Battersea Place Retirement Village 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.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 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 encouraged and supported to raise safety concerns with the provider. The managers and staff understood the importance of reporting safety concerns and learning lessons when things went wrong.

Systems were in place to support staff to report and record safety concerns and events when they arose. The managers investigated safety concerns and events and used the learning from these to support staff to continually improve their practice, reduce risk and keep people safe.

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 provider ensured a safe transition of people into the service by working with people and their relatives to ensure people’s needs could be met.

Assessments were completed before people began to use the service, this meant the provider was able to support people in the best way possible.

People and relatives confirmed they agree on the support needs of them or their family members before they began to use the service.

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.

Managers and staff now understood how to safeguard people. They had all received up to date safeguarding adults training and knew how to recognise and report abuse. Managers and staff were able to articulate how they would spot signs if people were at risk of abuse or harm. A member of staff told us, “Yes, I have had my safeguarding training, and I know if I witness any form of abuse here, I must report it right away to a manager.”

People told us they felt safe using the service. The manager worked proactively with the relevant external health and social care professionals and bodies, including the local authority when a concern was raised and took appropriate action to safeguard people from further risk when this was required.

People were supported to understand the care and support staff provided them. People’s care plans made it clear what decisions people could make for themselves. Staff understood people’s capacity to make decisions about the care and support they received. Managers and staff confirmed they had received Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) training. The service was clearly working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

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’s care and risk management plans contained information and guidance for staff on how assessed risks should be managed to keep people safe. These were reviewed and updated as required.

People told us risk were managed well and they felt safe. Comments included, “I can have falls. I have a call button around my neck and they respond quickly” and “[Relative] required a hoist for transfers. Over time she improved and used a Sara Steady for transfers, and now she just uses a wheelchair. The carers were very good at risk assessing her care and they spoke to us about her care too.”

We observed restrictors were appropriately attached to people’s windows to prevent the risk of falls from height. Appropriate health and safety checks were carried out and recorded. A falls risk audit was also completed which helped to ensure any risks around falls were appropriately managed.

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

People told us they were satisfied with the arrangements in place to deal with any maintenance issues. Comments included, “The maintenance team are really responsive to issues” and “I have the equipment I need; it all works well. I have an accessible shower; my mobility isn’t good. The Maintenance team are very responsive, I just call them.”

Effective arrangements were in place to monitor the safety and maintenance of the premises. This ensured the building and equipment was maintained and serviced at regular intervals. For example, we saw up to date certificates for gas safety, electrical safety, and hoists checks. Regular checks were carried out in relation to checking water temperatures, fire safety and pest control.

A health and safety audit was completed in September 2025 looking at a number of areas such as fire safety, electrical safety, legionella and equipment amongst others. This report identified some areas for attention, which had been progressed. We also saw that areas identified from the previous audit had been acted upon by the provider. This meant that the provider had a good overview about health and safety within the premises.

The service 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 had ongoing opportunities to reflect on their working practices and to identify any further training, learning or support they might need. Staff had regular individual and group meetings with fellow peers and line managers. One member of staff told us, “I have my work appraised annually as well as have regular one-to-one meetings with my manager, so I do feel supported by them.”

A member of staff told us, “Our daily home care call visits are well coordinated as I get to support the same people every day. I also have enough time to do what I need on each call before I must leave for my next one. This helps us provide people with consistently good care they deserve.”

Staff were well-trained to meet people’s individual needs, in line with their choices and preferences and encouraged to continually improve in their role. Staff received a mixture of e-learning and in-person practical and theoretical training. A member of staff told us, “The training here is good. It’s always relevant and regularly refreshed, so are knowledge and skills remain up to date.” Another staff member said they would like more face training for their professional development as a clinical staff member. However, they said this was being discussed with the manager as an area of improvement.

The provider operated safe recruitment practices and only fit and suitable staff were employed to work at the service.

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 were supported to live in a clean, hygienic environment.

People, and their relatives, told us, “Staff always wear protective wear like gloves and shoe covers” and “The Carers keep her home very clean and are very thorough when it comes to hygiene and PPE. Her flat gets cleaned once a week by the carer.”

People were protected from the risk and spread of infection. Staff followed good hygiene practices to keep people safe. For example, staff wore personal protective equipment including single-use gloves when supporting people with their personal care. We observed the environment to be bright and clean, wheelchair accessible throughout and with no malodours.

Checks in relation to good infection control practice were completed, these included a housekeeping, laundry and hand hygiene audit. There was also a laundry and slings cleaning schedule in place.

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.

People told us they received their medicines on time. They said, “Yes, they assist with her medication and there’s been no issues so far. [Relative] is very happy with them.”

People had medicine care plans in place which included details of the medicines support they needed and how this could be achieved. Staff completed medicine administration records when they supported people with medicines, we reviewed a sample of these and saw they were completed in a timely manner.

There was an up-to-date medicines policy in place for staff to refer to around good medicines practice.