for the person and staff members. The registered manager said, “It was about gaining the person’s trust, to try and move some of the things around, not getting rid of it necessarily.” The nominated individual told us that consistency of staff was very important to allow people to build trust.

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.

Robust and safe recruitment practices were now being adhered to. This meant people received care from staff who had been recruited safely and thoroughly vetted.

The service had recently recruited a new administrator who had improved the staff recruitment files. This meant the files were well organised and made it easy for the registered manager to maintain oversight.

Staff were grouped into small teams, to work in specific packages of care. This provided consistency for people, their families, and staff.

Staff regularly received supervisions, and the management team conducted regular spot checks to assure themselves staff were competent to complete people’s care visits.

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 received care from staff who prevented the spread of infection by wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

Staff told us it was very easy to obtain PPE, and stocks of this were plentiful. Staff had completed training in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).

The registered manager advised the management team conducted regular spot checks to ensure staff were wearing uniform, completing handwashing properly, and wearing PPE.

The provider had a detailed IPC policy in place, which was reviewed regularly and all staff had access to.

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 now received their medicines safely. People felt confident receiving their medicines from staff. People told us they had not experienced any medicine errors whilst being supported by staff.

The provider had employed a registered nurse since our last inspection, to support the registered manager with oversight of medicine practices. Medicine Administration Record (MAR) charts now clearly detailed people’s current medicines. Medicine processes were now being followed by staff and medicine counts tallied. Care plans contained clear details on who was responsible for the reordering of people’s prescription medicines.

Staff had all received training in medicines and had regular competency assessments to ensure they remained knowledgeable and safe to administer people’s medicines.

The provider was committed to reducing harm for people through the inappropriate or overuse of medicines.

The registered manager advised that a booklet to support staff administer medicines safely had been implemented, and this was currently under review to ensure it matched the new digital system the provider was using.