Heathgrove Lodge Care Home

Updated 20 November 2025

Date of Assessment: 3 December 2025 to 6 January 2026. The service is a residential care home supporting older people some of whom where living with dementia and mental health issues. Some of these people were younger older people.

The service had improved from the last inspection and there was no longer a breach of the regulations. The breach at that inspection related to the layout of the building.

There was a positive open culture at the home. Staff were friendly and the manager and provider were open to suggestions and feedback about the care provided.

People were safe from harm and staff knew what they must do if someone had an injury, became distressed, or if there were signs of potential abuse. The provider had systems for staff to follow to promote people’s safety.

People were supported by enough staff, who were safely recruited, trained and felt supported by the manager and each other. Staff had time to chat with people and go at their pace with daily needs.

The provider ensured the building was safe and the appropriate equipment checks were routinely completed. There was a new manager who had quickly got to know people, the staff, and they had recently started to reach out to people’s relatives. Staff spoke well of the previous managers, but they also liked this new manager, they felt supported to do their best.

We did identify some areas where improvements were needed, in relation to auditing care plans, assessments, infection protection control and ensuring the care was always dignified. Which the provider and manager took action to resolve. They talked us through how they would monitor these areas to ensure this did not happen again.

We also found further work was needed to promote some people’s social and cultural experience of daily life, to ensure they felt part of the home. Having said this everyone we spoke with, said they were really happy living in the home, but there were shortfalls regarding meeting everyone’s social, cultural and diverse needs. The provider and manager again listened to our feedback, and they started to address these shortfalls before the conclusion of this assessment.

Updated 20 November 2025

People were positive about living at the home. They spoke well of the staff and the new manager. People felt safe and well cared for, especially with their health needs. People told us, “For sure I feel safe, the staff are really good.” Another person said, “The staff are nice and do a good job.” A further person said, “I am happy here.”

Their relatives told us, “There is enough staff, and you tend to see the same faces.” “The staff are very sociable; they are always talking to [name of relative].” “Staff look after [name of relative] even in their difficult times, they seem really happy here.”

However some people felt a little bored, some of these people were younger older people. Some people also didn’t always like the food provided; the food did not always interest their cultural palate. These people did not want to offend any of the staff including the kitchen staff, who they appreciated for looking after them. People’s relatives echoed this view. We spoke with the manager and provider about this who told us they would respond to these issues. They started to revisit people’s care plans, the social opportunities on offer, and the provider created a new audit to check they were meeting people’s cultural, diverse, and wellbeing needs.