- Care home
Birch Hill Care Centre
Assessment report published 5 May 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Birch Hill Care Centre is a care home providing accommodation and personalcare to older people including some people living with dementia. The service could accommodate up to 26 people, at the time of the assessment there were 16 people living at the service.
Dated of assessment: 11 March to 27 March 2026.
Birch Hill provided an exceptional standard of care and support and has been rated outstanding overall. The service had a strong, values-led culture where people were at the centre of decisions and staff consistently treated people with kindness, dignity and respect. People and relatives spoke highly of the care and described feeling safe, listened to and well supported. Staff knew people well, promoted independence and choice, and responded promptly to people’s needs to minimise discomfort and distress.
Care and treatment were delivered to a consistently high standard. Robust initial assessments, highly personalised care planning and strong multi-disciplinary working supported people to access timely healthcare and to maintain and improve their health and wellbeing. There were safe systems for medicines, infection prevention control, risk management and safeguarding. This was supported through appropriate staffing levels, training and competency checks. Leadership and governance were highly effective, with an open learning culture, strong partnership working and a clear commitment to continuous improvement. Staff were proud to work at Birch Hill and spoke highly of the management team and support they received.
People's experience of this service
Feedback gathered from people and their relatives was overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the kindness of staff, the high quality care, and the improvements in people’s independence and health while living at Birch Hill. People were safe, respected and treated with dignity. Staff at all levels were observed interacting warmly and sensitively with people, demonstrating a shared culture of compassion and ensuring people felt like they were in their own home.
One person said, “I feel safe; it’s the main reason I came here, because there’s always someone near at hand. On the whole im very happy here … staff treat me with dignity and respect.” Another person said, “I’m treated with complete dignity and respect because there are staff around all the time. I love living here, I’d rather be at home, but I’m realistic.” While another person said, “The food is brilliant and I often take my lunch here. There are always enough staff, 100% show dignity and respect.”
A relative said, “[Person] is brilliantly safe. As soon as we came through the door, on our first visit, we knew this place was perfect. I see her get her medication most days and it’s on time.” Another relative said, “[Person] is very happy and that makes me happy.”
People felt they were listened to. One person said, “I know how to complain, and [the registered manager] is very approachable. We do have meeting for residents which are usually once a month and they seem to react positively to new ideas.”