- Care home
James Court Residential Care Home
Assessment report published 10 February 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 13 January to 29 January 2026. The service is a residential care home providing support to adults with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
We assessed the service against ‘Right support, Right care, Right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
This inspection was carried out due to the length of time since the last inspection.
Overall, the service aligned with the Right Support through personalised care, Right Care through respectful and skilled support, and Right Culture through open learning, teamwork, and a focus on people’s outcomes.
The provider promoted safe care through open communication, collaborative working, and systems designed to identify and manage risks. Staff understood people’s needs well and provided support in ways aligned with personal goals, abilities, and preferences.
The provider worked alongside health and social care partners to maintain continuity of care, including during transitions between services. Incidents and near‑miss events were recorded in detail, reviewed promptly, and learning was shared with the staff team.
Staffing levels were safe, recruitment was completed appropriately, and staff demonstrated strong awareness of safeguarding duties, medicine administration and risk management. Some environmental and IPC concerns required improvement to ensure all areas were maintained to a good standard.
Leaders promoted a positive culture based on transparency, equity and human rights. Staff described an inclusive environment and told us they felt supported in their roles, with access to supervision, training and guidance from the manager.
Visiting professionals told us the service worked collaboratively, communicated effectively and remained open to advice and support. Quality monitoring systems were in place to monitor the care provided. However, the provider had not always submitted statutory notifications into the CQC in accordance with their regulatory responsibility.
The provider responded promptly to feedback during the inspection and took action to improve processes, including submittance of the statutory notifications and they shared their action plan to improve the physical environment.
People's experience of this service
People consistently described staff as supportive, welcoming, and attentive. People reported feeling safe in the home and spoke about positive relationships with the staff team. One person said, “I like living here."
Relatives reflected on the reliability of support provided. One relative said, “Staff know people very well, they are very good.”
People told us staff respected their decisions and they felt involved in decision‑making, and in control when managing personal risks. Relatives reported confidence in the staff team and described a caring atmosphere in the home. People also shared positive experiences regarding medicines support, moving into the home, and engaging in meaningful activities.
Across the feedback gathered, people and relatives gave a broadly positive view of safety, staffing, and day‑to‑day support.
We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. Observations during the site visits showed staff interacting positively with people and using a range of communication approaches.
Relatives described an inclusive culture and spoke positively about the manager’s approach, telling us they felt listened to and involved in decisions.