Orchard Lea

Orchard Lea can accommodate up to six people and at the time of the inspection there were six people living at the home. The accommodation is two-storey, with four bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor. Bedrooms were spacious and personalised. The ground floor had a kitchen, dining room, living room and access to a fenced back garden.

The service has been developed and designed within the values of the 'Registering the Right Support' principles. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any other citizen.

There was a registered manager in post who was on maternity leave so the registered provider's nominated individual, who was a company director, was in charge of the service and available throughout our inspection. 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.

The home was found to be safe and secure. Visitors had to wait for staff to answer the door, identify themselves and sign in and out.

The service used the local authority safeguarding procedures to report any safeguarding concerns. Staff had been trained in safeguarding topics and were aware of their responsibilities to report any possible abuse.

The administration of medicines was safe. Staff had been trained in the administration of medicines.

The service was clean, tidy and homely in character. Staff were trained in the prevention and control of infection to help protect the health and welfare of people using the service.

Potential risks to people had been identified in their activities of daily living and action taken to minimise the risk whilst encouraging and maintaining their independence.

There were suitable numbers of trained staff available to support people's needs.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and could apply them to the people they supported. People's capacity to consent to specific decisions was assessed when required.

Information was provided to people in accordance with the Accessible Information Standard 2016. People and their relatives knew how to raise concerns.

We observed good interactions between staff and people who used the service. People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring.

We saw from our observations of staff and records that people who used the service were given choices in many aspects of their lives and helped to remain independent where possible.

We saw that the quality of care plans gave staff sufficient information to support people using the service. Plans of care were person centred and reviewed regularly to help people meet their health and social care needs.

Relatives told us that when their family member moved in, they settled quickly, said only good things about the service and grew in confident.

Activities at the home and in the community were based on what people wanted do, achieve, and be involved in. The sessions included being part of community groups, shopping and visiting relatives.

Audits were completed, and the nominated individual had a clear overview of what was happening in all areas of the service. Staff were involved in discussions about the quality of people's support and care and took a team approach to promote improvements to people's lives.

There was an 'open door' policy by the managers, which was identified by people, relatives and staff. The management team believed in ensuring the service had a homely environment, maintaining good support for relatives and making improvements where required.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found