Bykare Services 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 assessment of this service. This key question has been rated 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. They listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. For example, improvements were made to food safety for a person. Unused contents from tins were now decanted into food storage containers and labelled and dated. This was messaged to all staff to carry this out, when supporting the person with cooking. A staff member commented, “We discuss any incidents, lessons learned at staff meetings and get messages on our electronic App.”

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. Detailed information was collected before a person started to use the service and a passport of information was prepared to ensure their needs could be met, if they moved elsewhere. A professional commented, “Staff want to deliver a good service and are ready to listen when advice or guidance is provided.”

Staff at 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 children and adults and understood their responsibilities in reporting safeguarding concerns to the appropriate agencies. A staff member told us, “I have received adults and children’s safeguarding training.”

The registered manager had completed risk assessments for people and had put some measures in place to mitigate those risks. However, some risk assessments lacked sufficient detail to mitigate risks. We discussed this with the registered manager, who took immediate action to improve risk assessments. Care plans contained information for staff to follow to understand how to keep people safe, including how to respond when people became distressed. We advised on some areas for improvement, including how staff should respond with supporting people with person-centred care and reassuring people, if they became upset, with the use of ‘when required’ medicines as a last resort. The registered manager told us this was being addressed immediately. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. They made sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Risks associated with people’s individual environments were assessed before staff started supporting people within their homes.

The registered manager 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. People were supported individually or with 2 or more staff members to ensure they received safe and person-centred care. They received support in a timely and consistent way. A relative told us, “Improvements have been made to the timings of calls and [Name] now sees the same staff.” Staff member’s comments included, “I feel quite safe supporting people,” and “We get plenty of training, practical and e learning training.”

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 received training in infection control to make them aware of best practice. Personal protective equipment [PPE] was available to staff to reduce the risks of infections spreading. A staff member commented, “I can collect what I need from the office.”

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 any sedative medicines, where appropriate and for the right reasons.