Care Relief Team Limited - Unit 8 The Bridge Business Centre Also known as CRT - Derbyshire Home Care

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

People were safe and protected from harm. People and staff understood how to make a complaint or raise a concern and felt confident to do so. Most people told us they were involved in making choices about their care and support. Care and support were delivered by competent staff. Staff supported people to maintain a safe home environment and manage their medicines safely where required.

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.

People understood how to raise concerns they had and did so. The provider listened to people’s concerns and apologised when something had gone wrong but did not always provide a timely solution. For example, some people told us they still did not receive their care calls at the time they expected after agreeing times with the provider.

Staff understood how to raise concerns to the provider and did so. Not all staff who had raised a concern felt this had been dealt with by the provider. However, most staff we spoke with described how concerns had been resolved satisfactorily to improve outcomes for people.

The provider had developed a service action plan. This plan included improving communication with staff and ongoing recruitment to deploy sufficient staff to meet people’s needs consistently. However, not all actions had yet been rolled out for implementation.

People were involved in the assessment process before receiving care from CRT. Most people told us a member of the CRT team met with them to discuss their care needs. Not all people accessed the electronic care record system. Most people had a paper copy of their plan in their home which they would use if needed. One person told us, “Yes, there is an electronic record but I’m not good at accessing so rely on the paper copy”. Not everyone recalled being involved in a review of their care or speaking to a manager.

Staff used an electronic system to access all care records. Staff knew people well and understood how to provide the care they needed.

Staff worked with partners, for example district nurses, to provide consistent and timely care to people.

Staff were trained to be competent to use the electronic care record system. The provider worked with partners to develop action plans to improve service delivery. The provider implemented policies and procedures to assess people’s needs prior to care and support being agreed. Procedures for reviewing care plans with people were not consistently implemented. The provider had identified this and included actions in the service improvement plan to address this.

People felt safe with the staff who supported them in their homes. People understood who to speak to if they had any safeguarding concerns. One person we spoke with told us, “I would contact the office and also the social worker”.

Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding people. Staff felt confident in identifying and recording concerns and reporting these to the provider for action. Staff also understood how to escalate concerns if they did not feel action was taken.

The provider ensured safeguarding policies and procedures were available to all staff. Staff completed safeguarding training in line with requirements.

People and/or their relatives were involved in identifying areas of risk in people’s lives. Most people told us they were supported by regular staff who knew them well and understood their preferences. One person told us, “The staff definitely handle this [care need] well and are amazing with them”.

Staff had access to electronic care records including people’s risk assessments. Staff we spoke with told us people were often able to tell them how they liked things done. Staff shared with office staff when the information on the electronic system needed to be updated. Staff told us this could take some time.

Updates and changes to people’s care needs were communicated from the office to staff electronically. Some staff felt this could be improved to ensure records were more up to date. The provider introduced an audit of care plans and risk assessments by the senior management team to ensure care records were person centred, contained clear guidance for staff and changes were communicated.

People we spoke with told us they had all the equipment they needed in their home and staff supported them to ensure this was safe and fit for purpose. People were supported to keep their home safe; staff ensured the property was secure and prompted people of potential risks around the home.

Staff work with all stakeholders to ensure a good standard of maintenance in people’s homes. Staff advised people of the hazards and risk in their homes and ensured this was recorded. One member of staff told us, “One [person] has stuff everywhere and we keep having to explain that it is a risk to [their] safety. I ensured that this was recorded by reporting to senior team. I was advised to move things if the client wanted this, to respect the client’s wishes”.

Reports of environmental risks were reviewed by senior staff who worked with stakeholders to resolve these to reduce risks to people whilst respecting their choices.

People were supported by staff who were competent to meet their individual needs. People mostly received care and support by regular staff who were known to them. One person told us, “We have a lovely team [of staff] at the moment. They’re very good, comforting and supportive”. People believed the service to not be fully staffed and most understood when calls did not happen as expected. One person told us, “They definitely try their best, but I understand it is difficult to manage”.

Staff completed an induction. This included completing relevant training and working with an experienced staff member, before working with people alone. Most staff we spoke with told us they felt supported by the provider to be competent to carry out their duties safely. Managers were aware of the staffing issues which impacted on the continuity of care delivery. The provider developed an action plan to address these issues. The provider engaged in a recruitment campaign to provide sufficient staff to achieve consistent service delivery. This was ongoing to achieve the number of staff required for effective service delivery.

The provider implemented safe recruitment procedures. Records confirmed required checks were completed. Learning and development opportunities were completed by staff. The provider carried out workplace observations to assess current work practices and identify training opportunities for staff as required. The provider planned to introduce weekly reviews of staff rotas and fortnightly wellbeing calls with staff to identify concerns or issues.

People understood the risk of infection and were supported by staff to reduce this risk. People told us staff always wore gloves when carrying out personal care, but not always aprons. Staff disposed of used Personal protective equipment (PPE) safely. People were supported to keep their homes clean

Staff completed relevant training regarding infection prevention and control. The majority of staff told us they received updates to policy and procedure and refresher training. PPE was available to all staff to use to help to keep themselves and others safe.

Staff had access to the up-to-date infection and control policy. The provider carried out spot checks and workplace observations to support good practice.

People who required help to take their medicines were satisfied with the support they received. People told us they received their medicines on time and staff followed safe procedures. Staff worked with people and their relatives to ensure supplies of medicines were consistently available.

Staff attended training and were assessed as competent to be able to support people safely to manage their medicines. Staff understood how to report any concerns and did so when necessary. For example, one member of staff described when medicines were not available to administer as family had not ordered them and office arranged an emergency prescription.

The provider identified areas for staff learning and development and planned relevant training for team members to complete to improve performance, including safe medicine management. The provider reviewed care call times to ensure sufficient time was allocated to comply with safe administration of medicines. The provider implemented a policy and procedure to ensure there were appropriate arrangements for the safe management, use and oversight of controlled drugs.