Helena Road

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.

Systems were in place for learning lessons when things went wrong. Accidents and incidents were reviewed and action taken to reduce the risk of further similar accidents occurring. Lessons were shared with the staff team through team meetings. Appropriate polices offered guidance to support a leaning culture, for example, in relation to complaints and safeguarding adults.

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.

When people moved into the service there was a transition plan in place which helped things to go smoothly. The registered manager met with people, their relatives and relevant social care staff to gain information about them before they moved so there was a smooth pathway.

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.

The provider had a safeguarding adult’s policy. This made clear their responsibility to report allegations of abuse to the local authority and CQC. Where there had been allegations of abuse, these had been dealt with in line with the policy. Staff had undertaken training in safeguarding adults and understood their responsibility to report allegations. A member of staff told us, “I would raise it with the manager, and we would have to tell [local authority].”

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.

Risk assessments were in place for people. These set out the risks people faced and information about how to mitigate those risks. They covered risks including falling, accessing the community and medicine. Steps had been taken to support people to take risks in a safe way. For example, a specially adapted kettle was used to support people to make their own hot drinks in a safe way. People told us they felt 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.

Health and safety checks on the premises were up to date at the time of our inspection, including those related to fire safety and Legionella. People’s risk assessments covered the physical environment. The premises were generally well maintained, although there were some minor issues that needed to be addressed. For example, there was a broken radiator cover in a bathroom and damaged wainscoting in one of the lounges.

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.

There were enough staff to support people in a safe way. Staff said they had enough time to carry out their duties, and we observed this to be the case during inspection. Staff responded to people in a timely manner.

Pre-employment checks were carried out on staff to help ensure they were suitable to work in a care setting. These included employment references, proof of identification and criminal records checks.

Staff undertook regular training to help support them in their role. This included training about working with people with learning disabilities and autism.

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.

The premises were visibly clean on the day of our inspection and cleaning schedules were in place. This helped ensure the premises were routinely kept clean. Staff wore personal protective equipment when providing support with personal care and had undertaken training on infection control. There was an infection control policy to help guide good practice in this area.

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.

Medicines were managed in a safe way. They were stored securely in designated and locked medicine cabinets inside people’s bedrooms. Medicine administration records were kept which were accurate and up to date. These were audited by the registered manager. Guidelines were in place about when to administer medicines prescribed on a ‘as required’ basis.