Alcedo Care York and East Riding

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. There were systems in place to identify learning incidents where investigations took place to learn lessons to improve the quality of care.

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. Staff and leaders worked with partner professionals such as commissioners, social workers and nurses to ensure the right support was provided and there were good transitions between teams and services.

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 was a good understanding of safeguarding adults and children. Staff understood their role within safeguarding and the importance of raising concerns quickly. Leaders worked with the local authority by raising safeguarding allegations and notified CQC.

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. People and their representatives were involved in decisions about how to manage risks. Risks were clearly recorded with guidance for staff on how to respond and manage risks to keep the person safe.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Leaders completed an environmental check of the persons home to make sure it was safe and suitable for staff to deliver care. Clear documentation was in place to inform staff of potential environmental risks and how to manage these.

The provider struggled to retain qualified, skilled and experienced staff. While staff were well trained and received a detailed induction and introduction to people, there was a high turn over of staff which impacted on continuity and consistency. The staff we spoke with said they were happy working for the service. Staff were invited to complete a leavers survey, but they often declined to do so. Further improvement is needed by leaders to monitor and track why staff are leaving after a short period of time to put measures in place to resolve this. Staff were safely recruited and had all the mandatory checks in place. One person told us, “You never know who is coming. [Person] needs consistency but there are new staff all the time.” While another person said they had consistent carers and trusted them to put things right. They said, “I have carers who understand me and work with my specialist to meet my conditions.”

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. Staff were trained on how to monitor and manage the risk of infection. Leaders completed spot checks and undertook competency checks to ensure staff understood their role in managing infection transmission. One person told us, “Since Alcedo [took over my care], my house is clean and homely.”

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. Staff understood how to safely administer medication and flag up medication errors. Leaders monitored and checked medication was safely administered. Key documentation was detailed and guided staff on safe practices.