- Care home
Briarwood
Assessment report published 19 March 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 4 to 25 February 2026. Briarwood is a nursing home that provides care and support for up to 26 people who have mental health needs and dementia. This is an assessment service where people usually stay for 12 weeks whilst staff review their needs and determine what approaches can be used to best meet their needs. At the time of inspection, 26 people were using the service.
Since the last inspection the organisation has changed its name to Everyturn and there has been 3 changes of registered manager. We completed this inspection as part of our routine programme, and because of the length of time since the last full inspection was completed.
Briarwood demonstrated a strong commitment to delivering safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led care.
People told us they felt safe and staff treated them with kindness and respect. The service supported people for a relatively short period of time but despite this staff really knew people well. Staff treated people with the upmost empathy and compassion and spoke with fondness about the people they supported. Relatives described staff as caring and attentive, and we observed warm, patient interactions throughout the home.
The provider and senior leadership team had developed a strong learning and governance culture and ensured robust quality assurance measures were in place. Routine service reviews were completed, and these had been nuanced to suit each location. Both senior managers and trustees took part in these reviews and completed listening exercises with people. The quality and safety team had a range of tools and audits in place, which helped staff understand risk and outcomes. The provider shared any learning across the wider organisation. Staff told us they felt supported, listened to and were able to speak up. We saw that leaders were visible and approachable.
Care was effective and person‑centred. Assessments were detailed and regularly updated, and staff understood people’s health conditions and how these affected them day to day. The provider was in the process of ensuring the new electronic care record system enabled staff to readily obtain information about how interventions they introduced had impacted people and whether these effectively supported people to reduce or mitigate any risks they faced.
Staff worked proactively with external professionals, sought medical input when needed and kept families informed. People’s nutritional needs were well met, with staff providing one‑to‑one support at mealtimes where required. Mental capacity assessments and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications were completed where necessary, and staff understood the Mental Capacity Act and the Mental Health Act.
The environment was well maintained, and risks associated with infection were assessed and generally well managed. However, a change to an external cleaning contractor meant people noticed a strong malodour throughout the home. When the housekeeper role moved to an external contractor, laundry duties were not included in this change. This impacted staff’s time and their ability to concentrate on the needs of people. The provider recognised this and was working with contractors to improve standards.
Staff demonstrated an excellent knowledge and understanding of how to work with people who had complex needs related to their dementia. They were very skilled at delivering this support. The provider’s ‘people team’ had ensured a robust training programme was in place and routinely evaluated its effectiveness.’
The provider valued diversity within the staff team. When a change in requirements for international workers had the potential to impact this, the senior management and Trustees proactively changed their minimum pay scales. The People’s director was actively engaged in discussions with the government about salary sacrifice schemes and measures which would make sure there was equitable access to benefits.
The Trustees, senior managers, quality and safety team, clinical leadership teams and the management team within the service constantly reviewed the operation of the service and actively made changes as and when these were needed. The empathetic, caring and person-centred approach demonstrated by senior leaders was mirrored in the way staff worked with people in the service. Their interactions were based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and the community.
People's experience of this service
People told us Briarwood was a safe and welcoming place to stay. They found staff were kind, caring and supportive. They felt valued as individuals and trusted staff to meet their needs. Relatives described how during the 12-week assessment process they had seen really positive changes in people’s well-being and ability to cope with the progress of their dementia. During the inspection we saw relaxed, warm interactions between staff and people. Staff consistently spoke with people in a warm and unrushed way. They offered reassurance when people appeared disorientated or distressed and had a depth of knowledge about them, which they used to help people reduce their anxieties. Where people were unable to share their views verbally, we used structured observation to understand their experience. These observations showed staff knew how to approach people, used people’s preferred communication styles and offered choices in ways people could understand.
Staff supported people in ways that upheld dignity, choice and independence. People appeared comfortable in the presence of staff, and we saw many examples of warm, respectful care. Staff were patient and used clear, simple language, repeating or rephrasing information when needed. One person said, “Oh my they are great here and always know what I’m after.”A relative said, “I find it hard to express my gratitude to the staff for the ways they have helped [person’s name] deal with their difficulties. They are now much more like their old self and I know it is a progressive disease but seeing [person’s name] so relaxed now it is wonderful.”
Relatives spoke positively about the quality of care, and outlined how people were constantly treated with dignity. We observed people’s personal preferences were consistently respected, including when staff supported them with personal care.
People enjoyed their meals and we saw staff offer alternatives if people did not want their first choice. Staff understood people’s dietary needs and preferences. Care staff provided activities and tailored these to each person. A staff member acted as the event organiser. They were extremely effective at finding creative and engaging activities that both assisted in providing people with meaningful activities as well as to assist in the assessment. Staff had also held events such as celebrations of Internal Nigerian Day, and these were extremely well received.