• Care Home
  • Care home

Elton Park Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Elton Park Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 0DG 07825 362906

Provided and run by:
South Coast Care Homes Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Our current view of the service

Good

Updated 1 July 2025

Elton Park Care Home is a residential care home service providing support to up to 35 older people living with dementia, mental health, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment. We visited the service on 17 July 2025 and 23 July 2025; we provided feedback to the assessment on 28 July 2025 via video call. The assessment was undertaken by an inspector who was shadowed by another inspector, on 17 July 2025 an Expert by Experience visited the service and spoke with people and visitors. The Expert by Experience had experience of caring for a person who used this type of service.

We rated this service requires improvement at our last inspection April 2023. Since our last inspection, there had been changes in management. The new manager had worked in the service since August 2024. Improvements had been made and were ongoing. The rating had improved to good.

The provider had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents. People were safeguarding from avoidable harm and abuse. We identified some areas in the safety of the premises and cleaning, which required improvement. These were addressed immediately. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience, and the management team kept this under review. Managers made sure staff received training and regular appraisals. Staff managed medicines well and involved people in planning any changes.

People were involved in assessments of their needs, assessments were used to inform care plans and risk assessments and these were kept under review. People had enough to eat and drink to stay healthy. Improvements were being taken to improve the provision of the quality of food provided, following concerns raised by people. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes and smooth transitions when moving services. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff involved people’s representatives and made decisions in people’s best interests where they lacked capacity.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and were encouraged to maintain relationships with family and friends. The provider supported staff wellbeing.

People were involved in decisions about their care. The manager was considering how all people’s voices could be heard, when people had chosen not to attend ‘residents’ meetings.’ Improvements were ongoing in social activity and in how staff recorded people’s wellbeing and social interaction in daily notes. Staff provided information people could understand. There was a complaints procedure in place. Staff worked to reduce health and care inequalities. People’s end of life decisions was documented.

Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported to give feedback and were treated equally. There was a culture of continuous improvement.

People's experience of the service

Updated 1 July 2025

During our assessment, we spoke with 10 people who used the service and 11 relatives. We also observed the interactions between staff and people during our visits.

Without exception, people who used the service and relatives told us about how caring the staff team were. People told us they were happy living in the service. A person told us, “I would recommend them, it is the concern shown by [staff], you can see that they care.” A relative said, “The [staff] are so wonderful and make [family member] happy, [family member] likes the [staff] and they make [family member] laugh and are such lovely staff.”

People felt safe and were involved in planning their care and understood their rights. People told us there were activities provided to keep them occupied, however, improvements were needed for those people who chose to remain in their bedrooms. People felt able to complain and were confident action would be taken and improvements would be made. People knew staff and leaders well and were complimentary about their approach.

People told us they had access to external health professionals when required. We received mixed views about if staff were available when needed and the quality of food provided. The management team kept staffing levels under review and were taking action to improve people’s experiences in the food provision.