Claydon Care Services Limited- Wiltshire Branch

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 69 (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. Incidents and accidents were recorded and reviewed by managers to ensure action to reduce the risk of a repeated incident was taken. Learning from incidents was shared with all staff to ensure they understood any changes to the way they needed to support people.

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 told us systems worked well when they started using the service, with good communication, for example when they came out of hospital. People’s health conditions were documented, and they were supported to access services from a range of professionals, such as GPs and community nurses. Assessments completed when people started using the service included information about any other services they were using, to ensure their support was maintained.

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. People said they felt safe when staff visited them. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and said they completed regular safeguarding training. Staff were confident managers would take appropriate action if they reported safeguarding concerns but were aware how to raise these concerns outside of the organisation if they needed to.

The provider had not always worked with people to understand and manage risks. Risks to people’s safety had not always been identified so management plans could be developed. This meant staff did not always have guidance needed to support people safely. Two of the 5 people whose records we reviewed were prescribed paraffin-based topical creams. None of these people had a risk management plan regarding the increased fire risks when using these creams. Although medication records highlighted that these creams were flammable, the provider had not followed published guidance on how to manage the risk of harm to people.

The provider took immediate action to address the shortfalls we identified. By the second day of the inspection risk management plans had been developed covering paraffin-based creams and staff had been given updated guidance.

Other risks to people had been identified and there were clear plans to support staff to manage them. Plans had been regularly reviewed and updated if people’s needs changed.

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 registered manager assessed people’s environment and equipment for risks and took action to ensure people and staff remained safe. The registered manager involved outside agencies where relevant, for example occupational therapists and medical equipment suppliers.

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. People told us they felt staff had the right skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Required pre-employment checks had been completed for staff before starting work. New staff received an induction, including opportunity to shadow experienced staff until they were confident. Staff told us they had realistic work schedules and received regular training, supervision and an annual appraisal.

Two relatives raised concerns about the approach of a small proportion of staff members. We discussed these issues with the registered manager and saw this was being addressed through the provider’s complaints process.

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 told us staff followed good infection control practice when providing care. Staff had completed infection prevention and control training and told us they had access to all the protective equipment they needed. Managers completed regular observations of staff, to ensure they were following correct infection prevention and control procedures.

The provider did not always make sure that staff maintained an accurate record of the support they provided to people with their medicines. Although staff had recorded in notes that people had been supported to take medicines, staff had not always completed the medicines administration record (MAR). The registered manager told us this was due to connection issues at some locations and staff not following the correct process to ensure MAR sheet entries were saved onto the electronic records system when staff next had a signal. The provider took immediate action to address this shortfall. By the second day of the inspection the registered manager had given all staff further instruction on the correct process to follow and MAR records had been fully completed.

People told us staff provided good support for them to take their medicines.