Orchid Home Care Support Limited

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. At the time of the assessment, the service was not supporting any autistic people or people with a learning disability, but the provider had regard to ‘Right support, right care, right culture.’

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. Staff carried out risk assessments and regularly reviewed these.

People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals to maintain high-quality care. Staff managed medicines well, and any gaps in medicines records were rectified immediately.

People received kind and compassionate person-centred care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity and understood and responded to their individual needs. People’s physical, mental and social needs were holistically assessed and met. Care and treatment were based on current best practice and delivered in a coordinated way with involvement from other relevant organisations. Staff focussed on maximising people’s strengths and promoting what they could do for themselves.

There was an open and transparent culture within the service with a clear focus on providing good care. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care, where possible. The provider fostered a learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly.

Staff described a positive culture where they felt supported and able to raise concerns or make suggestions. A staff member told us, “The registered manager will carry out investigations and review all the information. After this we get feedback, and the registered manager also updates all the staff group in the staff App.” A second staff member said, “I feel very confident the registered manager would listen and act and inform staff where necessary. I have no fears.”

The provider had effective quality assurance and governance arrangements, ensuring consistent oversight and good standards of care. Concerns and complaints were managed appropriately. The registered manager reviewed feedback for trends and shared learning across the team to improve service delivery.