Aspirations Staffordshire

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 learned to continually identify and embed good practice.

Staff told us they felt confident to raise concerns and trusted management to act on them. A staff member told us, “I feel confident raising any safety concern.”

People using the service also said they felt listened to and able to speak up if they had worries.

The provider had effective systems to help them to identify safety concerns and used these to support continuous learning and improvement. Regular checks enabled managers to spot issues early and take prompt action to keep people safe. We saw evidence how the provider responded to concerns and ensured lessons learned were shared across the team to strengthen safe practice.

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 had detailed, personalised care plans and risk assessments in place. This provided staff with clear guidance to support people safely and effectively. A relative told us, “Staff get the GP in for anything wrong. Staff keep me informed by phone.”

Staff worked with other professionals to ensure people received the appropriate support when needed.

A visiting professional commented, “[Registered Manager’s name] communicateswith professionals when concerned or has queries and I am reassured knowing that [Registered Manager’s name] will contact me if support is required in the interim of my planned visits.”

Staff were supported to build collaborative relationships between the provider and other professionals.

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.

We found staff understood how to keep people safe and knew what concerns needed to be reported. Staff told us they felt confident raising concerns and that these would be dealt with appropriately. A staff member commented, “I feel confident raising any safety concern. I always feel listened to by the managers, and we work together to act quickly and accordingly.”

Safeguarding concerns were acted upon in a timely manner ensuring people were protected from the risk of abuse.

The provider kept records of accidents and incidents and reported safeguarding concerns to the local authority when required. Learning from incidents was shared with staff and a safeguarding policy was in place to guide staff.

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.

Relatives told us they had strong and positive relationships with staff, with 1 relative telling us, “I have a good relationship with [person’s] key worker, [name]. They are easy to talk to. I would raise any concerns with [Registered Manager] or someone in the office.”

People’s care plans were personalised and tailored to their individual needs and preferences. Care planning supported people to take positive risks and promoted independence where appropriate. For example, the provider has worked with a local shop to enable 1 person to take the items they want and leave, and staff return to pay for items taken later. This promotes the person’s independence as well as reduces the risk of harm to the person and others.

People’s needs and preferences were kept under review, and reviews took place as necessary.

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 was not responsible for people’s accommodation, as people held their own tenancies. However, staff supported people to raise any housing concerns with their housing association.

People had suitable environmental care plans and risk assessments in place to make sure their home and equipment was safe.

The provider reported identified concerns to the housing associations promptly.

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.

Some people who used the service were actively involved in staff training by delivering training about themselves and their individual care needs. This helped staff to better understand what was important to people, how they preferred their care to be delivered, and how to support them in a personalised way.

Relatives told us people received consistent care and benefitted from familiar staff supporting them. One relative told us, “[Person] does get used to the same carers and likes familiar faces. [Person] has lost a few brilliant staff. They [The provider] is getting there with a stable care team.”

Staff told us they completed online training which was updated as needed. The provider kept up-to-date records of staff training. One staff member told us, “Our training is good and ongoing, and we get regular check-ins.”

The provider carried out all required pre‑employment checks before staff started work. This included requesting references and completing criminal record checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which helps ensure safer recruitment. Where staff had known health conditions, the provider made reasonable adjustments to support them. The provider told us they were continually recruiting care staff and working towards a consistent staff team to support people.

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 were supported to keep their homes clean and reduce the risk of infection. The registered manager told us staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) in people’s homes when needed. This included additional equipment to help keep staff safe during times when people experienced heightened distress and to further minimise infection risks.

Staff received infection control training, and we saw the provider’s policy around this.

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’s medicines were administered safely and ‘as required’ (PRN) protocols were in place for staff to follow.

Staff supported people to recognise when they needed to take their medicines. This helped promote better outcomes for the person as well as an increased independence around medication.

A relative told us, “I have no concern about [person’s] medicines. Staff sort it all out and [person] accepts medicines okay. If [person] is asked if in pain [person] will say.” Another relative said, “As far as we know there have not been many medication errors. [Person] takes [a number of] tablets a day and staff seem fairly thorough.”

A visiting professional told us there had been some concerns around medicines in the past and this had been resolved through the registered manager’s “regular medication audits which appears to have reduced the number of safeguardings.”

The provider completed regular medicines quality checks to identify issues. Where issues were identified, actions were taken to rectify errors and lessons were learned. Learning was shared with staff to improve practice.