- Care home
Archived: The Croft
Assessment report published 10 July 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 7 May 2025 to 2 June 2025. The service is a residential care home providing support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia. The home has four units, each one with a separate dining and lounge area. Each person’s room had en-suite facilities. People had access to a garden area, which we were told was used in good weather.
The inspection was planned as a result of concerns we had received. We carried out a comprehensive assessment in January 2019 and the care home was rated good. At this assessment, we found the provider was in breach of legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, informing the commission of certain events, duty of candour and good governance.
People were not routinely protected from potential harm, risks were not always identified and mitigated in a timely manner. People were at increased risk of infection due to poor hand hygiene. Safe medicine practices were not always promoted. Records were not always accurate or well-maintained. Governance systems had not identified or addressed areas for improvement. The service failed to notify us of incidents which they were required to. The provider failed to ensure they were always open and transparent when things went wrong or people were harmed.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
We spent time speaking with people while at the service and made telephone calls to relatives after the site visit. We received mixed feedback from people about the quality of their care although the majority of it was positive, with both people and their relatives confirming they felt safe living atThe Croft.
People and their relatives were critical of staffing at The Croft. Commentary was provided about the high use of agency staff, staffing numbers and recent changes made with staff shift patterns. We provided this feedback to the manager for their consideration.
Comments from people included, “It is nice here, they [staff] are usually very good, one or two are wonderful, they look after me”, “Here, it is home from home and I am not just saying that for form’s sake” and “Safe, yes I am safe, there are always people about, always someone popping in to see me.” This was supported by what relatives told us. Comments included, “There has been a huge improvement in [family member’s] health, she is much better now”. “I haven’t seen any cruelty or behaviours here that would cause me a problem” and “[family member] is safe”, and “I don’t have to worry about [family member].”
While people expressed general satisfaction with their care and treatment, our assessment found some elements of care did not always meet the expected standards.