Grovewood Residential 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

The service had a positive and open culture in which safety concerns were used as a learning and improvement opportunity The service worked with people and external agencies to maintain safe and assured systems of care People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse and encouraged to share concerns. People were supported to understand and manage risk. Care plans were clear and provided sufficient guidance to staff to support people to keep safe. There were sufficient and appropriately trained staff in place to support people. The service was clean, tidy and safely maintained. Risks to managing medications was safely managed. Evidence shows the standard quality of care is good.

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 were encouraged to raise concerns and actions were taken to resolve these. Examples seen of feedback demonstrated a listening and learning culture. One person explained they were regularly asked about their care and if they wanted to make any changes to better reflect their needs and requests.

The service practised an open and proactive culture in relation to safety, which enabled any incidents to be identified, reported and analysed. Processes were in place to ensure incident review was used as an opportunity to learn and to implement measures to help prevent the risk of recurrence. We observed people lived in a safe environment where risks were minimised,

Feedback from staff and managers confirmed there was a genuinely open culture in which safety concerns were used as a learning and improvement opportunity. Any concerns were reviewed and analysed to help ensure the service had an accurate picture of risk at any one time. The registered manager told us, "We act on matters right away and offer a solution everyone is happy with. We encourage staff to feed back any new ways or suggestions for improvements."

The service worked with people and external agencies to maintain safe and assured systems of care. Staff highlighted processes in place to help ensure continuity of care, including when people moved between different services, for example, on admission to hospital. One member of staff told us, "If someone goes into hospital - we communicate with the ambulance men, we call the hospital - we tell them all the important information about the person. Although the service worked in conjunction with other agencies to help ensure a seamless experience of care, the registered manager told us, "We make the referrals at our end in a timely way, sometimes, due to a lack of resource externally, we can experience some delays."

One relative explained they had been able to come with their family member and visit before moving to the service as part of a safe referral process. People were involved in the transition of their care.

The service's policies and processes about safety were aligned with other key partners involved in people’s care journey. This enabled shared learning to drive improvement. Care records demonstrated people were involved in the planning of their care as much as possible. The service made timely and appropriate referrals for specialist support from other professionals such as the GP and the speech and language team (SALT)

The service has a good working relationship between them and the local authority contracts who regularly visit at least three monthly to monitor safe systems and all aspects of their performance to ensure people are safe.

We observed people to be living in an environment which was safe and free from abuse and avoidable harm. We witnessed positive interactions between staff and people as staff supported people to keep safe. We observed people's rights under the MCA being upheld.

Policies and procedures regarding safeguarding and mental capacity were well embedded at the service and practised by staff. People's human and legal right to live safely and free from harm, abuse and harassment and their rights under the MCA were protected. Although a safeguarding policy was in place, it did require updating which the registered manager confirmed they would do immediately. Where people's capacity to consent was compromised, we observed evidence in people's care records and decisions being made in people's best interests.

The service worked with people and relevant agencies to keep people safe, whilst protecting their human right to live in safety, free from avoidable harm and neglect. Any safeguarding concerns were acted on in a timely way and shared appropriately. The registered manager confirmed an open and transparent approach was adopted at the home. Staff demonstrated a robust understanding of safeguarding processes and how and when to raise a concern, both internally, and if necessary, outside of the organisation. One member of staff told us, "I am fully aware of the policies and procedures and know how to escalate any concerns, I wouldn’t be shy of doing this. I have no issues with people's safety here."

People and their relatives told us they felt safe being supported by staff. They knew how to raise any concerns they might have. One person said, “No complaints have come up. I would speak to any of the staff”.

We witnessed positive interactions between staff and people. Staff involved people in everyday decisions and acted in people's best interests.

People's care plans evidenced risks were identified and appropriate action was taken to mitigate and manage risk. Risk assessments were regularly reviewed and updated, monthly and more often if required. Risk were proportionate, considered and not unnecessarily restrictive.

People told us they felt safe at the service. One person told us, “I definitely feel safe with the support I receive."

Staff worked with people to understand and manage risks, to help ensure their care met people's needs in a safe and supportive way. Risk management was balanced and proportionate which kept people safe and without being unduly restrictive. Restraint, including chemical restraint, was not utilised in any form. The registered manager told us, "We don’t use any restraint here and that includes medicines." Staff demonstrated an understanding of effective risk management and knowledge of risks which were personal to people. One told us, " I know people well and their risk assessments are a true reflection, they are updated monthly and more often if needed. I don’t feel that anyone is unduly restricted here at all.

People lived in a safe environment which was suitable for their needs. People had choice where to spend their time, and with whom. One person shared with us, “My room is my room. It has all my things in."

We undertook a walk around of the service with the manager. The service demonstrated people were cared for in a safe environment that was designed to meet their needs. The premises and equipment were well-maintained which helped support staff to deliver safe and effective care. A maintenance man was employed full time and there were effective arrangements to safely maintain the service.

Detailed records were maintained of all servicing and checks. This included certificates and audits for example, for fire systems, legionnaires. gas and electric and health and safety audits. Emergency plans were detailed and covered topics such as risk assessments in the event of fire.

Staff confirmed they thought the home was a safe environment for people to live and for staff to work in. One member of staff told us, "It's definitely a safe place to live, we have a maintenance man and all checks are done and are up to date, that goes for the equipment too. It's nice and clean. I wouldn’t work in a dirty home."

People were really complimentary about staff and that staff responded quickly to their needs. People told us they have call bells and staff respond in a couple of minutes if they press them.

Staff were always observed to be present to meet people’s needs. We checked the call bells and they were in good working order.

Staff confirmed they felt there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs in a timely way. Staff told us they felt supported and felt they worked together effectively to provide safe and person centred care. Staff shared their comments and told us, "There are enough staff here and it’s a good skill mix, we work so well as a team. It's a happy team and this leads to happy residents. I feel well supported and well trained, it's all up to date, that goes for my supervision and appraisal" and "Training is up to date."

The provider followed safe and effective recruitment practices. This included checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), requesting references from previous employers about their conduct in previous jobs and health checks. 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 files demonstrated that robust and safe recruitment practices were in place to make sure that all staff were suitably experienced, competent and able to carry out their role.

People told us the staff kept the home clean. One person shared with us, “oh yes it is very clean. I check after the staff have cleaned.”

We walked around the service and found it to be clean and tidy and of a good standard. Furniture and equipment were kept in good order and were clean and well maintained.

A maintenance man was employed full time and there were effective arrangements to safely maintain the service. Audits showed checks to maintain infection control and included checks for safe hand washing techniques and regular checks on equipment such as mattresses.

Staff confirmed they thought the home was a safe environment. One staff member told us, "It's nice and clean. I wouldn’t work in a dirty home."

People told us they felt safe and well supported. People's care plans and medicines records demonstrated people received their medicines as prescribed and on time. The service managed medicines safely.

The service had policies and procedures in place to help ensure medicines management met good practice standards. Medicines were stored, managed and administered safely. People’s behaviour was not inappropriately controlled by medicines. Daily audits were in place to monitor the administration of medications and showed ongoing good practice.

Staff demonstrated their understanding of their role and responsibilities in relation to medicines. Comments from staff included, "I do give out meds, I have had all the training I need, I know what to do and I have regular competency checks. We have many audits and checks that meds are safely given, people do get their meds on time."