Star Care UK Limited

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• 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 provider maintained safe systems of care. People told us their views were listened to and taken into account and that care and support was planned and organised with them to ensure continuity. Managers understood the importance of involving people and partners in the delivery of care and systems were in place to support the safety and continuity of care. External providers of health and social care gave good feedback about their working relationship with the provider and records showed the provider liaised with them prior to taking on packages of care to assess their ability to manage people’s needs. The provider took appropriate action to minimise the risk of abuse and acted appropriately in response to concerns. People told us they felt safe using the service. Staff understood their duty and responsibility to safeguard people from abuse and managers supported staff to take appropriate action to safeguard people from abuse. Managers made sure people understood the risk of abuse and how they could report any concerns they had. The provider safely managed risks to people’s health and safety. People told us staff worked with them to manage risks. Staff understood risks to people and how these should be managed to keep people safe, so that people could do the things that mattered to them. Staff had been trained to use equipment to support people and were confident applying their learning to ensure people’s safety. People’s records contained information about risks to their safety and guidance for staff on how to manage these to keep people safe. The provider ensured there were enough appropriately supported, qualified, skilled and experienced staff to support people. People told us staff usually arrived on time and were usually seen by the same care workers. Staff received relevant and regular training, and were supported through supervision, to help them provide safe and effective care to people. Staff worked together well and shared important information.

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.

We did not look at Learning culture during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

Most people told us their views were listened to and taken into account in maintaining safe systems of care. Most people told us their views were sought when they started using the service and on an ongoing basis to ensure they received the care they needed. People gave specific examples of requests they made in their care delivery and confirmed these had been acted on. Care and support was planned and organised with people to ensure continuity. People’s relatives confirmed the provider and social workers had sought people’s views in the planning of their care before using the service. One person told us they had moved between services and the transition was properly managed. They told us “I can honestly tell you I’ve never felt unsafe”.

Managers understood the importance of involving people and partners to ensure safety and continuity in the care people received when they started to use the service. The nominated individual told us, “Managers understood the importance of involving people and partners to ensure safety and continuity in the care people received when they started to use the service. The nominated individual told us the service used information provided by the funding authority about people’s assessed care needs to help inform their initial assessments with people and their relatives about risks to their safety, so that appropriate mitigation to reduce these could be put in place once people started to use the service.”

External providers of health and social care gave good feedback about their working relationship with the provider and confirmed they worked together to provide safe systems of care. Professionals confirmed staff were knowledgeable, but were also receptive to feedback about improvements that needed to be made. We found the provider accepted concerns raised and took appropriate action to deal with these through the implementation of an action plan with clear targets. One professional confirmed the provider met with them regularly to discuss ways to improve the service. They confirmed the provider demonstrated a good level of training for their staff and provided good examples of how they were providing safe care for people. As a result, they confirmed they were happy to continue their working relationship.

Systems were in place to ensure safety and continuity in the care people received when they started to use the service. Records showed the provider liaised with the local authority prior to taking on packages of care to assess and review whether the service had the capacity, skills and experience required to support people with their needs. When packages of care had been accepted by the provider, people and those important to them were involved immediately to discuss their care needs and identify any risk that needed to be managed, to ensure people received safe and appropriate care.

People told us they felt safe using the service. Their comments included “the lady that comes she is so very, very good and she makes me feel safe. They are all very good anyway”, “Yes, they are just very nice people, do what I want and always leave me comfy in my bed” and a relative told us “his regular one goes above and beyond, talks to him and makes him feel safe and at ease. He takes the time to get to know him and asks him questions.”

Staff understood their duty and responsibility to safeguard people from abuse. A staff member told us, “We have had safeguarding training. Safeguarding - you have to be on your guard about this and put it in to practice what you have learnt. You can’t take this too seriously as it’s your duty to look after people.” Another staff member said, “You know, safeguarding is very important. It’s important to protect your clients from abuse. You have a duty to report any abuse or anything that is causing harm to the person.” Managers supported staff to take appropriate action to safeguard people from abuse. The registered manager told us, “All the staff are made aware of the whistleblowing policy and we reassure staff to report any concerns. We have robust processes for addressing concerns.” A team leader said, “I encourage every person and carer to report any concerns to me as soon as possible. I know that it’s really important to act on concerns and I report to the main office and then on to the local authority.” Managers made sure people understood risk from abuse and how they could report any concerns they had. The registered manager said, “We have a service user guide and we go through this with the person and family and how they can report any concerns they may have and to whom. This can include reporting to other agencies.”

Systems were in place to support people and staff to report safeguarding concerns in a timely and appropriate way. Records showed when concerns were raised, these were recorded in detail and reported promptly to the relevant agencies. The registered manager worked proactively with these agencies and acted in a timely way to make sure people were safeguarded and protected from further risk. People and those important to them were involved in this process and informed about what action would be taken to keep people safe.

People told us staff worked with them to manage risks. People told us staff ensured they maintained their independence where they could, but supported them in areas where they needed help. Their comments included “They don’t stop me being independent but they do watch me, obviously I have to do things when they are not here”, “I am a very independent person and I do like to make my own decisions whenever I can” and a relative told us “[a]nything he can do for himself they allow him.”

Staff understood risks to people and how these should be managed to keep people safe, so that people could do the things that mattered to them. A staff member told us, “I look after a person that has poor mobility and isn’t safe cooking at their gas cooker. But they like to cook their porridge on it. I talked to them about this and I suggested they may need a microwave as this might be safer for them. They decided they wanted one and then I showed them how to use this so they now make [batches of porridge] and then reheat when they want some. And they feel so much safer as they just have to heat this up in the microwave.” Another staff member said, “I always make sure there is nothing that might cause people to fall or slip. If there are obstacles I put them out of the way and tell the person and family where they are. I always assess the situation when I go in and make sure it’s safe for them and for me as well. I make sure people are always safe.” A team leader told us, “At the end of the day people have freedom of choice and we need to respect people’s rights. But we do have a responsibility of care so need to communicate risks to people so at least they are aware and understand what could happen.” Staff had been trained to use equipment to support people and were confident applying their learning to ensure people’s safety. A staff member said, “I feel very confident now to use equipment. I never hesitate to use it. You need to let people know that you know how to use it so they can trust you and feel safe with you.” Another staff member told us, “I have been trained on a lot of equipment and this has helped me to use this properly so you don’t cause any accidents.”

People’s records contained information about risks to their safety and guidance for staff on how to manage these to keep people safe. People had been involved in making decisions about how risks to their safety and wellbeing would be managed.

We did not look at Safe environments during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

People told us staff usually arrived on time and they were usually seen by the same care workers. People’s comments included “[R]oughly, they are pretty good”, “Sometimes it’s later but then traffic is sometimes to blame” and “They occasionally come late but they are usually on time. They are good with the timing.” People commented positively on staff competence and told us they thought care workers seemed well- trained. Comments included “They are well trained, they get the medication right, everything is perfect” and “They are very professional and confident”.

Staff received relevant and regular training, and were supported through supervision, to help them provide safe and effective care to people. A staff member told us, “I am up to date with all my training. We do it online. I do my refresher every year so I am up to date. When I meet up with my manager I can talk through any issues and he is very kind.” Another staff member said, “I get training a lot, there’s always something to learn. The refresher training is good because there are changes you need to know about.” Another staff member told us, “I meet with my manager to talk about how I am doing. We talk about the areas for me to work on.” Staff worked together well and shared important information in a timely way, to ensure safety and continuity in the care people received. A staff member told us, “My co-workers are very supportive. We work together and support each other.” Managers made sure people had a choice about the staff supporting them. The registered manager told us, “When we are assessing people we make sure people can tell us their choices about who they want…we do work with people to reassure them about the care workers that support them to address any concerns they may have.” Managers monitored scheduled care calls using an electronic call monitoring system (ECM) to ensure staff were effectively deployed. The nominated individual said, “We use our system to produce reports about calls. We can pull reports on late calls by care worker and this can show patterns that we can then address. The report can also show patterns by geographical areas as well. We do look in to reasons why calls are late and we address it straight away.”

Systems were in place to ensure there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Managers used an electronic call monitoring system to monitor and review the timeliness of scheduled care calls. If staff were running late for a care call, the office- based team contacted people to let them know when to expect them and provide assurances that their needs would be met. The provider had a well-established training programme in place and staff were expected to complete relevant courses and topics to support them to meet people’s needs. Training was refreshed at regular intervals so that staff stayed up to date with current practice. Staff were well supported through a programme of regular supervision to support them in their role and to identify any further training or learning they might need. The provider was operating safe recruitment practices. Appropriate checks were made on staff that applied to work at the service to make sure they were suitable to support people.

We did not look at Infection prevention and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.

We did not look at Medicines optimisation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Safe.