The Base Business Park

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 service. This key question has been rated 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 registered manager promoted a positive culture of safety, and systems were in place to enable learning from any incidents or accidents. There had not been any incidents within the past 12 months. However, staff were given time to discuss any incidents and learning through debriefing sessions within their supervision meetings and within team meetings.

Previously, a concern that had been raised was shared amongst the team and changes were made to a person’s care plan which reduced the risk of a re-occurrence. Staff knew how to report incidents and accidents and felt confident these would be fully investigated, with action taken by the registered manager.

A holistic joined up approach was used from the initial referral, the registered manager ensured people received a coordinated transition that met their needs. The staff team worked alongside people and their healthcare professionals to develop and maintain safe systems of care, in which their safety was managed and monitored.

People told us they were fully involved in the development of their care plan. People’s needs were taken into account when planning transition meetings when moving into the service, including introductory meetings to staff, visits to the service enabling people to spend time in the service and meet any other tenants.

People told us they felt, “very safe” with their staff team. One person said, “The staff are like a second family, and I don’t know where I’d be without them.” Safeguarding and how to support people to maintain their safety had been recorded within people’s care plans.

Staff were trained and knew the action to take if they had any suspicions or concerns in relation to abuse. Staff followed the provider’s safeguarding policy and procedure. Safeguarding was an agenda item for every team meeting, spot check and supervision meeting. The registered manager spoke about an example of a previous safeguarding concern they had dealt with within the past 2 years. They told us this had involved working closely with the local authority, the person and their family to reduce any potential risks.

People told us they were involved in the development of their care plan and risk assessments. Risk assessments identified potential risks and action to be taken by people and staff to reduce the risk. People were supported through positive risk taking to enjoy activities that mattered to them in a safe and supportive way.

Staff were aware of people’s risk assessments and knew how to support them in a safe way, reducing any potential risks. Referrals were made to external healthcare professionals such as the occupational therapy team, where additional support had been required to maintain people’s safety whilst within their home.

People were supported to live in a safe environment which met their needs. People received support to maintain their tenancy agreement from their housing provider. Regular checks were made of people’s homes to ensure they met their needs and promoted their safety. Staff supported people to raise any concerns in relation to their house with their housing provider.

People were provided with consistency and continuity of care by the same staff team, who they knew well. A relative said, “The support team around [name] are very friendly and helpful, [Name] has a really good relationship with them. [Name] refers to their support team by their first names.” People had choice and control and were fully involved in the recruitment of their staff.

Staff told us they received an induction and worked alongside other staff prior to them starting work with people. Staff felt they had the training, skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs, including any specialist needs. Staff had been recruited safely with various background checks completed to ensure their suitability to work with people.

People were protected from the risk of infection from staff that had been trained, had their competency checked and used personal protective equipment (PPE) such as, gloves and aprons. Staff did not raise any concerns in relation to a shortage of PPE and felt they had an ample supply.

People told us they received their medicines safely and as prescribed. People understood the medication they were taking and the reasons for this. Care records detailed the exact support required by people in relation to their medication for example, whether they required support to collect their medication from the pharmacy, the dose and time the medication should be administered.

Regular checks and audits were completed by a member of the management team including, a check of the medication administration record to ensure this had been appropriately signed for, a check of the medication storage and an observation of the staff administration. Any shortfalls identified were recorded as an action which was then completed and any changes were passed on to staff.