Northfield Care Centre

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 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. Accidents and incidents were recorded and logged appropriately. The monthly analysis of the falls and incidents information was reviewed and lessons learned were identified and shared with the staff team.

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’s care needs were assessed before they moved into the service and when they arrived, they were supported to settle into the service and the staff had time to get to know them.

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. We identified the provider had not always submitted notifications to CQC about safeguarding referrals made to the Local Authority. The provider undertook an analysis of referrals and incidents which identified areas for immediate improvement and how these improvements would be embedded into practice. The provider took immediate action and implemented learning in both the service and across the wider group of services.

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. Care plans and risk assessments were being reviewed and updated to ensure they were in line with the new provider’s approach and expectations. Risks associated with entrapment were identified and the provider took appropriate action to report the concerns and mitigate on-going risk. The provider was committed to continuous improvement and development of people’s care plans and risk assessments. Where there were inconsistencies in existing care plans, the provider carried out root cause analyses to identify if there were areas for improvements and any lessons learned which could be used to improvement practice and learning.

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 had a care home improvement plan in place and work had been undertaken to make changes and improvements to the care environment. Regular safety checks of the environment and associated services, including fire, water and equipment, had been completed and were reviewed by the management team.

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. Staff were kind and caring and there were sufficient well-trained staff to meet people's needs. Staff were deployed effectively throughout the care home. Staff had been recruited safely and all pre-employment checks were completed.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies prompt. The care home was clean and hygienic and there were supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for members of staff to use when providing care and support. The provider demonstrated good practice in relation to managing infections and keeping people safe.

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. We identified some initial discrepancies in stock counts and reviewed this when we re-visited the service as part of the assessment and found medicines were accounted for correctly. The process for booking in new medications was safe and ensured medicines were managed safely. The Local Authority subsequently visited the care home, audited the medicines management systems and found no errors or concerns. A family member told us, “I think it is very safe here and the new owners are doing great. My [family member] feels very safe and I am happy they are here. I also think the medication administration is fine.”