Orbis Support Offices

Updated 29 March 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 1 inspector, a Pharmacist Specialist, and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

We also gave a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for ‘best interests’ decisions for each person about this to be undertaken.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to 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.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We contacted the local authority commissioning and safeguarding teams.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited 5 people in their homes so we could observe the care and support provided and speak with people and their staff.

We spoke with 22 members of staff including the registered manager and provider. We received further feedback via email from 8 staff. In addition, we received feedback from 5 visiting health and social care professionals. We spoke with 11 relatives.

We reviewed a range of care records for 5 people and looked at records in relation to the safety and management of the service. We also reviewed records the registered manager had sent us electronically.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence we found.

Updated 29 March 2023

About the service

Orbis Support Offices is a supported living service. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people living in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 16 people using the service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

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

Right Support:

People received outstanding care and support from staff who were highly motivated, compassionate, and dedicated to ensuring people lived their best lives. 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. Risks in relation to people’s care and support were exceptionally well managed to assist people to live their lives as they chose, and to access opportunities which previously had not been available to them.

Staff knew people remarkably well and this supported them to understand how to maintain and improve people’s independence ensuring they lived a meaningful and varied life. Each person was allocated their own staff team which ensured they were supported by staff who knew them exceptionally well and who provided a consistent high standard of care and support. There were enough staff to meet people’s identified hours of support, and this supported people to be able to access activities both socially and within their home. Robust infection control measures were in place, people were supported by staff to keep their home safe and clean. Medicines were managed safely.

Right Care:

People received excellent care and support from a dedicated staff team who knew people’s needs exceptionally well. Staff were passionate about achieving the best outcomes for people to support them to live the life they wished.

The provider had a truly holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering care and support. They worked with other health and social care professionals to support the delivery of high-quality support and care. A health care professional told us how they had been “Impressed” by the support a person had received during a difficult transition from hospital.”

Right Culture:

There was an extraordinary empowering and positive culture with staff putting people at the centre of everything they did. People lived inclusive lives and were supported to take part in meaningful activities within their local communities. People’s homes were no different to other homes in their street. Staff very much saw themselves as guests in people’s homes. The staff team were extremely focused on providing person centred care that was responsive to people’s changing needs.

The leadership and the management of the service was outstanding. There was a strong emphasis on continuously improving the service to support people to receive the highest standard of care. Training opportunities for staff were excellent with bespoke training in place to support the needs of the people using the service. Staff were highly valued by the provider and registered manager. Staff were extremely complimentary about the support they received from the provider and managers.

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 Outstanding (published 23 March 2020).

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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