Providers of any health or social care service have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their residents, staff and visitors. This means taking steps to mitigate any potential risks and implementing a culture of risk management within the company.
The Swift Management team support many clients implementing and maintaining good risk management systems. Within this blog we will supply insight into the key elements and strategies you can use to implement a risk management culture within a care home.
1. Identify potential risks.
The first step in implementing a culture of risk management is to engage the staff in identifying potential risks. This may include medication errors, pitfalls in documentation, slips and fall hazards, through to being prepared for a fire or medical emergency.
Encourage your teams to take the time to conduct a thorough risk assessment of the care home and identify areas that my need improvement.
2. Ensure that policies and procedures are fit for purpose and used by staff.
Once you have identified potential risks, the next step is to set up policies and procedures to address the known risks. This could include developing a medication management policy, establishing an emergency response plan to the risk of a river flooding the basement, an implementing a falls prevention protocol. These may be pre purchased policies that are adapted to the homes own circumstances.
Ensure that all staff members are trained on these policies and procedures and that they are followed consistently. Devise an audit tool to check compliance.
3. Encourage open communication.
Encouraging open communication is crucial to building a culture of risk management within your care home. Staff members should feel comfortable reporting potential risks or safety concerns without fear of retribution. Establish a reporting system that is easy to use and ensure that all reported incidents are thoroughly investigated.
4. Provide Training for all staff on an ongoing basis.
Training is a crucial part of risk management. Ensure that all staff members receive ongoing training and provide training by different means to facilitate staffs preferred learning style. There is an established list of mandatory training provided by Skills for Care.
Regular relevant training will help to ensure that all staff members are up today on best practices and are able to identify and mitigate potential risks.
5. Encourage a culture of safety.
Finally encouraging a culture of safety is essential to implementing a culture of risk management. This means emphasizing the importance of safety in all aspects of your care home, from the physical environment to staff practices to resident care. Make safety a top priority and encourage staff to commit to promoting a safe and healthy environment.
Implementing a risk management culture within a care home, is a multi-faceted project that incudes identification of potential risks, setting up policies and procedures, encouraging an open communication system with staff, providing training and auditing the effectiveness of all the actions you have taken. By taking these steps, you can help to ensure that your care home is providing a safe and well-led service.
The team at Swift Management promote risk management strategies with clients and we are happy to help in setting up systems, reviewing existing processes and undertaking policy reviews. For more information contact: info@swiftmanagement.org.uk or call 020 8087 2072.
