- Care home
The Firs
Assessment report published 1 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
The service is a residential care home. There were 11 people using the service at the time of the assessment.
This is a specialist service for people with a learning disability and or autistic people. Support is also provided to people with a physical disability, sensory impairment, and those living with other health conditions.
We carried out this assessment on 6 August to 14 August 2026. This service was previously rated as good in February 2018. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.
We have assessed the service against The Care Quality Commission’s ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance, which was developed to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. The service was meeting these aims.
The Firs is a small, family run service in a homely environment. Some people had lived there for many years, whereas others had more recently moved in. There was a main house, as well as a smaller attached bungalow and central courtyard. The site included an activity centre, with a spa pool and sensory garden. There were also animals including goats, chickens and tropical birds on the grounds of the care home for people to access. A staff member said, “[Person] loves to feed the goats.” Whilst some areas required decorative repair and maintenance, the provider confirmed they had continued plans to invest in the premises going forwards and ongoingly.
The Firs had 2 registered managers in post, with 1 who was also the owner and a company director. We received consistently positive feedback about leaders. When asked about the service, 1 staff member told us, “The best thing is the support that we get from the management and the team, and it being like a little family.” Another staff member told us, “There is really good teamwork. I’ve felt so welcome right from the word go, if I had a problem I could easily talk to the management.”
Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to support people safely. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Accidents, incidents and safeguarding matters were dealt with correctly and lessons learned were acted on to mitigate future risk.
People were treated as individuals and support staff showed genuine warmth, compassion and care. A professional who worked with the service told us, “It is lovely to visit a home which has a genuine interest in the wellbeing of the service users and is looking to improve the service as much as they can.” Another professional said, “[The Firs] work very collaboratively with our team, the wider team and are very inclusive and respectful of parents and carers.”
People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions they had choice, control and freedom over their lives. A professional who worked with the service said, “I believe [staff member] truly gives the service users at The Firs an amazing quality of life and ensures to act in their best interests at all times. As do all the other staff members that we meet from The Firs.”
Audits were in place to check the safety and quality of the service. However, some health and safety checks had not identified issues. We raised this with the management team who took action straight away. Leaders were in the process of introducing new governance and oversight systems, to positive effect. A professional who worked with the service told us, “The service has demonstrated a positive commitment to staff development and quality improvement.” Another professional said, “[Registered Manager] is very organised and actions my recommendations and will call for advice if needed also.”
People's experience of this service
We received positive feedback about the service from relatives. Not everyone who lived at The Firs could tell us about their experience of the care provided. We therefore used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI), which is a structured tool to support observations where people cannot communicate verbally with words. This showed people were relaxed and comfortable in their home environment. A caring approach was modelled by the management team. The Nominated Individual told us, “We have known these adults for a long time. These people mean the world to us.” A relative told us, “I would recommend this service to others because the home is set in quiet location, it has a natural feeling to it and feels very homely. From my observations when I visit, the staff and management have the best interests of all the residents at heart.”
We also saw positive interactions through informal observations, such as people smiling at staff when they saw them approaching and reaching out to hold their hands. People looked well cared for, and we saw they were supported with their interests as set out in care plans. For example, a staff member told us how, “[Person] likes their books and a strong sweet coffee.” People were seen to have access to items which provided comfort and met their sensory needs, such as balls, soft toys and books. A relative said, “Choice is given and outings are well planned.”
People had access to healthy, home cooked meals. We saw there were plenty of staff available to support people at lunchtime, and people enjoyed their food. Preferences were clearly recorded in people’s care plans. There were also picture cards which showed people the menu items, including various choices such as the different parts of a roast dinner. This helped people to pick what they wanted.
Professionals confirmed staff treated people with dignity, privacy and respect, and sought to ensure a good quality of life. One professional who worked with the service said, “I met with [person] in a private and safe space and was supported by a keyworker.” A relative said, “I think [person] likes the staff.” Another relative said, “The staff are supportive, caring and understanding of my concerns.”
Relatives said they were generally satisfied with the care and support provided and felt there were enough staff deployed. A person’s relative said, “I have every confidence in them (staff), and I was impressed.” Another person’s relative told us, “There were at least 4 or 5 staff members the last time I went.”
Relatives told us they felt able to contact management freely, and updates would be shared with them as required. A relative said, “The manager is easy to speak to and to get hold of. [Registered manager] is always ready to help and find solutions for my concerns.” There were no recorded formal complaints, and the service had received a number of compliments. This included thanking the management team for supporting a person to attend an important family event.