Updated 20 January 2026
Date of Assessment: 27 February to 4 March 2026. We undertook multiple sites visits to assess this service including a visit out of hours. The Spinnies is a residential care home providing support to younger adults living with learning disabilities and autism, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. The Spinnies was last rated good (published 9 August 2018). This assessment was prompted by the age of the services previous rating.
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, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
Care plans were person‑centred and clearly detailed how people wished to be supported. People’s preferred activities were well documented; however, activity‑specific risk assessments were not always in place. Staff and relatives told us that previous staffing challenges had affected the service, but these had improved following the recruitment of an interim manager, and staff were confident this progress would continue.
Behaviour support plans reflected people’s preferences, including how they communicated. Staff consistently offered, supported, and promoted choice using person‑centred approaches that encouraged people to remain as independent as possible. The provider and staff supported people to personalise their bedrooms and the wider home environment in line with their needs and wishes. Staff demonstrated good knowledge of the people they supported and helped individuals express their feelings and anxieties. Where required, care plans contained clear guidance for staff on how people wished to be supported during periods of stress, frustration, or distress, helping to ensure people remained safe.
People received their medicines safely from staff who understood their needs. When we identified areas for improvement, the management team responded promptly to ensure medication administration records aligned with best‑practice guidance. Audits completed by the management team were effective, and where improvements were identified, these were clearly recorded with action plans already in place for monitoring and further development.