Summerley 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 inspection we rated this key question requires improvement. At this inspection the rating has changed to 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 service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Accidents and incidents were documented and escalated to the management team for investigation. Any actions identified to minimise the chance of reoccurrence were cascaded to the staffing team and the effectiveness reviewed.

The service 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. Assessments were undertaken prior to people moving into the service and included information from people, their relatives and healthcare professionals. A staff member told us, “We always go and see them (people), never over the phone. To get an idea of the person, and to meet the person themselves. We ask them (people) their likes and dislikes instead of their family and get to know them more.” Summaries of people’s care records were available should they require admitting into hospital or another service; this promoted a continuity of care.

The service worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. They 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 service shared concerns quickly and appropriately. People told us they felt safe, comments included, “I do feel safe here because I have people I can ask if I don’t (feel safe). They help me.” A relative said, “Yes, 100% fully safe in the care home. They are absolutely attentive.” Staff were trained to ensure people were safeguarded from the risk of harm or abuse. Staff and management worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Where people had a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) in place, conditions to their authorisations were being met. The registered manager maintained oversight to ensure DoLS authorisations were in date and any imposed conditions were being met.

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. They provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. People and/or their relatives were involved in risk management and care planning. Care records included specific health risks, such as, epilepsy and where equipment was needed support people, for example, catheters and hoists. A relative spoke of how they were involved in their loved one’s care plans and said, “Yes. We have a care plan in place and a ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) with the local surgery.”

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. A system was in place to ensure health and safety checks had been completed. The registered manager had identified areas of the service which required some updating and developed a home improvement plan to schedule works within a clear timeframe. Some improvements had been completed prior to our visit.

The service 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. Recruitment checks were completed prior to staff employment and staff received ongoing supervision. Staff spoke about the training offered and said, “My induction was positive, I was with 2 other girls, I shadowed for a few weeks. I had training to do prior to starting to make sure I understood the policies and procedures, I did the care certificate, all the mandatory training. Very informative I was glad to refresh everything.”

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. The service was clean; staff followed the provider’s infection prevention and control policies to keep people safe. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was available and we observed staff used and disposed of PPE appropriately. A relative commented, “The place is clean with no smells other than when cooking food, which is nice to smell.”

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. They involved people in planning, including when changes happened. Systems were in place to manage people’s medicines safely. Staff had completed medicine training and received training to use the electronic medication administration system, their competencies were regularly assessed. People and their relatives were involved in medicine reviews, a relative told us they were informed of changes to medicines “Within hours if things changed.”