Our current view of the service
Updated
28 January 2026
Date of assessment: 27 May 2026 to 16 June 2026
Enhanced Elderly Care – Wardley Gate is a care home providing personal care for older people, including people living with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. The service can support up to 88 people. At the time of the assessment, 79 people were using the service.
People experienced positive outcomes in many areas of care. Staff were observed providing caring support. However, this was not consistent across all areas of the service. We observed occasions when people were in communal areas without staff present and opportunities to provide support and engagement were missed. People and their relatives gave positive feedback about their experiences. Staff supported people to maintain their independence and make choices about their care. We observed respectful relationships across the service. Staff managed medicines safely and worked with health and social care professionals to support people's needs.
However, leaders did not always have effective oversight of the service. The provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to governance. Systems for monitoring quality and safety, including audits and checks, had not identified or addressed some concerns in a timely way. These included infection prevention and control, environmental safety, care planning and record quality. Care plans and records varied in quality and did not always clearly reflect people's needs or how decisions had been made. This meant staff did not always have clear guidance to provide consistent care. Although these concerns were not found across all areas of the service, they showed that people did not always receive consistent care.
Leaders had identified some of these issues and had started to act. However, improvements were not yet fully embedded and further work was needed to improve oversight and support consistent practice across the service.
Most people continued to receive positive support and feedback from people and relatives was generally positive. However, the concerns identified during this assessment meant people did not always receive safe and consistent care.
People's experience of the service
Updated
28 January 2026
People and their relatives were positive about the care and support provided at Wardley Gate. They described staff as kind, respectful and attentive, and we observed warm and friendly interactions across the service. One relative said, “All the staff on [Person]’s floor are extremely hardworking and very caring, which gives me peace of mind.”
People told us they felt safe and supported by staff who understood their needs. One relative said, “[Person] is generally well looked after, and I feel that they are safe in their surroundings.”
People and relatives told us medicines were managed safely.
People were supported to make choices about their daily lives, including meals. Feedback about food was positive, with one person telling us, “It is very nice here and there is always a choice if I do not want what is on the menu.” Relationships between people and staff were positive, and we observed a calm and relaxed atmosphere.
However, people’s experiences were not always consistent across the home. Some relatives told us there could be delays when staff were busy, particularly at peak times. One relative said, “It sometimes does take a while for them to respond when [Person] buzzes for them.” However, this was not a consistent experience for all people, and others described staff as responsive and attentive.
Opportunities for meaningful activity and engagement were also variable. Whilst some people and relatives described access to activities and positive social interaction, observations identified a mixed and inconsistent lived experience. Periods of positive, person-centred interaction alternated with periods where people were passive, withdrawn or disengaged with limited staff interaction.
People and relatives spoke positively about the management team and felt able to raise concerns. One person told us, “I can discuss anything with the floor manager at any time if need be.”
Some people could not fully share their experiences with us. We used the short observational framework for inspection (SOFI) to observe interactions and understand the care and support they received.
Overall, people experienced caring and compassionate support and positive relationships with staff. Although people did not always receive consistent care, most people and relatives spoke positively about the support provided.