Alabaré

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 assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff 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 and reviewed by the management team to ensure actions were implemented. Learning from incidents was shared with all staff to ensure they understood changes in the way they needed to support people. People and staff were able to raise concerns outside of the management team to help prevent the development of a closed culture.

The provider 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. Relatives told us the process of people moving into the service had worked well, with people involved and consulted throughout. People had been supported to develop hospital passports, to help ensure health care staff had a good understanding of their needs so people received continuity of care.

The provider worked with people to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. Staff 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 provider shared concerns quickly and appropriately. People told us they felt safe in their home and that staff helped them stay safe. Staff had received training and demonstrated a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. People were supported to develop skills to stay safe in the community.

The provider worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. Risks to people’s health, safety and welfare had been assessed and action taken to manage those risks. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the risks and said care plans were updated quickly with people when their needs changed.

The provider detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. The provider assessed people’s homes for risks and took action to ensure people, staff and visitors remained safe. The provider worked with landlords to ensure actions they were responsible for were completed in a timely way. Equipment, such as fire systems, water systems and lifting equipment had been regularly serviced and tested to ensure they were safe.

The provider made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. Staff worked together well to provide safe care that met people’s individual needs. People and their relatives told us they felt there were enough staff to meet their needs, including support for them to attend community activities they enjoyed. Required pre-employment checks had been completed for staff before starting work. New staff received an induction , including shadowing experienced staff. Staff told us they received regular training, supervision and an annual appraisal. The registered managers told us they had identified the need for additional sexuality awareness training for staff and had commissioned an external trainer to provide this.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. They detected and controlled the risk of it spreading and shared concerns with appropriate agencies promptly. People told us staff supported them to keep their home clean. Staff had completed infection prevention and control training and told us they had access to all the protective equipment they needed.

The provider made sure medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning their medicines support, including when changes happened. People told us staff provided good support for them to take their medicines. Staff had completed training in the safe management of medicines and the management team regularly observed their practice to ensure they were doing this safely. Staff kept accurate records of the medicines people had been supported to take. People were supported to have regular reviews of the medicines with their GP to ensure they were not prescribed more medicine than necessary.