Birkdale Residential Home

Ratings

• Overall

  Requires improvement

• Safe

  Requires improvement

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Requires improvement

Our view of the service

Date of assessment: 12 to 19 August 2025. Birkdale is a residential care home providing support to older people living with or without dementia. The assessment was carried out to follow up on a warning notice we issued following our previous assessment. Whilst we did see some improvements at the home, we continued to find the provider in breach of regulations.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding and governance. Sufficient improvements were not found at this assessment, and the provider remained in breach of these regulations. The provider was also in breach of the legal regulation relating to notifying us of incidents at the service.

There was a lack of oversight of safeguarding, accidents and incidents. No clear processes were in place to help identify themes or trends when people had falls. People’s risk assessments were not always updated following incidents and where people had falls, this meant relevant information did not reflect any change in their needs or identify the monitoring and support staff needed to provide. The provider’s governance systems were not always effective in identifying risks to the service.

Despite our findings during this assessment, improvements had been made since our previous assessment to fire safety and the environment. People’s assessment of capacity to make decisions were significantly improved, along with staff understanding of these processes. Some improvement had already been made to governance systems, including auditing and health and safety checks and these needed to be sustained.

The provider had good links with external healthcare services and worked well with them. However, on occasion, they had not followed their recommendations. The management of people’s medicines had improved and continued to improve. Staff had created a compassionate and caring culture within the home and knew people’s needs well. People lived in a safe environment where equipment was monitored and maintained. They were supported by enough staff who had been recruited safely and were protected from the risk of infection because the environment was kept clean.

In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.

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

This service has been in Special Measures since 14/08/2025. The provider demonstrated some improvements that have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

People's experience of this service

While people and their relatives expressed satisfaction with their care, our assessment found elements of care did not meet the expected standards. People and their relative’s felt people were safe, and staff were caring and kind. People told us staff were respectful, helpful and fun. One person said, “I get a good response when I need them [staff]. I like it here, they keep the place nice and clean, and my room is always clean.” Relatives spoke highly of the care their loved ones received and were informed about any concerns with their family member, including incidents and falls. One relative told us, “The staff are great. There's a lot of entertainment and I know [person’s name] is happy here.”