Birnbeck House - Care Home Learning Disabilities

Updated 3 February 2026

Date of assessment 18 to 27 February 2026. Birnbeck House – Care Home Learning Disabilities is a residential care home providing care to people with a learning disability and autistic people which can accommodate up to 13 people. At the time of our inspection, 9 people were living at the home.

This was a responsive assessment to review 4 breaches of regulation identified during our previous assessment in September 2025. We assessed 2 quality statements in safe, 1 in responsive and 1 in well led. At our last assessment we rated this service as requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has remained as requires improvement.

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, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, person centred care, staffing and governance. Improvements were found at this assessment in relation to person centred care and staffing.

However, improvements were still needed in relation to safe care and treatment and governance. The provider remained in breach of these legal regulations.

People were at increased risk as the provider had not assessed or effectively managed all risks to people. While the service’s governance systems had identified areas for improvement, they had not been effective in ensuring the improvements were made in a timely manner.

However, staff were trained in supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability at a level appropriate to their role. Staff interaction with people had improved.

Staff felt the service being provided to people was improving. Their comments included, “Overall I would like to tell you things have really improved” and “The home has definitely improved, the atmosphere and communication is better.”

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 3 February 2026

We observed the interactions and communication between people and staff throughout our site visits. We spoke to some people’s relatives, and we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We observed people appeared comfortable in the presence of staff. Staff treated people with dignity and respect, supported them to make choices and respected their decisions. Staff interacted with people in a way which was appropriate to their needs and wishes.

However, we found some improvements were needed to ensure people were supported to work towards their goals and all people were offered meaningful activities. Relatives expressed general satisfaction with the care people received and told us they felt people were happy and safe. Comments included, “Yes definitely, they have great need and they look after them really well” and “They are happy there.”