Orchard Place

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained the same. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

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 shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities. The key values of the service were wellness, happiness and kindness. The registered manager told us people’s happiness was their priority, and they were motivated to ensure people received the best quality of life. People also shared these views and spoke fondly of how the staff team supported them. One person told us, “Sometimes we have staff from a different service, they are also lovely and are quick to come if I call the bell”. Feedback from staff was consistently positive when they described support from the operations manager, registered and deputy manager. The services core values and principles were discussed with staff in their supervisions and staff meetings. Throughout our inspection we saw how the registered manager worked with people, relatives and staff to promote a positive culture.

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. There was evidence of consistent oversight at all levels at the service. The service’s Quality Assurance framework consisted of Service Quality Audits, Compliance Audits, Operations Management Audits and Annual Finance Spot Checks. All of which linked into the overall Service Improvement Plan. There were systems and processes in place to support staff to develop their roles and there were opportunities for staff to develop their knowledge and skills if they chose to. The provider’s senior management visited the home regularly and provided support and supervision to the registered manager. The registered manager told us in the event they needed support or advice they felt assured this was always available. Our observations supported this, as we observed people knew leaders at all levels and there was a strong sense of team working.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. People had the opportunity to share their views of the service through regular residents’ meetings, however feedback from all people and relatives showed they felt empowered to share any concerns with staff, team leaders or managers. Staff had opportunities to make suggestions and contribute to the development of the service at staff meetings, surveys and through the provider's supervision procedure. The provider also had a contact number where staff could share any anonymous concerns. The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour and shared an example of where they had been open and transparent when there had been an incident at the service. The duty of candour is to be open and transparent, and it sets out specific guideline's providers must follow if things go wrong with care and treatment.

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. The service promoted an inclusive and fair culture, and all staff we spoke with told us they were treated equally and there was a strong emphasis of team working. One staff member told us, “Some of us have known each other forever, we always work well together as a team”. The provider had systems in place to promote people’s well-being and work flexibly if needed. The service had an equality, diversity and inclusion policy in place to guide equitable and fair recruitment and selection procedures. Staff had received training in equality and diversity.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate. There were robust quality assurance systems in place at all leader levels, and these were effective in consistently driving improvements at service. The providers digital systems and processes enabled good access for leadership of the service. For example, they operated an Incident Management System which was tailored to specific incident categories meaning all of the information required was captured. It had an email trigger built in to alert individuals when certain incidents have occurred or a threshold has been met. This enabled the Operations Manager, Regional Director, the Responsible Individual/Director of Compliance Governance to be able to review and respond if needed.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. There was evidenced in care plans and when talking with people to demonstrate the registered manager and staff worked in positive partnerships with external health professionals. One external healthcare professional told us, “Its lovely here, people always look happy. I’ve only ever heard positive feedback from the team. I would be happy for a family member to live here”. The provider had a number of external agencies which regularly visited the service to offer entertainment and interactive sessions.

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. The registered manager was passionate about improvement and innovation at the service and shared ideas of how they would like to make some positive changes. Where incidents had occurred, these had been shared in staff meetings to highlight any lessons learnt and opportunities for improvement has been discussed. For example, when a medication error occurred, an investigation took place to identify how it had occurred. The provider purchased a new medicines trolley with separate compartments to ensure in future medicines were separated into different compartments to avoid future errors.