Harley House Supported Living Ltd

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. However, not all incident forms were sufficiently detailed, and some language was not person-centred. Leaders were open to our feedback, and were already reviewing these records to start more formal incident analysis, as well as enhanced staff training.

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 also supported people to transition into their new homes as independent tenants. A person’s relative told us, “The service helped [person] with the move. [Person] counted down the days, picked [their] own furniture, paint. It was a good transition. [Staff] sent me lots of photos.”

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. A staff member told us, “I'm very confident that if I raise a concern, my managers and supervisors will take it seriously and act on it, including reporting to local authority safeguarding team if the need arises.”

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. Risk assessments were in place to guide staff in areas such as falls, healthcare conditions, sexual safety, choking and when people were communicating a need, expressing feelings or an emotional reaction.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. The service had worked to support access to a bespoke and specialised living space for a person, designed to promote their safety, independence and privacy. Another person’s relative said, “[Person] has 24/7 care. [Person’s] home is all on one level, no trip hazards. A wet room has been made for [person] to keep [them] 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. However, recruitment processes required some improvement to ensure there were no gaps in employment history. The registered manager took action straight away to address this for existing staff, and to strengthen processes going forwards.

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. A relative told us, “[Person’s] home is always clean.” This was confirmed by our observations.

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. Records showed medicines were given safely and as prescribed. Staff received medication training which included training about how to safely administer specialist emergency medicines in case of a seizure.