Waxham House

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

This is the first assessment for this service since registration under the new provider. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.
 

This service scored 65 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

We observed staff treating people with kindness, empathy, and respect. Staff interactions were warm and genuine, and feedback we received from people supported our observations.

There was an activities coordinator who involved and engaged people in a positive way. We observed activities taking place in the communal areas; people appeared engaged and very happy.

People told us the new provider had taken them out for coffee and to local shops to buy their favourite biscuits and chocolates. One person told us, “I want to do that every week.”
 

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences.

We observed people were relaxed and content. Friendship groups had formed, and people were sat together either talking, playing a game or commenting on what was going on at the time.

People who needed mobility aids, such as walking frames, had these near them so they could reach and use them. When people could not mobilise independently, we observed staff supporting them with care and attention.

One person who spent most of the day in the garden told us, “I like to spend time in the garden when I can and feel really lucky to enjoy such nice surroundings, I feel well looked after”.

Birthdays and special events were recognised and celebrated. One person was very proud of the birthday card they had received from the King and Queen.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

People were supported to maintain relationships which mattered to them. Family and friends were welcomed, and staff gave people the privacy and space they needed to enjoy time with their family members or friends.

We observed family members coming to visit their loved ones. People told us they could have visitors any time and did so regularly. One person told us, “My [loved one] visits twice a week.”

People told us they could use the home’s phone to make phone calls. A person who had a mobile phone told us, “I can take calls anytime on my mobile. My family and friends call me anytime. I have also used the home’s phone to call family if I want to because it costs a fortune to call on my mobile.”

Meals were well presented, looked fresh and of good quality. Hot and cold drinks were available including water on each person’s table. Everyone we spoke with said they enjoyed the food. One person said, “The food has got much better, and I have noticed the bread tastes like bread.” Another person told us, “We have good food so much so, I am bit concerned with gaining weight.”

Although there was a menu board displayed in the dining room, this was not visible in the lounge or summer lounge where some people chose to spend their days. There were no visual tools such as menu displays or show plates. Some people told us they were not aware of what was for dinner.

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Where people had measures in place to mitigate the risk of harm, for example, sensor mats, these were not always in place or plugged in. This meant staff would not always be alerted if an incident occurred and could not respond to people’s immediate needs.

The provider could not be assured that people’s call bells were responded to without delay.
The provider had failed to implement a policy outlining call bell response times. There was no process to monitor response times and actions. Consequently, there was no management oversight of the time staff took to respond to people’s immediate needs.

On a handover record in March 2026, staff had recorded the call bell system was malfunctioning, indicating calls were made when they were not. To ensure people’s safety, staff had undertaken regular checks on people throughout the night. The new provider told us they were arranging an updated system to be installed. Whilst the provider told us this was on the high priority list, there was no planned date for the works to start.
 

The provider did not always care about and promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care.

We reviewed staff supervision records for 2026. These were task-based and did not support staff development through a 2-way discussion, for example allowing staff to share any concerns or challenges. The provider could not be assured that staff were consistently offered the opportunity to share their ideas to drive improvements within the service.

Staff told us they did not always have sufficient time to spend with people and did not always get regular breaks. During this assessment, we observed staff did not have time to spend interacting with people and there was task based approach to care. Staff told us they wanted to spend more time with people. Comments from staff included, “I would like more time to build up rapport [with people]”, “Don’t have enough time to sit down with [people]”, and “Don’t feel have enough time during the day.”

The management team told us they did not currently have processes to support staff recognition.

Staff told us the new provider had set up a group chat, which had been helpful.