- Care home
Heywoods Grange
Assessment report published 14 August 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 21 April 2026 to 20 June 2026. Heywood’s Grange is a residential home for people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of inspection 9 people were being supported at the location, all of whom were receiving personal care. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people; this guidance was considered as part of the assessment.
At this inspection, we found significant concerns regarding the leadership, governance and oversight of the service. Whilst people were supported by a caring and committed staff team who knew them well and had developed positive relationships with them over many years, systems to ensure care was safe, effective, person-centred and well managed were not consistently effective.
We identified seven breaches of regulation relating to the quality and safety of care provided. Areas requiring improvement included the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, medicines management, risk management, person-centred care, environmental safety, dignity, and governance. As a result of the concerns identified, the Care Quality Commission took enforcement action against the provider. The provider has started taking positive steps to remedy the issues.
This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.
People's experience of this service
People living at Heywood's Grange were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their individual needs, preferences and routines. Relatives consistently described positive and long-standing relationships between staff and the people they supported. One relative told us, "The staff are very good with [relative] and understand them well," whilst another described the support provided as "actually fantastic" and said staff were "incredibly sensitive" to changes in their family member's wellbeing.
We carried out a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) to observe the experiences of residents and the quality of interactions between staff and residents. We observed that people appeared relaxed and comfortable in the presence of staff. Staff consistently spoke about individuals in a warm and respectful manner, demonstrating a strong understanding of their support needs. One person told us, “I love my home. I like it here.” Some people were supported to maintain relationships with family and friends and to participate in activities that reflected their interests and preferences. Relatives described people enjoying swimming, meals out, holidays, visits to the coast, community activities, crafts, music and opportunities linked to their individual hobbies.
However, relatives' experiences of involvement in care reviews, Mental Capacity Act processes and formal decision-making were mixed. Whilst some relatives felt informed and involved, others reported limited involvement and inconsistencies in communication. Overall, relatives were positive about the day-to-day care provided by staff, but the inspection identified concerns regarding the systems used to oversee, monitor and improve care, which affected the consistency and quality of service delivery.
The concerns identified through records reviewed were not generally visible to people using the service. This difference between positive lived experience and weaknesses in governance is a key finding of this assessment. While people did not experience immediate harm, the identified failures increased the risk of unsafe or unlawful care.