- Care home
Falcon House Care Home
Assessment report published 16 May 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 11 and 12 March 2025. The service is a residential service providing support to older people living with dementia, nursing needs and physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection, there were 35 people being supported with their care needs. The service is registered to support a maximum of 46 people.
Falcon House Care Home was last rated Good (report published 15 March 2019). The report was published following CQC’s old inspection approach using key lines of enquiry (KLOEs), prompts and ratings characteristics. This assessment has been completed following the Care Quality Commission (CQC) new approach to assessment.
The provider had a poor culture where people and staff lacked confidence in raising concerns. Managers had not reported or investigated incidents thoroughly to ensure people were protected and kept safe. People knew how to give feedback; however, we were not confident the provider reviewed this and acted on it. The facilities and equipment did not always meet people’s needs and were not always clean and well-maintained with not all risks mitigated. The staff team were not all equipped with the right skills and qualifications. Managers did not ensure staff received appropriate training to maintain high-quality care. Staff did not follow best practice in medicines management.
People were not fully involved in assessments of their needs. Staff had not updated care plans to take account of changes in people’s care and health needs. People were not supported to eat and drink to stay healthy. Staff did not work well with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes. People’s health was not effectively monitored to support healthy living. Staff did not ensure people understood their care and treatment to support them to give informed consent.
People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff, although their preferences and wishes were not always fully respected. Staff did not always respond to people in a timely way.
Leaders had not developed a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and trust. Staff did not feel supported to give feedback and be treated equally, free from bullying or harassment. People with protected characteristics were not fully supported. There was no culture of continuous improvement in evidence at the service. The provider did not support staff wellbeing and development.
This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.
People's experience of this service
While people expressed general satisfaction with their care and treatment, our assessment found elements of care did not meet the expected standards. People and their relatives did not always feel safe or were fully involved in planning their care. People were not always treated as individuals. They also said the service lacked provision of interesting activities to keep people physically and mentally active. People were not supported with their dietary needs by the staff team. People felt able to complain, however, they could not be confident actions would be taken, and improvements would be made. Some people could not directly tell us about their experience, where this was the case, we observed interactions between people and staff. This approach showed people were not always effectively supported, although staff consistently showed kindness towards them.
People knew staff well. People described how staff treated them kindly and made sure any personal care was done sensitively, preserving their privacy and dignity.