Orchid Care

Updated 6 February 2020

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience who made telephone calls to people and their relatives to get feedback on the service. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was announced. We gave the registered manager 24 hours of our inspection to ensure they were in the office when we visited. Inspection activity started on 18 December and ended on 20 December 2019. We visited the office location on 18 December 2019.

What we did before the inspection:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection:

We spoke with one person who used the service and fourteen relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the director of the service and three members of care staff.

In addition to talking with people, we reviewed recruitment records for three staff members, including training and supervision records. We checked complaints, accidents and incidents, quality assurance processes and minutes of team meetings. We viewed the electronic call monitoring system and looked at five care records.

After the inspection:

We asked for additional information regarding training and supervision across the team, and additional team meeting minutes and communication with staff.

We also received feedback from one health and social care professional who worked with the service.

Updated 6 February 2020

About the service:

Orchid Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes, with a range of disabilities. At the time of this inspection the service it was providing care to 42 people.

Since the last inspection there has been a change in the provider’s trading company name. At the last inspection on 20 November 2018 (report published 17 January 2019), the trading company was called Kare Plus Enfield. On 20 March 2019 the trading company changed name to Orchid Care. This means the agency has been registered as a new service but there is a clear link between an archived provider and the currently registered one.

People’s experience of the service

Relatives told us they were very happy with the service and staff were kind to their family member. They also confirmed the management team were responsive when issues were raised.

Quality assurance audits were taking place, but systems for checking staff arrived on time were not always effective and this was identified as an issue by a number of relatives. We have made a recommendation in relation to care quality auditing processes.

Care records were up to date and comprehensive and included information for staff on how to manage risks.

People were safeguarded against the risks of abuse and harm by the systems and by the staff. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and provide responsive care. Safe recruitment practices took place so staff were considered appropriate to work with vulnerable people.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to access external health professionals to help promote good health and wellbeing.

Staff were supported in their role through induction, supervision and training, and people and their relatives told us staff were effective in caring for them.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for the service was requires improvement (published 17 January 2019).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.