Goscote Centre

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.

Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice.

Information was used to ensure lessons were learnt so that where needed improvements could be made to the service, such as improvements to the care and support people received. The provider monitored incidents and accidents that occurred to identify any trends or learning.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored.

There were processes in place to ensure people and their carers were assessed before they started using the service. We saw people and those important to them were involved with this process. The registered manager told us when they received a referral they would firstly see if they could match the person with a suitable placement/carer, before accepting this. There would then be a transition period where people met the carer, visited their potential new home/placement and got to know the carer over a period of time. Carers were also subject to an assessment as part of this process. We saw care plans and risk assessments were developed based on this assessment. Staff and carers confirmed they were aware of people’s assessed needs.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. The provider shared concerns quickly and appropriately.

No concerns were raised about people’s safety. A relative told us, “I know she is safe”.

There were systems in place to ensure safeguarding concerns were identified, reviewed and investigated. Carers and staff had received safeguarding training and they were able to tell us how to report and recognise potential abuse. Some people were not always able to share their views/feedback. The staff team therefore reviewed and met with people regularly to ensure they were safe and well supported. Due to how reviews, events and meetings were planned, staff ensured they saw people on a monthly to 5-week basis.

Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

There was a system in place to ensure people had care plans and risk assessments that had been developed individually, based on their assessed needs, which were regularly reviewed. Care plans and risk assessments were developed with people and those important to them. The registered manager had identified that some care plans needed further detail to ensure they fully considered all aspects of the care people received. They were in the process of actioning this.

These plans considered people’s levels of support, mobility needs and known risks. These were reviewed regularly or when changes had occurred.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in people’s home environments.

People had individual risk assessments in place that related to their home environment. These risk assessments ensured checks were completed on the home and equipment within it, for example, smoke alarms. Risk assessments were reviewed by the shared lives officers as part of their reviews of people’s care.

The provider had systems in place to ensure there were enough staff available to support people.

There were enough staff available to support people. When people needed additional support, carers received staff through homecare agencies.

Records confirmed staff and carers had received training. This included mandatory training and training that was specific to people’s individual needs. A carer told us, “I asked for training on Diabetes and the team sourced this for me and then put it out for everyone”. The registered manager had identified further improvements were needed to ensure all carers had received up to date refresher training and there were plans in place to support carers to do this.

Staff and carers had received the relevant pre-employment checks before they could start working with people to ensure they were safe to do so.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection.

Carers told us they wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). They confirmed they had enough PPE available, and they had received training in this area. The registered manager told us they provided the PPE to the placements for people, along with training for the carers. There were processes in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of cross infection.

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences.

People received their medicines as prescribed. A carer told us, “I support [person] with medication, I remind her and she takes it herself”. Another said, “She needs cream applying to her skin regularly, and the team introduced a form so I can record it”. One person had chosen to self-administer their medicines; there was an assessment and risk assessment in place for this and guidance on how they achieved this. Staff administering medicines had received training and their competency was checked to ensure they were safe to administer these to people. Medicines were reviewed by the shared lives officers as part of people’s reviews.