Archived: Orchard Care Agency Ltd

Updated 27 October 2018

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

This inspection took place on the 10 October 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in to facilitate our inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we already held about this service, including details of its registration, previous inspection reports and any notifications of significant incidents the provider had sent us. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We contacted the local authority with responsibility for commissioning care from the service to seek their views.

On the day of inspection, we spoke with the registered manage and nominated individual. Afterwards we spoke with two further staff by telephone, both care assistants. We also spoke by telephone with a relative of a person who used the service. We reviewed the care records relating to all people who used the service at the time of inspection and the recruitment and training records of four staff. We checked policies and procedures and minutes of team meetings. We examined the quality assurance and monitoring systems in place.

Updated 27 October 2018

This inspection took place on the 10 October 2018 and was announced. At the previous inspection of this service in February 2016 we rated them as Good and did not find any breaches of regulations.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It is registered to provide a service to older adults, younger adults, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. A small number of people were using the service at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place and people told us they felt safe using the service. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people in a safe manner. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Staff had a good understanding about infection control issues and used protective clothing to help prevent the spread of infection. Although the service did not support anyone with medicines at the time of our inspection, systems were in place to do this in a safe manner if required.

The service carried out an assessment of people’s needs prior to the provision of care. This enabled the service to determine if it was a suitable care provider for each individual. Staff undertook an induction training programme on commencing work at the service and had access to regular on-going training to help them develop relevant skills and knowledge. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The service supported people to access health care professionals and staff were aware of what to do if a person faced a medical emergency.

People were supported by the same regular care staff so they were able to build good relationships. People were treated in a caring and respectful manner by staff and were supported to maintain their independence. The right to confidentiality was taken seriously by the service and staff understood the importance of this.

Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs and these were subject to review. The service worked closely with other agencies to meet people’s needs in relation to end of life care. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager. Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of support provided at the service. Some of these included seeking the views of people who used the service. The registered manager networked with other agencies to help develop their knowledge and to improve the quality of support provided to people.