Orrell Grange

Updated 20 January 2022

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.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 11 January 2022 and was announced.

Updated 20 January 2022

About the service

Orrell Grange is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 29 older people at the time of the inspection. The service is a purpose-built two-storey building in a residential area of Bootle, close to shops and public transport. Orrell Grange can support up to 36 people with different health and care needs, including people living with dementia.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People’s experience of using the service was overall very positive. There were different examples of how the service had made a difference to people’s lives and achieved positive outcomes for them. People felt safe living at Orrell Grange and there were enough staff to meet their needs. One person told us, “I do feel safe. I could not manage [where I lived before] because of the steps and stairs but here with my [mobility aid] I am confident, and they will always help me if I need it.”

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 overall supported this practice. We made a recommendation to make some aspects of capacity assessments and recording of best interest decisions more robust.

However, there were many examples of how the service worked effectively with different professionals and stakeholders to continuously promote people’s health, wellbeing and best interests. A well varied menu of freshly prepared homemade food and snacks ensured there was plenty for people to eat and drink. The registered manager was continuously seeking learning opportunities to develop the service.

The service had recently transferred to an electronic care planning system. Work was ongoing to develop the new care plans, to reflect in more detail staff’s good person-centred knowledge. People, relatives and staff described a warm welcoming atmosphere that created a family-like feeling. People spoke of Orrell Grange as their home and a relative told us that after a few unsuccessful placements, here their family member was happy and settled. People were well cared for, but staff also ensured that relatives were looked after and supported. The staff at Orrell Grange as well as the provider came together to make colleagues feel well supported, especially when they experienced difficult times.

The person-centred, outcome-focused and caring culture of the service was led by a very well-respected registered manager. One relative commented, “[Registered manager] is such a lovely manager. She always has a chat with me when I come in and leave. She is absolutely the right person to look after a place like this.” People, relatives and staff were involved in the development of the service through regular meetings, surveys and newsletters. An additionally appointed activities coordinator helped to seek people’s opinions and focussed on supporting people to get out and about more.

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

Rating at last inspection

At the last comprehensive inspection, we rated the service as requires improvement (published 10 November 2018).

Following this, we carried out a focused inspection on 20 February 2019 of the key questions safe, effective and well-led. We found the provider had addressed all previous breaches of regulation and the service had improved to good in all three key questions we looked at. Therefore, the service was rated as good overall after the focused inspection (published 27 February 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last comprehensive inspection. We checked to see whether the service had sustained the improvements found at the focused inspection.

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.