17, 18 January 2012
During a themed inspection looking at Learning Disability Services
The people we spoke with told us about their past and events that led to their admission to Orton Mere.
People we spoke with told us that they had moved from another service operated by the same provider which had closed for refurbishment, and seven people who lived there had transferred to Orton Mere during the building works. We were told this work would last for approximately four months and they would then return to their previous service.
The three people we spoke with who had moved from the other service told us that they had visited the new service before they moved in, and had chosen their bedrooms. They were also being shown photographs of the refurbishments, and we were told would be visiting to look at their new rooms. They had already chosen colour schemes. We were told two people from the original service were moving on the other two would move to the alternative location.
People we spoke with told us of things they do during the day which included reading, drawing, going to the cinema, cooking, bowling, going to a pantomime, walking and shopping. One person told us that there were 'not always enough staff for them to go out' and another was disappointed that their 'computer games console had not been set up since they moved to the new service'. They said staff 'had not had time'
We also spoke with the relatives of three people being treated at Orton Mere. None of them had been involved in care planning, but one person told us their family member had been very involved in their own care plan. The two people whose family members had recently moved to Orton Mere told us that the move was well planned, involved their family member and visits to the new service prior to their move.