Austin Place

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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained as 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 learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

Accidents and incidents were clearly documented and monitored within the service, with systems in place to ensure oversight and learning. A falls tracker was used to enable the registered manager to carry out an analysis of any incidents in relation to falls that had occurred.

There were no recent incidents of concern. However, the registered manager shared regular handovers with staff keeping them informed of any updates. The registered manager told us, “We had 1 person who experienced some bruising and we followed up on this making sure we notified the family, so they were kept informed. Staff continued to monitor too.” We also read of another person who had slipped whilst in their bathroom, but sustained no injury.

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.

The registered manager worked with the provider’s housing team when someone was planning to move into the service. The registered manager told us, “If someone mentions about care, I will go on the assessment too. We would talk about what they want and what we could offer them. If they decide to move in, we will carry out another assessment then.”

The registered manager ensured people were made aware that they could use any agency of their choice when moving into Austin Place and they were not required to use the in-house care service.

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.

Staff received safeguarding training and understood their responsibility to report any concerns. The registered manager told us, “For example, if there was unexplained bruising we would fill in a safeguarding referral, notify the local authority and CQC.”

The registered manager confirmed staff received annual refresher training to help ensure they maintained up to date knowledge. A staff member told us, “When I go in to do the care, if I notice any marks during personal care or changes in behaviour, I will talk to them and ask them about it and record it in the daily records. I will report it to the (registered) manager and fill out an incident form. I’ve never had to raise any safeguarding concerns, but I would know how to do it.”

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.

Risks associated with people had been identified and guidance was in place for staff to help ensure they responded appropriately. This included where people required equipment to maintain their safety, for example, a shower stool or mobility aid. There was also guidance in place for people who had paraffin-based emollient creams prescribed (due to risks of it being flammable). People typically had falls risk assessments and skin integrity risk assessments in place. One person told us, “(I feel safe with staff) as they are very experienced.”

Staff were aware of what was needed to help maintain people’s safety. A staff member said, “(Person) will use their frame during personal care and will sit on a perching stool during personal care and shower.”

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care.

As part of a person’s care plan, the registered manager included an environmental risk assessment. This helped ensure if there were any areas of risk or concern they were recorded and mitigated against. They told us, “In the past we’ve had someone who had a lot of rugs placed on top of each other and this presented a risk because they used a Zimmer frame.”

Staff undertook fire safety practice with the housing team and annual fire safety e-learning training. This helped ensure they would know what to do in the event of a fire and people needing to be evacuated.

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 staff arrived on time and stayed the full time they expected, only leaving slightly earlier if there was nothing more they needed. People said they had not experienced missed calls. Comments included, “They come on time. I have 30 minute calls. If they leave early it’s because they’ve done all they need to” and “They are good time wise. They will stay the full time.” People did say staff had time to chat and socialise with them.

The registered manager told us, “We have sufficient staff for the care calls we have at the moment. Of course, we would always like to recruit more, but it is very difficult.” Staff commented that some calls for 1 person could take longer than the time allocated but they were discussing this with the person, with 1 staff member telling us, “We have been discussing [person’s name] care to be increased to 45 mins as their (personal care) call can take longer than 30 minutes.”

Staff were inducted into the role, undertook their training and shadowed a more experienced staff member prior to working alone. The registered manager ensured staff kept up to date with their required training and records showed that staff were 100% compliant with mandatory training.

Staff were recruited through robust processes which were audited and checked by the provider. This included the prospective staff member providing evidence of performance in their previous role, a full employment history and their fitness to carry out the role. All prospective staff undertook a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check to help ensure they were suitable to work in this type of service.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection.

Staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) to help reduce the spread of infection when providing care to people. The registered manager told us, “I would expect staff to wear gloves, an aprons and shower shoes when providing personal care and a shower to a person. We have plenty of PPE available for staff.”

Staff confirmed this with 1 telling us, “We wear gloves, aprons, feet covers and masks if people have colds or are unwell. We put it in a white bag and double bag them and dispose it in outside bins. We have more than enough PPE.”

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.

No one receiving the regulated activity was currently being supported with their medicines. However, some people had prescribed topical creams (medication in cream format) which staff applied to their skin. One person told us, “They (staff) cream me.” A staff member said, “We apply the creams as it’s prescribed and on the (topical cream) MAR (TMAR) chart.” Only trained staff carried out the administration of medicines and staff received annual competency assessments to ensure they continued to follow safe practices. We reviewed the TMARs for people and found no gaps which indicated staff were administering people’s creams as prescribed.

The registered manager held a log of trained staff together with their signature for easy identification in the event of a query.