Westminster Homecare Limited – Clacton and Tendring

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 inspection for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 69 (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. Incidents and accidents were recorded on an electronic system, so they could be reviewed by the management team and appropriate action taken to reduce risks. The registered manager told us, “Anyone that has an accident or incident, it is raised immediately in our system and the office have to evidence action taken as a result.”

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. This included re-assessing people’s care and support needs following discharge from hospital. Where 1 person had been experiencing falls, staff arranged for an urgent occupational therapist (OT) and social worker review. The deputy manager told us, “This means that the service user is now safe and so are the care workers supporting [person] and it has enabled [person] to remain at home and remain as independent as possible. This was all actioned very quickly though working in partnership with other health professionals. We are a very proactive branch.”

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, and staff were confident in reporting any issues. People using the service told us they felt safe. A professional who worked with the service told us, “The service had raised a safeguard alert due to concerns regarding an adult that they support. They raised the concern in a timely manner and referred to the necessary agencies…They were persistent in contacting partner agencies to ensure that the right support was in place for this adult.”

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. However, some risk assessments were lacking in detail. For example, potential risks associated with having a catheter, such as blockages or infection. There was no evidence of any impact on people using the service, as staff were knowledgeable about people’s specific care needs. We raised this with the management team, who told us they had recently moved onto a new electronic care planning and risk assessment system, and would continue to review and enhance these documents with people’s input as part of this transition.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Environmental risks within people’s homes were assessed, such as fire safety measures. Technology was used to facilitate safe care, including the use of electronic call monitoring to show visits taking place in ‘real time’. The Regional Head of Operations told us, “With this being a live system we will receive alerts for missed calls or lateness in real time which we can action quickly.” This meant people received their calls when they expected.

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. People were satisfied staff were well trained, and records showed staff had access to training on people’s specific healthcare conditions. However, staff recruitment practice needed some minor improvements to ensure full employment history was always clearly recorded. The provider told us they would act on our feedback to strengthen this process.

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. Staff received training in infection prevention and control and had access to personal protective equipment (PPE). A staff member told us, “We are supplied with gloves, aprons, masks and hand sanitizer.” People confirmed good staff practice in this area.

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. Information was recorded on an electronic system to show people had taken their medicines as prescribed. Medication Administration Records (MARs) were regularly checked to make sure people were receiving their medicines safely in line with their assessed support needs. Minor improvements were required to ensure there were always detailed protocols for ‘as required’ medicines. The registered manager acted promptly on our feedback to put this in place.