- Care home
121 Watleys End Road
Assessment report published 11 March 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: we visited the service on the 13, 14 and 21 January 2026. This was a comprehensive assessment where we looked at all the quality statements. 121 Watleys End Road is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 14 people. There were 13 people living at the home at the time of our inspection and 1 person was in hospital.
We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choice, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found people received care and support in accordance with the principles of this guidance.
We rated the service as Requires Improvement overall.
Governance arrangements were not robust and did not identify the shortfalls we found during the assessment including concerns around the management of infection control, the auditing of care plans and associated documents. Medication audits were not robust to ensure medications were in date and clearly labelled when opened. We identified a breach of regulation in relation to good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
Whilst people were safe, improvements were needed to ensure risk assessments and care plans included current and up to date information. The provider took action to address shortfalls we found during the assessment. This included updating missing care plans in respect of mental capacity and deprivations of liberty safeguards.
Sufficient staff were working in the home, but staff said at peak times in the morning and during mealtimes it could be busy due to the high support needs of the people they were supporting.
The service had safe recruitment practices to protect the people living in the home. There were gaps in training, and the registered manager was addressing these areas. However, there was a lack of records to demonstrate agency staff had completed a comprehensive induction when they started working in the home ensuring people were safe.
Whilst staff said they were supported, there was a lack of formal supervisions in line with the expectations of the provider.
There was a person-centred approach with staff demonstrating they knew people well. People’s health care needs were kept under review. People had access to health and social care professionals when this was needed along with access to independent advocacy services.
Staff were caring and kind towards the people they supported. The staff knew people well and understood their needs. However, at certain times during our visit, some staff communication was not fully person centred.
Improvements were needed to ensure staff recorded the monthly checks on people’s moving and handling equipment including personal slings. External contractors had completed checks on equipment in the home such as moving handling equipment.
People's experience of this service
The majority of the people could not directly tell us about their experience. We used a structured observation tool to assess whether they received good care. From this we saw people were comfortable and safe in the presence of staff. Staff knew people well and were good at responding to people’s immediate needs. However, engagement could be improved as we observed staff not engaging with 2 people when supporting them with their lunchtime meal. There were also periods in the morning where people had little engagement with staff as staff were busy supporting people with personal care. However, there was always a member of the care team in the lounge. One person told us they liked living in the home and told us about the activities they took part in. They told us they liked to help the staff with the laundry and supported with interviews of new staff. They were proud of their bedroom and enjoyed showing us their personal space and talked about a recent holiday and a shopping trip that had taken place before Christmas. We received mixed feedback from relatives about the care and support staff provided in the home. The majority of relatives were happy with the care and support and communication from the staff and management team. Where relatives shared their concerns about the service it was evident that the management team were aware and actively working alongside the family to make improvements. A relative said, “Never had any concerns, this is the best place. They tell me about medical appointments and involve me.” Another relative said, “Very happy with the care.” Another relative told us how since moving to the service their relative was communicating a lot more.
Relatives were complimentary about the care staff and were aware of the named keyworker system. Feedback about activities was mixed with some relatives telling us there was lots going on. Whilst others felt that this had decreased with some external activities stopping after COVID such as an evening social club and swimming. The provider was aware this was an area for improvement. They were taking action to ensure everyone in the service had positive experiences and supported to access the community and take part in activities in the home. Families were invited to regular social events organised for special occasions such as birthdays, a summer barbeque and the recent Christmas party.