PHC Huddersfield Branch

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 people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. This is the first assessment 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 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. The provider had developed systems to investigate and analyse incidents, accidents and complaints. Staff told us they had opportunities to make suggestions and felt they were listened to. A staff member said, “I am free to reach out to management with any concerns or suggestions.”

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. When people were referred to the service, the provider received information and assessments from agencies involved in the person’s care. Staff completed a pre-assessment involving people, and relatives if appropriate, to determine their needs and preferences for their care. Staff confirmed they were involved in assessing people’s needs to ensure care was personalised. A staff member commented, “We ensure people want to receive care before providing it by doing an assessment.  During the assessment you get to ask them questions of their needs and wants and they get to tell you what exactly they want you to provide care for.”

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners 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 with the local authority safeguarding team quickly and appropriately. The provider implemented recommendations to help keep people safe. Lessons learnt were identified to help reduce potential risks to people’s safety. Staff had completed safeguarding and were confident to raise concerns. A staff member said, “I am very confident to raise whistle blowing issues.” People and relatives said the service was safe. A relative commented, “I think [family member] is safe.”

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. Care plans contained information for staff to follow to help keep people safe. Where potential risks had been identified, assessments were carried out to help manage these risks. A staff member said, “People using the service are safe because we have systems and procedures in place.”

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 completed an environmental risk assessment to help maintain a safe environment for people and staff.

The provider 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 and relatives were positive about the staff providing care. They said staff were reliable, consistent and turned up when they were expected. A person told us, “[Staff] come when they say they will come.” A relative said, “[Staff] are on-time usually and stay the full call.” Staff also confirmed staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs. A staff member said, “At the moment I think the staff is adequate enough to meet the client's needs.” 

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. The provider had policies and procedures to promote good infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. Staff had completed training in IPC. A staff member said, “We received online training in infection control and we also have in-house training done annually which covers hand hygiene, donning and doffing (putting on and removing) of personal protective equipment (PPE).”

The provider made sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences. Staff involved people in planning, including when changes happened. People confirmed they received their medicines appropriately. A person told us, “[Staff] spend time with me. They make sure I take my medicines.” Staff had completed medicines management training and had their competency assessed. The provider completed regular audits to check people received the correct medicines.