Ashton Lodge of Sunbury-on-Thames

Updated 26 August 2025

Date of assessment: 16 September 2025 – 9 October 2025

Ashton Lodge of Sunbury-on-Thames is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing care to older people, people with physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments, and people living with dementia. The service is registered to accommodate 100 people and there were 88 people living at the service at the time of the site visits. As part of this assessment, we spoke with 14 people who used the service, 6 relatives and 14 members of staff.

We conducted this assessment to follow up on the previous rated inspection (report published July 2019) and due to information of concern we had received from stakeholders. At this latest assessment, we found the provider had addressed areas from the last inspection and the overall rating of the service is now good.

People received safe care provided by appropriately trained and supported staff. Staff knew how to recognise and report safeguarding concerns. Risk assessments contained the required information and there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. The environment was generally clean, and we saw wider plans to improve the environment, some of which had already started by the time of the assessment.

People had personalised care plans in place. Care plans included information on how people’s individual day-to-day care risks were monitored and how staff supported them, in line with their preferences and wishes, to remain safe and as independent as possible.

Staff felt valued, respected, supported and involved in the service. Staff told us management were approachable, and they felt encouraged to speak up when needed and felt able to contribute to staff meetings.

Incidents and accidents were analysed and looked at to reduce the risk of them happening again. The management team carried out a range of checks and audits of the quality and safety of the service. They had already identified some of the areas we highlighted during the assessment and there were wider improvement plans in place.

The registered manager worked well with local partners and ensured they were aware of national best practice guidance. The management team were approachable and visible throughout the assessment and actively listened to areas we highlighted.

Updated 26 August 2025

People and their relatives were generally complimentary about the care they received and skills of staff providing support. They told us they felt the service was led by a management team who listened when they raised concerns, and they felt comfortable doing so. Comments included, ”I like it here. Everything is nice. The room is nice and everything is clean.”, “I come in to visit [person] at a lot of different times. He is always clean, he is always dressed and he looks well.”, and “I think she is safe here, definitely. I think because she is being looked after.”

People and their relatives told us they felt safe at Ashton Lodge and that there were generally sufficient staff to meet their needs. We observed staff attending to people in a timely way and people appeared comfortable around staff.

People told us they felt respected by staff, involved in their care and staff treated them in a caring way. People’s relatives told us staff were sensitive to people’s distress, communication needs and knew people well.

People were happy with the support they received around day-to-day activities, medicines, housekeeping and wider staff’s practice around hygiene and infection prevention.

People told us they had access to healthcare professionals, and they were involved in the decision-making process about their healthcare needs. People told us they had access to a range of activities which included going to local places of worship and they were encouraged by staff to take part whilst respecting their wishes if they chose to decline.

People’s relatives told us they were kept updated about changes in people’s care needs, and the service maintained communication with people and their families.