- Care home
Blenheim Court Care Home
Assessment report published 19 September 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 1 -10 September 2025. The service is a care home providing nursing and personal care to older people, including people living with dementia. The service can support up to 40 people. At the time of our assessment 33 people were using the service. However, the service was at capacity due to building work that meant some rooms were not habitable.
At our last assessment, the service was rated requires improvement. At this assessment the service has improved to good. This assessment was carried out to follow up on actions from the last assessment in December 2024, report published March 2025.
At the last assessment the provider was found to be in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment (managing medicines, managing risks and fire safety), staffing and good governance. Significant improvements were found at this assessment, and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations. The service is now rated good.
Staff had the right skills, qualifications and experience and staff received training and support to maintain good quality care. Staff managed medicines safely and people received their medicines safely, however, some protocols lacked detail. These were reviewed and improved by the manager following our visit. People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was delivered in line with people's needs. We observed delivery of care which was person centred. Care plans were regularly reviewed, and people were referred to local healthcare services as required. Staff followed clinical guidance for people’s care and support. The manager had the skills, knowledge and experience to lead effectively; they did so with openness and honesty. However, the manager was new in post and new systems required embedding and sustaining into practice to promote a good learning culture. People and staff felt confident to be able to raise concerns with the new manager but lacked confidence action would be taken, as there had been so many changes in the last 2 years. The new manager had applied to CQC to be the registered manager. We identified concerns with staff deployment and numbers of care staff, which since our site visit, the manager and provider have assured us have been addressed.
People's experience of this service
People experienced positive outcomes. Staff worked with people to understand and manage risks. Staff were very knowledgeable and provided care and support to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. Care plans reflected people’s current needs and risks. People received care that was person-centred. We observed staff interact with people appropriately and they respected their choices and supported them to make decisions. However, people told us at times there were insufficient staff on duty to meet their needs in a timely way. One person said, “I have to wait for them [staff] to take me to the toilet. Sometimes it can be 20-30 minutes waiting and at my age I can't wait that long!” This was being addressed by the new manager. People told us they were very happy with the care and support they received. One person said, “It is perfect here. I can't fault the staff. Some are excellent and do more than you would expect them to do. They [staff] come quickly if I use the buzzer." Relatives were very positive about the care and support people received. One relative said, “The staff are great, everybody is lovely. I think this is the safest place for [name] to be now due to their condition."