Colliers Croft Care Home

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 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. The provider encouraged transparency and openness about safety. Staff understood their responsibility to raise concerns and report incidents. Opportunities to learn from safety events were communicated to staff to help support improvement and prevent recurrence. Staff described the home as having an open, supportive culture where concerns could be raised safely and learnt from.

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. Processes were in place to help ensure that when people moved between services, key information about the person was included to help ensure continuity of care was met. For example, processes were followed to ensure relevant information was gathered and shared when people were admitted to, or discharged from, the home. The provider used hospital passports to help ensure health care professionals had up to date information about people and their needs.

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. Policies were in place to help ensure people’s safety, such as a whistleblowing and safeguarding policy.

Any accidents and incidents were recorded appropriately with suitable actions taken in response to help reduce the risk of recurrence. Staff demonstrated an understanding of risks relating to abuse and personal safety and were able to explain how they would report safeguarding concerns.

People and their relatives told us they felt Colliers Croft was a safe place to live. Comments from people included, “I am very safe here, I feel very lucky” and “There’s always someone keeping an eye on us, they even check us every hour in the night and see if we need anything.” A relative commented, “I know [Name] is safe and secure here.”

Although we were assured the provider worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically and staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them - some people’s care records required further guidance for staff on how to manage risks.

For example, for people with who required staff intervention to help manage risks to skin integrity, the frequency of repositioning was not defined and referred to as being ‘regular.’ This meant there was a risk people may not have been repositioned as frequently as they should. However, records and our observations assured us that people received appropriate care and support in a timely way.

People were supported by staff who were familiar with their needs. Staff were able to tell us how they identified and managed risks to people, to help keep people safe from harm and potential abuse. People and their relatives felt care provided to people was safe. Comments from people included, “A relative confirmed, “Even though [Name] is prone to falling, they [Staff] do everything they can to prevent her falling.”

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Processes were in place to help ensure the safety of the environment. Regular risk assessments and environmental and equipment checks were in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people and staff. The environment had been adapted to help meet the needs of people living with a cognitive impairment. Sections of the home had been divided into an indoor garden area, a bus stop, a bistro, a pub and a hairdressers to help people better navigate communal areas of the home.

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. Staff were recruited safely and supported to carry out their role in a safe and competent way. Staff completed an induction, mandatory training and shadow shifts to further prepare them for their role. The provider ensured there was enough competent and skilled staff on duty. People and their relatives expressed confidence in staff training and continuity. Comments from people included, “There's lots of staff” and “Amazing staff here.” Relatives confirmed, “Staff here are trained to take care of mum” and “There’s always plenty of staff.”

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 had completed Infection Prevention Control (IPC) and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) training and had access to IPC guidance. The home was clean and well maintained. One person told us, “Its lovely and clean, the workers never stop, they are always on the go it makes us tired watching them.” A relative confirmed, “‘It’s spotlessly clean in here and I like that there’s never any unpleasant smells.”

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. Staff competency checks were completed to help ensure medicines were given to people safely and effectively. People told us they received their medicines safely and on time. Where people expressed a wish to manage their own medicines, the provider involved them in risk assessment processes to support them to be as independent as possible.