- Care home
Ashridge Court Care Centre
This care home is run by two companies: Ventas Opco UK Limited and Ashridge Court Ltd. These two companies have a dual registration and are jointly responsible for the services at the home
Assessment report published 29 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 10, 13 and 19 August 2026
Ashridge Court Care Centre is a residential care home that provides accommodation and support for up to 69 older people. On the day of our inspection there were 52 people living at the home. Some people had illnesses or disabilities associated with old age such as limited mobility, physical frailty or lived with health problems such as diabetes. Some people lived with dementia and sensory impairment. Accommodation was arranged over two floors with stairs and a stair lift connecting each level.
Ashridge Court Care Centre is operated by two companies: Ashridge Court LtdandVentas Opco UK Limited.These two companies have a dual registration and are jointly responsible for the services at the home.
We undertook this comprehensive inspection due to the age of the rating. Ashridge Court Care Centre was last inspected in February 2021 and rated Good. At this inspection the rating has changed to requires Improvement. Due to the immediate actions taken by the provider risk to peoples’ health, safety and well-being were mitigated.
People’s safety and well-being had not been consistently considered, as there were not sufficient staff deployed to meet peoples’ individual needs. Therefore, risk had not been managed pro-actively. For example, people remained in bed because of time constraints and people whose health had deteriorated had not received the care necessary. The provider immediately responded by increasing staff numbers and reviewing the deployment of staff. This will be on-going with senior management oversight.
The governance and overview of processes had not fully ensured safe and consistent care. Feedback from staff and families regarding staffing levels had not been escalated and had resulted in staff feeling under pressure, stressed and low morale within the staff team. Staff had not felt supported or listened to. The in-house audits and governance systems were not consistently robust and had not identified all the shortfalls found and discussed during the inspection process. Such as cleanliness of clinical areas and equipment used for people. Staff training and supervision did have some gaps of up to 6 and 8 months identified. Training and supervisions have been taken forward as a priority.
Records of lessons learned following incidents lacked clear actions taken to prevent further occurrences and the impact of incidents not clearly reflected. Staff had not felt the management team were visible or approachable, and there were missed opportunities for staff and management to discuss incidents or areas for improvement within the home to ensure lessons were learnt.
The provider had liaised with external health professionals to provide joined up care and treatment for people. This had promoted safe transitions for people moving between different services. People received care from staff who had been recruited safely. People enjoyed their meals and were supported by staff to follow a healthy lifestyle. Staff treated people with kindness and compassion, despite time constraints the staff team were very supportive of each other. Care plans and risk assessments were person centred and the activity team provided activities suited to people’s interests. More people were seen to participate following the introduction of extra staff during the inspection process.
People's experience of this service
People and their relatives gave mixed feedback about living in the service. People told us they were cared for by kind staff, who knew them well and respected them, however some said that staffing levels had impacted on their care recently. We heard that people were encouraged to be as independent as possible and were supported to keep in touch with family and friends. Relatives felt well informed and able to raise any issues, however minor, with the staff or management team. One relative said, “I was impressed, mentioned the issue with television, it was fixed straight away.”
People told us, “They are a wonderful bunch, I trust them totally, but they are rushed and sometimes I have to wait ages for my call to be answered,” “Staff are lovely,” “Good staff but not enough of them, but I like it here” and "I reckon I am safe enough, the food is good and my view is lovely." Relatives told us, “There have been little problems, can’t say I have ever met the manager” and “I really can’t thank them for the care they give my relative, if there is a problem, they act quickly, they sorted out my relative’s television really quickly and they seem to care.”