- Care home
The Amwell
Assessment report published 5 November 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 9 June 2025 to 18 June 2025.
The Amwell is a ‘care home’ without nursing for up to 88 older persons living with physical disabilities and conditions such as dementia. At the time of the assessment, 49 people were living at the service. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises, and the care provided. Both were looked at during this assessment.
This inspection was to follow up on previous breaches of legal regulations relating to; person-centred care, consent to care, safe care and treatment, nutrition and hydration, and good governance.
At this inspection we found there were insufficient improvements to the safety and quality of care people received and the provider remained in breach of all of previous legal regulations.
Medicines were not managed safely. The provider was unable to evidence people were receiving sufficient hydration to sustain good health. The provider did not work in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Care plans and risk assessments were not person centred and did not always have the necessary information to enable staff to provide safe care. There were not always enough staff to provide safe care, and staff did not always have the knowledge and skills to always enable them to carry out their roles sufficiently. Infection prevention and control practices were not always followed which increased the risk of cross contamination.
The provider had not maintained good governance. There was a lack of audits and oversight. This meant opportunities for improvement had been missed. The provider had been in breach of regulation following 5 previous inspections.
This service was placed in special measures following our last inspection in December 2024. The service remains in special measures following this inspection. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.
In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/ or appeals have been concluded.
People's experience of this service
While most people expressed general satisfaction with their care and treatment, our inspection found care and support did not meet the expected standards.We received mixed feedback from people and their relatives about their care. One person told us, “I’ve seen a big difference [since the last inspection], life is so different, I am relaxed and its back to what I know. We’ve got some lovely staff now.” Some relatives spoke positively of the service, stating the best thing about The Amwell was, “The current staff, from maintenance to reception, to cleaners and carers. The staff make The Amwell.” However, other relatives felt improvements which had begun to emerge had gone backwards since the departure of the turnaround manager, and the appointment of a new manager. One relative said, “There was improvements when [turnaround manager] first came but it’s gone down again. It was bright and smiley, and it doesn’t feel the same. I took [loved one] out, came back, and saw a lady struggling and the carer ignored her and only moved when she saw me. I have seen that sort of thing twice.”We observed the experience of care differed amongst people who were less able to give verbal feedback. We observed 1 person being encouraged and supported to dance with a staff member which they enjoyed. However, another person who was unable to mobilise independently had to wait a long time for support and consequently, experienced incontinence. Feedback regarding activities was very complimentary, and we observed people participating with activities staff throughout the inspection. One relative said, “Schoolchildren come on Thursdays. They do a variety of themed things like they had a Spanish day. [Activity staff] go the extra mile. There is a greenhouse group which [loved one] likes. [Loved one] likes the bingo. They have films in the cinema room. They have activity books."