Harpwood House

Updated 23 May 2025

Date of assessment 09 July 2025 to 25 July 2025. We completed this assessment to follow up on concerns received about the service. We looked at how Harpwood Care Home assessed and planned for people's care needs, how they trained and supervised staff to support people according to their needs and preferences. Harpwood Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation for persons who require nursing and personal care for up to 110 people. The service is registered to provide support to older people, people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia. Since the last time we inspected this service, the old premises had been demolished and a brand new building had been built. There were 96 people living at the service, some of whom had complex health needs. People lived in large care suites within the service; these were equipped with kitchenettes and living areas.

We identified breaches of regulations relating to medicines management and risk management, there had been a lack of clinical and management oversight of constipation risks because systems had not been embedded to review bowel charts for people who suffered with constipation. Staff treated people with kindness and knew people well. Staff spent time with people encouraging them to participate in activities and maintain important relationships with their families and friends. Staff told us they received appropriate training and support to enable them to care for people safely. Feedback from people and relatives was mainly positive. Most relatives felt involved and told us communication was good. The service appeared clean and tidy, and people’s rooms were personalised.

Updated 23 May 2025

We carried out a short observational framework for inspection (SOFI) and observed staff engaging with people in a kind and patient way. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We observed some kind and caring interactions between staff and people. People's feedback about the service they received was generally positive. Comments included, “I feel safe and content”; “There are carers here all the time if we need anything. We only have to ask. We do have a key to our room so we can lock it if we do go out”; “It’s mostly regular staff. They know me and are very friendly to me” and “They will always knock, and they are so nice.”

Relatives told us, “Mum just got lonely at home. Here she's made friends and has people around her all the time. She wasn't doing her medication or her meals for herself. Now it's done for her”; “I cannot fault the care home; the staff are great. We moved her from another care home to this one which is like a 5-star hotel”; “The carers are tactile and attentive. She’s safe there because I can turn up at any time and have never seen anything to concern me, which wasn’t the case in previous home” and “‘In general it’s fair and there’s a good amount of attendance and care for people. He is safe and content.”