Kettonby Care Home

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 good. At this inspection 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 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. People were supported to take risks to improve their quality of life. A staff member told us, “There is a culture of encouraging people and staff to take assessed risks, for example, new experiences and activities. If things go wrong, we are told that’s okay, let’s look at why it went wrong and try something else. This gives staff confident to be innovative.”

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. The service ensured continuity of care between services by having detailed care and support plans in place for other services to understand people’s individual needs.

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. Staff and leaders had received training in safeguarding and understood their responsibilities in reporting safeguarding concerns to the appropriate agencies. A staff member said, “I know the best person to report this to is your line manager or the local authorities.”

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. For example, staff noticed changes in a person’s behaviour and took the time to understand what had happened and how their support could be adapted. This involved working with external agencies to identify alternative equipment to keep the person safe whilst meeting their sensory needs.

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 physical environment met people’s sensory and physical needs and reasonable adjustments had been implemented. For example, a person who was at risk of falls had a walk-in bath in their ensuite bathroom to enable them to access this safely.

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 were recruited safely and had received training to provide safe care. Staff were supported by the service to develop their skills and knowledge in social care. A staff member said, “I was offered the opportunity to develop my skills in my work offering me the Adult Social Care Level 2 course and the Level 2 certificate for Understanding Autism.”

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 supported people to keep their home clean and wore personal protective equipment (PPE) when required to prevent the spread of infections.

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. People’s medicines were regularly reviewed. Staff had received training and undertook competency testing to ensure they were safe in administering medicines. Staff followed national guidelines on stopping over medication of people with a learning disability and autistic people (STOMP). This meant people were only given their psychotropic medication where appropriate and for the right reasons.