• Care Home
  • Care home

Astell Care Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Wharrier Street, Walker, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE6 3BR (0191) 224 3677

Provided and run by:
Crown Care VI Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Our current view of the service

Good

Updated 17 June 2025

Date of assessment: 17 June 2025. Astell Care Centre is a care home registered to provide nursing and personal care for 96 people. At the time of the assessment, 80 people were living at the service. The service is spread over 6 units and provides care to people with complex mental health needs, including those living with dementia and people with physical disabilities.

This was a responsive assessment undertaken in response to information of concern received about the care being provided and staffing. We looked at all 11 quality statements, for those quality statements not inspected; we have used the scores awarded at the last assessment to calculate the overall rating. At our last inspection published on 15 October 2024, the service was rated good but there were some areas for improvement. These included medicines management, staffing and safe environments. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

The provider acted in response to our feedback following the last inspection but needed to continue to ensure these improvements were embedded within the service. Risks to people’s safety and well being were managed and accidents and incidents were also recorded and reviewed to minimise the risk of them happening again. Safeguarding concerns were reported in line with requirements and staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe. Safe systems were in place to manage maintenance and infection prevention and control.

Concerns raised with us prior to our inspection had already been identified by the provider when we visited. They had taken action to address these for example, increasing staffing levels and improving the management of medicines.

Audit systems were in place to review the care people received and monitor the systems within the service. Where concerns were identified, action was taken to make improvements. Staff and the management team treated people with kindness, empathy, and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity
 

People's experience of the service

Updated 17 June 2025

People generally spoke positively about the quality of care. They felt staff were kind and respectful and treated them well, upholding their dignity. People felt able to complain or make suggestions about the service. They told us they felt listened to and improvements were made when they shared their views. However, some relatives told us they felt there was a lack of staff and people’s personal care was not always attended to in a timely manner which impacted on their dignity. We observed a supportive environment, where people were encouraged to maintain their independence. We saw positive interactions between staff and people using the service.People’s care was assessed and reviewed regularly or as their needs changed. A relative said, “I was given all the information regarding (persons) care when they first came here, I’ve had good feedback and interactions from the manager since, but it would be nice to have more staff available.