- Care home
Acer Mews
Assessment report published 26 June 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
We carried out a site visit on 23 April and 8 May 2025
Acer mews is a nursing home providing personal and nursing care to people living with a range of complex needs including mental health conditions, sensory and physical disabilities and dementia. The home can support up to 28 people across two units in a single storey purpose built building. At the time of our visit the service was supporting 12 people with a range of complex needs.
This was the first inspection of this newly registered service. At this inspection we found a breach in relation to how people were supported to safely take their medicines. The registered manager was aware of shortfalls noted around medicines, and was working to address these and embed good practice. People generally felt safe, but there had been some safeguarding concerns and work was ongoing to ensure lessons were learnt appropriately. Risks had not always been appropriately assessed, with action taken to update and review records following incidents. We received mixed feedback about staffing levels, but staff were recruited following appropriate processes and staff appeared to know people. The environment was clean and tidy.
Appropriate records of consent had not been obtained although we noted staff requested consent from people for day to day decisions. Records in relation to mental capacity and best interest were not always easily available to staff to ensure they understood how to support people in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act or any Deprivation of Liberties safeguards. The registered manager was responsive to addressing these concerns. Care records did not always contain sufficient detail to reflect how people were being safely supported and assessment records were not always fully completed. People were supported to access other services and to attend any appointments needed. Staff appeared to have good working relationships with other professionals. We received some mixed feedback about the food, which some people felt did not meet their preferences, but work was ongoing to develop menus and meet specific preferences.
People generally told us staff were kind and caring and we observed positive interactions. People were supported to make decisions as much as possible and supported to access and engage with the local community. The provider had schemes in place to support and value the staff team.
Care plans and care records did not always demonstrate how personalised care was being delivered. We noted improvements were needed to care plans, particularly in relation to planning care for people approaching the end of their life, to ensure care was not just task focused. We observed staff knew people well and supported them to engage in activities in line with their preferences. There were processes in place to obtain feedback from people, families and staff.
People, families and staff all spoke highly of the new registered manager and noted that they had been driving improvements needed. However, at the time of the inspection further work was required to ensure processes were being used effectively and embedded into practice.
People's experience of this service
People told us they felt safe at the home. One relative told us, “The care is good but we have had issues in the past.” The home was clean and tidy and one relative commented, “The place is always clean and there are never any smells when you walk in. They could be a bit more vigilant but most staff are excellent and caring.”
People told us the staff were kind and would respond to any requests for assistance. One person commented, “I think they do their best and do care about the people in here.” Another person commented, “Things here are on and off. The staff are helpful, if they can help you, they will. I think they need more staff though.” We received mixed views about staffing levels from people.
People were supported to eat and drink and people’s weight was generally stable. However, feedback about the quality of food was mixed. One person commented, “The food is rank. There’s a choice, it’s just not that nice.” A relative commented, “There have been a couple of blips with the food but they have a new chef now so we will see if it improves. They always find [family member] something they will have.”
People were supported to access the community and activities were available. One relative commented, “The activity worker always puts on themed nights for Burns night, Easter, Valentines, any kind of celebration and gets them all little presents which is a nice touch.” Another family member commented, “The activity worker does spend a lot of time with them and is always trying to get them involved in things they can do.”
People spoke positively about the registered manager and felt able to raise concerns. One person commented, “I am happy here. If I wasn’t, I’d go. Everybody has been lovely with me.”