Orchard House Nursing Home

Updated 29 November 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of an inspector and a regulatory coordinator.

Service and service type

Orchard House Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Orchard House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people and 6 relatives. We spoke with 5 staff, including the operations manager, the registered manager, a nurse and 2 healthcare assistants. We reviewed 3 people’s care records, records relating to staff and the management of the service. We reviewed how medicines were managed.

Updated 29 November 2023

About the service

Orchard House Nursing Home is a residential care home providing nursing care to up to 44 people. The service provides support to older people and specialises in providing end of life care. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Staff supported people to stay safe. There were systems in place to ensure people were protected from avoidable harm. The provider assessed risks to ensure people were safe. Staff took action to mitigate any identified risks. 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.

People were supported with their medicines as prescribed and safe medicines management was in place. Staff followed safe infection control and prevention procedures and a clean, hygienic environment was provided.

People, relatives, staff and visiting professionals were asked for their feedback about the service and this information was used to provide a responsive service that met people’s needs. People, relatives and staff felt able to speak openly with the registered manager and felt listened to.

There were systems in place to review the quality of service delivery. We found some of these systems were not used to their full potential. For example, whilst the provider was recording incidents and accidents, they were not analysing these to identify trends and patterns. The registered manager was receptive to our feedback and there was a commitment to continuous improvement. They were putting in measures to use available data to look for patterns that may help with preventative measures and further improvement. The provider was in the process of moving to an electronic recording system which would support better access to information about people’s current needs.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (Published 27 March 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating, which has remained good.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Orchard House Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.