- Care home
Harefield Lodge
Assessment report published 18 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 23 July to 26 August 2026
The service is a care home providing support to people with a learning disability and autistic people. There were 6 people living in the home at the time of our inspection. We inspected all 33 quality statements. We inspected the service due to receiving information of concern relating to safe care and treatment.
We found 2 breaches of regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and governance.
We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choice, independence, and good access to local communities which most people take for granted. We found people did not always receive care and support in accordance with the principles of this guidance.
There was missing information in some care plans, which put those people’s health and welfare at risk. Lack of future care planning was not in place. We found some concerns relating to cleanliness and fire safety, and recruitment was not always managed safely. Mental Capacity Assessments had not always been completed correctly and were not always in place. The provider’s internal monitoring systems failed to identify all of the concerns we found during this inspection and robust action had therefore not been taken to make improvements. The registered manager and provider were motivated to improve the service and started addressing these shortfalls during the inspection.
Staff were trained to raise and respond to safeguarding concerns both internally and to external agencies. The provider learned from incidents and action was taken to ensure improvements were made where needed.
There was a system in place for responding to concerns or complaints. A management team led the service which included a registered manager. Staff were able to raise concerns and told us managers were approachable and supportive.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with relatives and used observation to assess whether people received good care. We undertook an observation using Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). This meant we observed 1 person for 30 minutes, recording their mood, well-being, activities, and interactions with staff during this time. Staff engaged well with the person during this observation.
We spoke with relatives and received mixed feedback. One relative felt important information was missing from their relative’s care plan. They felt not all staff had the skills to support their relative safely and they noticed patterns of staff not speaking with their relative. They acknowledged there had been some improvements and told us the care was satisfactory at the moment, but they were worried it would go downhill again.
Other relatives told us, “It’s not perfect but for the most part my relative seems content to be there. They do call me if anything happens. They let me know when things go wrong. They learn from errors” and “I have no worries that my relative is not safe. I use observations when I am waiting for them. Staff really do take care around mobility. If my relative didn’t feel safe they wouldn’t go off with staff. I have no doubt their needs are being met. When we leave our relative at the home, we leave with confidence.”
The provider mostly treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion. A relative and a professional told us this had not always been the case, but they added improvements had been made. We observed several occasions where staff could have engaged more meaningfully with people.
Relatives also told us they were happy with the improvements they had seen. They said they were kept up to date with relevant information, and the registered manager was contactable if they had any concerns.