Dependability Limited

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

Systems were in place to help safeguard people from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks associated with people's care were assessed and managed to help support people to remain as safe as possible. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs and cover their agreed hours of support. Recruitment processes helped to ensure that care staff were assessed as safe to work with vulnerable people were employed.

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.

People using the service, and their relatives knew how to make a complaint and felt confident that if they raised concerns the registered manager would take appropriate action to resolve the matter. Relatives told us that the registered manager regularly kept them updated and informed them if anything went wrong.

Staff explained the process if an incident or accident occurred, they explained that all records were reported to the manager and were recorded in people’s daily notes. The provider informed us that as part of the induction process to the agency, staff were required to read and sign the whistle blowing policy. Safeguarding, incidents and accidents were discussed in team meetings.

The provider had systems in place for dealing with accidents and incidents and safeguarding incidents. There were records of all lessons learned from safeguarding, audits and incidents and details of the outcomes. The provider looked for any themes and took appropriate action to help prevent reoccurrences of incidents. Lessons learned were shared with care staff at team meetings. Care plans, risk assessments and guidance were updated when required.

People told us they received support and information about accessing other services when needed. Relatives told us the service supported their relative with their transition from hospital back to their home and worked with other health care services to make any adaptations required to their home for the transition.

The management team told us they identified when people needed additional support and made the requests to the person's representatives and local authority for additional time and requests for adaptations. The provider told us they work with individuals, their relatives, health professionals and the persons social worker to safely support people with transitions from health services to help people be safely supported at home.

There were systems in place to facilitate safe pathways and transfers for people. Assessments of peoples needs and risk assessments were completed during the initial assessment of care to ensure safe, effective support. Care plans detailed people's health conditions and provided the guidance staff needed to seek additional professional health support and when to make appropriate referrals to partners. The provider worked well with other stakeholders to support people to safely transition between services.

People and their relatives spoke positively about staff, they told us they trusted and felt safe with care workers. Comments included, “They [staff] look after me well and I feel very safe with them.” A relative told us, “The staff are fantastic, absolutely fantastic, staff genuinely cared for my [relative].” Another relative told us, “They [staff] are gentle and patient, they are very good with [person], [person] can be difficult but the staff deal with [person] well, I trust them.”

Staff told us they had undertaken training to understand about safeguarding people from abuse. Staff were clear about their responsibilities to report concerns and were able to describe the action they would take if they witnessed or suspected any abusive or neglectful practice.

There were policies and procedures for safeguarding people and whistle blowing in place. These provided guidance about the action to take if staff had concerns about the welfare of people. Training records showed staff had completed safeguarding training and this was regularly updated.

People told us they felt risks were well managed. They confirmed that they were involved in assessments and reviews.

Staff had a good understanding of the risks to people. The registered manager worked closely with professionals from a range of agencies to enable the service to continue supporting people safely and with the least possible restriction. The registered manager explained they involved people using the service and their families in risk assessments, and reviews. The care registered manager explained they went to hospitals to complete assessments and people’s homes to involve people in their assessments and to appropriately manage their care needs and risks.

The risks to people's safety and wellbeing had been assessed and planned for. Risk assessments provided staff with guidance on how to support people safely and were regularly reviewed. There was a system in place to report, record and monitor incidents and accidents to help ensure people were supported safely.

We did not look at Safe environments during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

People were cared for by staff who knew them well. People said they knew their care workers well and liked them. Relatives said their family members were well supported, by trained and experienced staff who understood their needs. A relative said, “Yes the staff were qualified and well trained and knew my [person] needs.” Another relative told us, “Staff and [ the registered manager] are skilled, [registered manager] is spot on with dementia.”

Staff confirmed they had completed a range of mandatory training to enable them to meet the needs of the people they cared for. The registered manager told us they employ additional numbers of staff, to ensure they were able to meet everyone’s needs and to cover staff absences. The registered manger quoted, “We need to keep our standards up in relation to peoples care needs.”

People were supported by staff who had the knowledge and skills required to meet their needs. There were appropriate systems for recruiting staff. These included checks on their identity, knowledge, skills, their right to work in the United Kingdom and the Disclosure and Barring Service check for criminal convictions. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks provide information including details about convictions and cautions held on the Police National Computer. The information helps employers make safer recruitment decisions. Staff members completed an induction before they started their new role and received mandatory training.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.