Birch Social 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.

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.

We have not awarded this service a score for Safe.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Safe.

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 learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

The provider had promoted ongoing development and a learning culture. The provider investigated, reviewed and responded to complaints, incidents and accidents.

People and their relatives told us staff made changes when necessary to keep them safe and well.

The provider established effective systems to learn when things went wrong. There were procedures for dealing with accidents, incidents and complaints. Staff understood these and reported any concerns. The registered manager ensured staff knew and understood how to make improvements.

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 with contact from external health professionals as required, such as the GP. There were safe systems in place to ensure essential information was shared with the necessary health and social care 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.

There were procedures designed to safeguard people from abuse and avoidable harm which staff understood. Staff told us, “I know how to recognise and report abuse or safeguarding concerns, we have safeguarding policies to follow.” And “I am aware of safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures”.

Safeguarding training, policies and supervision helped ensure staff practice remained safe and up to date. Staff told us, “I’ve completed safeguarding adults training and refresher training and am confident about raising any concerns.”

Management told us they were always open and transparent and promoted this ethos within the staff team. At the time of our assessment, there had not been any safeguarding concerns. However, the registered manager and provider understood their responsibilities to work with the safeguarding authorities to investigate concerns and ensure people were protected from avoidable harm.

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.

Staff knew people well and told us they had enough information regarding people’s individual risks to provide support safely. People’s risks were assessed before they started to use the service and updated as needed. Risk assessments were created and maintained; they were accessible to staff.

The service used an electronic monitoring system, which identified if staff were running late or had not arrived at a person’s property. This minimised the risk of any support being missed and ensured a reliable service.

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 supported people in their own homes, they were not responsible for the upkeep of these premises. However, risk assessments were in place to ensure the environments in people’s homes were safe to protect people and staff from harm. For example, there were effective arrangements in place to manage risks associated with fire or slips, trips and falls.

The provider made sure staff could always contact them in an emergency. Staff told us they could contact the registered manager or provider at any time, including in an emergency.

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.

The registered manager told us there were enough staff available to meet people’s needs. This was monitored by feedback received from people and staff. Comments from staff included, “People have regular staff who know them well, it is important for people to have continuity in order to know the person’s needs and provide the best care for them. Late or missed calls do not happen.”

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure all necessary pre-employment checks were completed before staff began work. This included enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, which provided information about convictions and cautions held on the police national computer to support safer recruitment decisions. New staff completed a comprehensive induction, were introduced to people and worked alongside a senior member staff. Staff told us, “I had induction training and shadow shifts before working alone.” A relative told us “[Registered manager] makes sure that all of the staff are fully competent before she allows them to come without them.”

Staff told us they received regular training and support that enabled them to meet people’s individual needs. Comments from staff included, “I have the training I need to support people safely.” And “We do not have clients that need medication support at the moment, so I do not give medication, however I have received training and we have a medication policy in place for if we do”.

Ongoing support for staff included scheduled supervisions and regular spot checks. Records demonstrated these meetings were meaningful, 2-way discussions. Staff confirmed they understood their roles and responsibilities and knew how their work contributed to the overall quality of the service. Staff told us, “I have had appraisals and I get regular supervision and support. Spot checks and shadow checks are also done to ensure I am working correctly and safely.”

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.

Policies and procedures regarding preventing the spread of infection and avoidable harm were in place.

Staff had a good understanding of policies and processes.Staff told us, “I had Infection prevention and control (IPC) training, and I have enough supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)”.

Spot checks included whether staff were wearing the correct level of PPE for the task undertaken.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. There is no previous rating for the Safe key question so we cannot yet publish a score for this area.