Avo Care 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.

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 service 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. People were supported by a service which continually sought to share learning and improve. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. The provider carried out regular reflective practice and looked at themes and trends from complaints and incidents. People were involved in their care, the service worked with people following an accident or incident to prevent recurrence. The registered manager told us they supported learning across the service. Records confirmed reviews were undertaken regularly and in accordance with the service policy.

The service 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. The provider ensured essential information was shared with the necessary health and social care professionals.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They 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 service shared concerns quickly and appropriately.People felt safe in the care they received from Avo Care. A person said to us, “They always keep me safe, and I feel safe with them.” Staff understood how to raise concerns and felt confident the registered manager would act immediately. A staff member said, “clients are safe and we always follow care plans and report concerns straight away.” Safeguarding records were legible and accurate. The registered manager knew how and when to raise concerns and necessary statutory notifications to CQC as required by law. A notification is information a provider sends to CQC to notify us of events which occur within their service.

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They 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 worked to keep them safe and understood their needs. Staff knew people well and told us they had enough information regarding people’s individual risks. 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 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 maintain their environment and were appreciative of the support provided by the service and told us this had helped them to remain at home. The service did not have risk assessments in place for the environment. During the inspection the registered manager responded by implementing an environmental risk assessment to ensure people and staff were safe from hazards within their environment.

The service did not always make sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff. They did not always make sure staff received effective support, supervision and development. They did not always work together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs.People told us they were happy with the staff who visited them. Training records showed not all staff were up to date with their essential training in line with the provider’s policy, including safeguarding training and training to support people with some health conditions. This meant the provider could not be assured staff had the qualifications, competence and skills to provide care that met people’s needs. The provider immediately responded by ensuring staff completed the training and sent an updated training matrix showing essential training had been completed. A recruitment process was in place to ensure required checks were completed before staff began employment; however, this was not followed and did not meet legal requirements or the provider’s own policy. For example, exploration of employment history, references and health declarations. The provider had not completed other checks such as an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for adults in line with their own policy. DBS checks provide information including details about convictions and cautions held on the police national computer. The information helps employers make safer recruitment decisions. The providers recruitment policy stated a DBS would be obtained from Avo Care; however, the DBS recorded on the staff file was from another provider. The registered manager sought to rectify these shortfalls during the inspection. The service had shadowing, competency checks and ongoing support processes in place.The registered manager was introducing a new induction process.

The service 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 access to the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) as needed and supplies were plentiful. Policies and procedures regarding preventing the spread of infection and avoidable harm were in place. A person said to us, “The staff keep my home in an excellent standard of cleanliness. They clear everything up and my home, it is always left nice and clean, just how I like it.” A staff member said, “We always have enough PPE.”

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning, including when changes happened. People received their medicines as prescribed. Care plans correctly reflected the level of support a person required with their medicines. Risk assessments were in place. There was guidance in place to ensure medicines administered as required could be done so in a consistent way. MAR charts were completed comprehensively and contained relevant information.