Ace Homecare London

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 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 service had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Accident, incidents and safety concerns had been reported appropriately by staff and fully investigated by the managers. Lessons learned were shared with staff at team meetings to prevent them from happening again. A staff member told us, “ Learning from accidents and incidents is shared in team meetings and if it is an urgent matter it is shared via a messaging app on our smart phone.”

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. Staff kept important information about people up to date and this was easily accessible to professionals who needed it. The manager explained that they include people, their relatives and health professionals with initial assessments before accepting a new health package to ensure the service could meet people’s needs and that the service had the full discharge information regarding people.

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. Staff had received appropriate training and knew how to protect people from abuse. Staff knew how to report concerns both internally and externally to keep people safe. Appropriate referrals had been made to the local safeguarding team. Staff were given a copy of the safeguarding policy within their handbooks. Staff were able to give examples of the types of safeguarding concerns they look out for and who told us, “If I have any concerns I report directly to the registered manager or if needed I would contact the police, local authority or CQC.”

The service worked with people to understand and manage risks. They provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. Staff had assessed people for risks relating to their health, safety and welfare. Risk assessments were clear and detailed peoples risks and how to support people. Risk assessments were regularly reviewed and updated when peoples care needs changed. People told us that they and their relatives were involved in the planning of their care and that they had a copy of their care plan. A person told us staff “Come to my house and read over the care plan with me to check that I am happy with it.”

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

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. Staff had been recruited safely into the service. They told us that the training they received supports them in their role and they feel comfortable to request more training if they need to. Staff felt supported by the management team and said there were enough staff to meet the needs of the people using the service. A staff member said, “The managers are very supportive, we have a number of supervisions and they always ask for our feedback. We can contact them at any time if we have any issues.” A person told us, “They treat me with respect and I treat them with respect, they handle me with care which is the most important thing.” People told us staff attend on time and do not leave early.

The service assessed and managed the risk of infection. Staff followed guidelines for infection control to keep people safe and healthy. A person said, “They always wear gloves, shoe covers and masks and yes they help me with my personal hygiene too.”

The service made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff received medicine training when they started working at the service and were signed off as competent to administer medicines before they began supporting people.