• Care Home
  • Care home

Highfield Residential Care Home

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

77 Seabrook Road, Hythe, Kent, CT21 5QW (01303) 267036

Provided and run by:
Silverleaf Care Homes Limited

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

Latest inspection summary

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Our current view of the service

Requires improvement

Updated 28 May 2026

Date of assessment: On site visits 4 and 10 June 2026. The service is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for older people and people living with dementia. The service can support a maximum of 31 people. There were 24 people living in the service at the time of inspection.
This inspection was prompted in part by concerns received by CQC about potential poor care and neglect, which included poor catheter care. We found no specific concerns in relation to catheter care as lessons had been learnt in this area. Although staff knew people well, we found 4 breaches of legal regulations. These were in relation to person centred care, safe care and treatment, including how people’s medicines were managed, mental capacity and consent and how the service was governed.

Potential risks to people’s health and welfare had not always been consistently identified and mitigated against with individual guidance for staff to follow. The premises were not always maintained well, so people were not always spending time in a safe and pleasant environment. People were not always protected from the risk of infection. The provider was not always following the Mental Capacity Act 2005 when assessing people’s capacity and ability to make decisions. People did not always receive care and support that was individual to them. The systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were not effective. When shortfalls had been identified, action had not been taken to make improvements and the shortfalls continued.
Staffing levels were sufficient, however, staff did not always receive the training and supervision they required to ensure a good service was provided.
People were kept safe from abuse by staff who knew them well and treated them with kindness. People were supported to maintain their independence. There were a range of activities people could join in to occupy them through the day and they had equal access to opportunities.
 

People's experience of the service

Updated 28 May 2026

People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received. People told us they felt safe including, “I like that people are around if I need them” and “I love it here. I have a mat on the floor in case I have a fall and I like knowing I am not alone.” A relative said, “We have been consistently happy with the care he receives there.”
We saw people chatting with staff, laughing, having a joke and were comfortable in their environment. Staff spoke respectfully to people and treated them with kindness. One person said, “They are very good, always smiling and chatty.”
Although staff were kind and caring and people and relatives confirmed this, improvements were needed to the environment and the provider’s systems and processes to ensure safe and good quality care.