- Care home
Bearwardcote Hall Residential Home
Assessment report published 24 July 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Inspection: 22 June to 30 June 2026. Bearwardcote Hall Residential Home is a residential home providing regulated activity to adults over the age of 65. The service is registered to provide care for up to 38 people. At the time of our inspection, 16 people were using the service. This inspection was carried out to follow up on the actions we had asked the provider to make following our last inspection in October 2025. Since the previous inspection, the provider had made improvements across several areas of the service and had taken action to address the concerns identified. Improvements were evident in governance and oversight arrangements, the safety and maintenance of the environment, medicines management, care planning processes, staff training and supervision, communication, partnership working, and the monitoring of people's care and support needs.
Leaders had strengthened quality assurance systems and maintained regular communication with CQC regarding progress against their action plan. Staff reported improved support from managers, better communication, and a clearer understanding of how to raise concerns. Environmental improvements had created a safer setting for people, and systems for monitoring areas such as nutrition, hydration, repositioning, and people's changing needs had improved. Staff had also received additional training, including end-of-life care training, and care planning processes had been reviewed and updated.
However, although progress had been made, many of the improvements were relatively recent and were not yet fully embedded or sustained across the service. Some areas continued to require further development, including ensuring people and their relatives were consistently involved in care planning and reviews, care plans clearly reflected people's goals and desired outcomes, medicines governance processes were fully robust, and post-fall monitoring was consistently recorded.
Overall, the provider had demonstrated a commitment to learning from previous concerns and driving improvement. Whilst positive changes had been implemented and progress was evident, further time was required to ensure these improvements became embedded in everyday practice and resulted in sustained, consistent positive outcomes for people using the service.
The provider was previously in breach of 5 legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, consent, staffing, and governance. Improvements were found at this assessment, and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since October 2025. The provider demonstrated 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
People received care from staff who responded to their needs in a timely way. Improvements had been made to the environment and the monitoring of people's health and wellbeing since the previous inspection. However, people were not always fully involved in developing and reviewing their care plans, and opportunities to promote choice, control, and independence were not always maximised. Feedback from relatives about activities was mixed, and we observed occasions where people's dignity and independence during mealtimes could have been better supported. Whilst improvements had been made, further work was needed to ensure people consistently experienced person-centred care that reflected their preferences, goals, and interests.