Archived: Outreach Care Support 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 was 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. Staff knew how to identify safety concerns and who to report them to in order to improve the quality of service people received. Lessons were learnt to continually identify good practice and the management team used research of practice in other services to discuss learning from their own and other people’s practices.

The staff and management told us how they access training and other information events held locally to look at practice development as a way of improving their own delivery of care.

The provider worked with people and their partner agencies to maintain safe care. There were clear processes for sharing information between professionals, ensuring safe care. The registered manager told us how information is gathered from a number of sources to build up a comprehensive plan of a person’s care needs. Information relating to people’s wishes and preferences were taken into consideration ensuring support was carried out in a way that people wanted. A professional stated the provider had systems in place that meant support was safely delivered.

The provider worked with people and other partners to keep people safe. The provider understood their role in the overall care of a person and knew how to report information to others whenever concerns arose. Staff we spoke to were able to describe forms of abuse and how they would report internally within their own organisation as well as externally to statutory bodies such as the local authority and the Care Quality Commission. Staff worked with a range of different services who were involved in the daily delivery of care and understood the importance of sharing information and good record keeping.

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.

Staff were able to describe the risks faced by people and how they mitigated these with the careful planning and preparation of people’s support. Staff had long standing working relationships with the people they supported which gave them a good understanding of the risks faced by people.

The provider assessed the environment each time it was used so they could deliver safe personal care support to people. They made sure the room was free of unnecessary hazards and worked closely with those responsible for the maintenance of the properties to report any defects that could cause harm.

The environments were well maintained, and areas were people received personal care support had the facilities for people to receive the care they needed. There were enough areas for people to be supported with their personal care and people’s rooms were in close proximity to the bathrooms.

The provider had enough staff, experienced, qualified staff to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. The management ensured staff received regular supervision which provided staff with support as well as an opportunity for learning and development.

The provider had safe recruitment practices in place which were in line with current legislation. Staff record keeping was clear with all necessary documents including a list of each members training record held on file. The registered manager told us how they had recently attended training to enhance their knowledge regarding changes in recruitment practices.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection on a daily basis. Staff told us about the personal protective equipment they used to reduce risks of s the spread of infections. One staff member told us, “We make sure that people’s possessions are stored appropriately before and after we support people with their care, and we make sure the environment is kept clean for the next person.”

During our visit to the homes we saw that the properties including areas where people were supported with their personal care were kept clean to a high standard and that staff had access to materials to help keep the environment free of infections.

The provider was not responsible for handling and administering medicines. However, staff still were trained in this area and were aware of the medicines people took. They understood the potential side effects as well as the action to take if they were concerned medicines people took caused them harm.