- Care home
Cross Heath Grove
Assessment report published 14 October 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 13 and 15 July 2026. Cross Heath Grove is a residential care home providing respite care to people with learning disabilities and autistic people. At the time of our assessment, there were 8 people using the service.
This was a planned assessment due to the length of time since our last visit to the service. We reviewed all quality statements. 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. We found the principles of this guidance was not always achieved. During our assessment, we identified concerns about how people’s medicines and risks to people’s care were managed, the provider’s compliance with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act, and the management of the service. We found the provider was in breach of regulations relating to safe care and treatment and governance.
People did not always receive safe care. Medicines were not always managed safely and improvements were required to how risks to people's care were managed, including risks linked to the use of equipment to lift and move people.
Records did not demonstrate that some restrictions, including night-time monitoring devices, had been assessed as necessary, were proportionate and in people’s best interests.
Audits and management oversight had not been effective in identifying and resolving concerns identified during this assessment. Management arrangements were not always effective. Leaders were approachable, responded positively to feedback and introduced changes when concerns were identified.
People were treated with kindness and were involved in activities they enjoyed.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 2 people using the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We observed care in the communal areas to help us understand the experience of people. We used the Short Observational Framework for Assessment (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
People shared positive feedback about their visits to Cross Heath Grove and about how staff supported them. Relatives were positive about people’s experiences and told us people enjoyed attending the service for respite, felt comfortable with staff and were supported to take part in activities they liked such as shopping, cinema visits and walks. One relative told us staff were “so friendly” and another relative commented on their loved one attending the service for a long time and not experiencing any issues. Relatives said communication was good, staff contacted them before stays and listened when they requested changes or raised concerns.
During our visits, we found people were relaxed around staff. We observed warm interactions in which staff responded to people’s gestures and vocalisations, used simple language and visual prompts, and offered choices for example, about food and activities. Staff encouraged people to maintain their independence, including with dressing, personal care, preparing food and eating.