Pleasant Home Healthcare 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 provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. There was transparency when things did not go as planned and these were discussed and documented in team meetings. These lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. A staff member told us, “We discuss all the people we support; we look at what we do and the things which happen and then talk about how we can do them better in the future.”
The registered manager told us discussions are also held as part of staff supervision to promote learning. For example, they told us how spot checks carried out on staff and aspects of the staff’s practice were discussed as a way of learning and improving.
 

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed and monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services.

The registered manager told us how they worked closely with health professionals to share relevant information about the people they supported. They told us how they were able to be flexible in offering support to a person who needed an increase in hours of care which they were able to do with immediate effect. They went on to add, “We can take referrals from either the local authority, through a direct payment or a private client. As soon as we’re told we can go to the hospital or a person’s home, carry out an assessment and put a support package in straight away.”

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant and how to consistently achieve it. Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety and any form of abuse, discrimination or avoidable harm.
People and their families told us they felt safe. They were confident they could talk to the registered manager if they had concerns over safety and told us they were happy to be receiving support from people who they had got to know and had built up trusting relationships with.
The manager told us safeguarding was discussed in team meetings. They looked at the different types of abuse and the things in older people’s care which may need to be reported. For example, they told us about pressure sores, the action staff need to take and when to report it to health professionals and the Care Quality Commission.
Staff received safeguarding training. They knew about the different statutory bodies they might need to report concerns to. For example, they told us it may be necessary to report to the Police if they thought a crime had been committed. They told us they would report their concerns to their managers. A staff member said, “I know there are people outside our organisation to report to, but I feel so confident in my manager, I honestly don’t think it would ever come to that.”
The provider had policies and procedures in place to guide staff in identifying different types of abuse and the actions they must take to report 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.
The provider monitored falls and reviewed the data they collected to assess where risk may be increasing for people and where actions through referrals and assessment processes would help to minimise this risk.
Risk assessments were well written and reviewed regularly. Gradual declines in people’s safety owing to ageing were monitored and recorded and the provider ensured staff understood the importance of balancing risk with maintaining people’s independence as much as possible.
Staff were able to tell us about the types of risks associated with supporting older people. For example, they told us about the risk of people falling owing to frailty and about the equipment they used to support them and actions they took to minimise the risks within people’s home environment.
People and their families told us the provider was able to keep people safe whilst maintaining their independence. A family member told us, “Staff do involve [relative] in taking their medicines, but we have to keep them safe in a box as [relative] would not be aware of how much to take or if they had taken it, the carers oversee this for us”.
 

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 provider told us how they carry out an initial risk assessment on a person’s home environment when commencing a care agreement. They also carry out frequent spot checks which included audits of people’s home environment to ensure they were safe.
Staff understood their responsibilities in helping people keep their homes safe. They told us how they would not use equipment if they thought it was unsafe and how they would report it to make sure it was fixed. A staff member added, “We also do a visual check of the immediate environment before we leave to make sure there are no hazards that people could fall over when we are not here.”
 

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received regular supervision. The registered manager told us the staff team was stable and where necessary they were able to call upon their own staff to cover absences.
The provider had robust recruitment procedures in place. This meant staff were recruited in line with current legislation which included for example, references from previous employers and criminal records checks.
People and their families told us staff were able to safely and effectively provide care and support to their loved ones. A family member told us, “Before leaving they check to make sure [relative] is comfortable and if they had any concerns they would call me straight away. I totally trust them and so does [relative]. I can go to work knowing they are in safe hands and well looked after.”
Staff received a thorough induction along with lengthy shadowing opportunities to learn from more experienced staff when they commenced employment. A staff member told us, “When I started, I felt I was well trained and was given lots of opportunities to shadow others and get to know people I would be supporting. I felt confident with all the support I got and felt like I could always seek support if I needed to.”
 

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 helped people keep their home environments clean and tidy which helped decrease the risks of poor hygiene and infections.
The provider supplied staff with personal protective equipment such as gloves and aprons, keeping a plentiful stock for staff to access when they needed it.
Staff were trained in managing infections and understood who they needed to report any concerns to if they arose. The provider had policies and procedures in place for staff to refer current best practices in the control and prevention of infections.
 

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. The provider worked with many different GP’s and pharmacies and liaised with them to ensure people received the medicines they needed.
Staff told us they received training and felt confident in helping to make sure people received their medicines in a timely way. They told us how some people only required prompting to take their medicines and saw this as an important part of ensuring how people maintained their independence in this area.
The provider regularly assessed staff competencies in the administration of medicines. Additionally, they devised assessments for staff to undertake at regular intervals to test knowledge in the area of medicine management.
The provider also had policies in place which helped staff and were written in line with the national institute for health and care excellence guidance.