Emsworth House Care Home with Nursing

Updated 11 August 2025

Date of assessment: 11 September to 24 October 2025.

We undertook this responsive assessment following concerns received relating to staffing, nutritional support and management, and to follow up on breaches identified at our last inspection in 2023.

At the last inspection the service was rated requires improvement. Following this inspection the service is now rated good. The service had made improvements and was no longer in breach of regulations relating to safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance. We assessed 3 of the key questions. The scores for these have been combined with scores based on the last key question ratings.

A new registered manager was in post. Staff spoke highly of the management team and expressed hopes for a period of stability at the service. Staff spoke of a healthy culture where they were encouraged to share their thoughts, identify shortfalls and work together to make improvements. They spoke of working well as a team and of a high level of training and support.

People’s needs were assessed before they moved to the service and kept under continuous review. Staff worked with all agencies involved in people’s care for the best outcomes. People had enough to eat and drink to stay healthy and were supported appropriately to minimise choking risks. Medicines were managed safely.

Staff followed safeguarding processes and systems were effective to manage any safeguarding concerns. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to mental capacity and consent, supporting people to make decisions related to their care or acting in their best interests.

The service was clean, and we observed staff following infection prevention and control guidelines.

Regular audits and checks were carried out to monitor the service. Incidents and accidents were reported, investigated, and analysed for trends, both at service and provider level. Lessons learned were shared with staff and across the provider’s services.

However, whilst the provider made sure there were enough qualified and skilled staff, the impact of growth in the service and the need to use agency staff was having an impact on people’s experiences of care. People said they would like staff to have more time to spend with them. Recruitment to the team was in progress, including expanding the wellbeing team to deliver more 1:1 support to people.

On both days we visited, we identified risks within the home environment. There was open access to some areas which were intended to be secured for people’s safety. These issues were addressed immediately they were brought to the attention of the registered manager. In response additional checks on the safety of the environment were put in place.

Updated 11 August 2025

People were largely positive about their experiences at the service. One person said, “I like living here. I feel safe. There is no problem here. Staff are kind and very caring.” Another said, “Staff look after me well and I am comfortable.” Relatives we spoke with expressed satisfaction with their loved ones’ care, saying staff understood their needs and knew their likes and dislikes. People and relatives told us they felt confident to raise any concerns they had with the staff team.

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 staff to be responsive, kind and gentle. They showed warmth and approached people with a smile.

Visiting professionals spoke positively about the care delivered and the positive impact on people. One professional praised how staff had quickly developed rapport and understanding with a person.

We observed people participating in group activities who appeared happy and engaged. The wellbeing lead was also encouraging people to participate in different activities, using a trolley supplied with a wide range of options. Staff were working with people to develop special areas within the home, including the garden, spa and a space that could be used for people to host visitors. We were shown a variety of house plants that people were enjoying and helping to care for.

However, people told us staff were busy and felt they did not have time to stop and chat. They told us call bells were answered promptly, but there were sometimes delays in receiving support. One person said, “Staff will come and turn off the call bell, say they will be back but sometimes they don’t.”

People said they would like staff to have more time to spend with them. Some people said they felt lonely. One person said, “I would like staff to come to my room and spend time with me but that does not happen much. Staff are always busy.” The wellbeing programme was being developed, with additional staff recruitment to support this. Work was underway to increase the number of individual activities, to encourage more community involvement both inside and outside of the home and to develop ‘purposeful’ activities such as garden or animal care tasks.