Good –––
Is the service safe ?
support to use the toilet .” We saw this person knew how to use their call alarm which was in their reach . Staff came within one minute to support this person with their needs and this happened for other people when they used their call alarms . When we spoke with staff they told us they felt there were sufficient staff to meet people ’ s individual needs and spend time with people . One staff member told us they had time to sit and comfort people when this was required or massage people ’ s hands . Another staff member said it was important to be able to have the availability of staff in the day and at night . They confirmed , “ Sometimes patients are emotionally frightened to sleep at night . Nice staffing levels so we can be with the patient .” We saw people ’ s needs were met in a timely way during our inspection and the registered manager assessed and reviewed staffing levels so that the services provided to people were flexible , responsive and safe .
The staff team was made up of people with a range of skills and experiences in order to meet the safety and individual needs of people who used the hospice services . For example , a doctor , nurses , health care assistants , chef and domestic staff . One staff member confirmed , “ Before I started here my suitability to work with patients was checked .” Another staff member said nurse ’ s registration was checked to confirm they were safe to provide nursing care to people . We saw volunteers helped to support and complement the care people received . Staff told us suitability trained volunteers helped people in different ways , such as , taking menu ’ s to people at the start of the day so that people could make their meal choices .
We saw that the arrangements for the storage of medicine were in line with good practice and national guidance . For example , medicines were stored securely and accessed by authorised staff . All medicines were checked in by staff , recorded in a personal medicine plan maintained for each person . We saw two staff members prepared a controlled medicine , which is a strong type of medicine , to be given to the person by injection . They followed safe procedures in preparing the injection . For example , staff checked and counted the medicine in the controlled medicine book and wrote out the medicine to be given and the number of containers available . They had also checked the medicine against the persons prescription chart . Staff told us , and records confirmed that only staff with the necessary training could access medicines and help people to take them at the right time . We saw this was the case as one person asked for some medicine for pain and care staff said they would tell the nurse so this person ’ s request could be actioned appropriately by the staff qualified to do this . We saw and heard there were various arrangements in place to promote the safe handling and use of medicines . For example , a pharmacy technician came to the hospice daily and checked medicine stocks and prescriptions . In addition to this liquid controlled medicines were checked twice weekly by the night nursing staff and documented appropriately . If there is a discrepancy this is noted in the controlled medicine book , then checked and reviewed by the pharmacist so that the appropriate action is taken . People who used the hospice service wore medicine alerts and allergy wristbands . These practices provided additional safety precautions and checking mechanisms for staff . The registered manager confirmed to us that a learning approach was taken if staff had made a medicine error . They said this was managed positively , such as , spending time with the staff member to look at how the error could have occurred . This provided staff with learning opportunities so that they continued to administer medicines in a consistently safe way .
6 St Giles Hospice - Walsall Inspection report 21 / 12 / 2015