Coombe House Residential Home

Updated 11 December 2025

Date of assessment: 25 February - 9 March 2026. Coombe House Residential Home is a ‘care home’ providing support for a maximum of 16 people living with dementia. On the day of our site visit, 15 people were living at the service.

The service was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion. They proactively listened to, understood and acted on people’s needs and wishes. People were supported in a way that was exceptionally personalised, which considered their own personal life experiences and choices.

The home was clean and welcoming. People were able to move around freely and could always access the extensive grounds. All necessary checks had been completed to ensure the safety of the environment and equipment.

People were protected from all forms of abuse and staff had the skills to meet people’s needs. Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People’s needs were identified and risks associated with their specific needs were assessed. The management and staff ensured people were able to live their life as they wished and managed associated risks positively. The wishes and preferences of people living at the home were always respected and family members were involved to ensure people had an excellent quality of life.

Staff were safely recruited and appropriately deployed to ensure people’s needs were promptly met.

Medicines were managed safely.

The provider had a very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and an exceptional understanding of the challenges and the needs of people living with dementia.

The registered manager provided exceptional leadership and commitment. Staff, relatives and healthcare professionals commended the dedication to continuously seeking new ways of working to ensure people's dementia diagnosis did not define or restrict them.

There were systems and processes to support the registered manager to identify and address quality concerns and risks to the organisation. Feedback was sought to improve the service, findings and actions were recorded and shared.

Updated 11 December 2025

We observed staff interacting with people and used a structured observation tool to understand people's experience of care. We saw exceptional support was provided compassionately and was not rushed.

Mealtimes were seen as a social event and people were served meals that they could choose and had helped to prepare. Staff sat with people at dining tables and encouraged conversations with people about things that had mattered to them such as life events and hobbies.

People and their relatives were very complimentary of the staff and service. Comments included “It’s wonderful in every way, very unique” and staff are “very kind”. People had confidence in the management of the home and any concerns they raised had been acted upon.

The manager and staff demonstrated an exceptional commitment to ensuring people had the opportunity to participate in activities that mattered to them, such as pottery and gardening. Every person’s relative we spoke with were positive about the way in which people had opportunities to continue doing things they loved. One relative told us, “There is all sorts of things for people to do, they [the staff] go well above and beyond”.