• Care Home
  • Care home

Finborough Court

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Pilgrims Way, Great Finborough, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 3AY 0300 303 1450

Provided and run by:
Pilgrims' Friend Society

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment: 14 April to 16 May 2026. We visited the service on 14 April and 15 May 2026. This service is a residential care home providing care for adults over the age of 65, some who may be living with dementia. Finborough Court can accommodate up to 32 people, at the time of our assessment 32 people lived there.

An unannounced assessment took place to review the quality of care and compliance with legal regulations. At our last inspection, we rated the service ‘good’. At this assessment, the rating has remained ‘good’.

We assessed the service against ‘Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found people received care in accordance with this guidance and staff had received appropriate training and support elating to people with a learning disability and autistic people.

Finborough Court provided outstanding care, demonstrated by consistent empathy and compassion in the approach of those who worked there. Feedback from people and their relatives was extremely complimentary, they described a welcoming, friendly, calm atmosphere and the service as a “home from home” and with a “family feel.”

People benefited from a strong focus on individuality, dignity, and emotional wellbeing. Relatives and professionals described the staff as exceptionally kind, attentive, respectful and caring. Staff felt highly valued, and their wellbeing was supported.

Staff supported people to be active partners in their care. They encouraged and enabled people to maintain their independence, dignity, and to have control over daily decisions.

People were supported with their spiritual needs, with an emphasis on practising Christian faith and values, this was important to the people and relatives of Finborough Court.

Activities were meaningful and met people’s emotional, social and cognitive needs. A dedicated activities team provided stimulating engagement opportunities both internally and out in the community.

People and, where appropriate, those important to them were involved in decisions about ongoing care and treatment arrangements. Where people were unable to make their own decisions, they were supported in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were protected and kept safe from harm. Their individual risks were regularly assessed and kept under review, with appropriate mitigating actions in place without compromising people’s independence.

Management and staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities. The facilities and equipment met people’s needs, were clean and people’s medicines were managed and administered safely.

There were enough staff, recruited safely with the right skills, qualifications and experience to care for people. The registered manager ensured staff received training and ongoing support through regular meetings and supervisions to maintain high-quality care.

The registered manager was visible, knowledgeable and supportive. They and the staff team acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes. People, relatives and staff felt able to speak up and when concerns were raised these were investigated effectively and used to develop the service and support ongoing learning.

Leaders had good oversight and knowledge of the service. There were effective systems in place to monitor and manage safety and quality across the service.

The registered manager understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked well for people.

 

2 February 2022

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Finborough Court is a purpose-built care home that can accommodate up to 32 older people. The service has a Christian ethos. At the time of our visit 29 people were resident.

We found the following examples of good practice.

The registered manager was aware of the very recent changes regarding visiting and had communicated this with family and friends. We observed safe visiting practices of essential care givers. One relative described how they sat with their relative and enjoyed coffee and cake together.

Dedicated cleaning staff had good systems in place to ensure the whole environment was clean and fresh. An example being regular steam cleaning of curtains, but then once a year these were removed and washed. A relative described how clean everywhere always was and that there was never any unpleasant smells.

Staffing levels had been consistently maintained throughout the covid-19 pandemic.

17 October 2017

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 17 October 2017 and was unannounced. The service is a care home without nursing care and is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people. There were 18 people living at the service on the day of our visit.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

This was the first inspection of this service since being taken over by a new provider.

People who used the service and their relatives considered the service was safe. There were systems and processes in place to minimise the risk of abuse to people and staff understood their role in safeguarding people from harm. There was a culture of openness and transparency and staff were encouraged to whistle blow about any concerns or poor practice.

The registered manager analysed falls that people sustained so that action could be taken to reduce the likelihood future falls. There were systems in place for maintaining the building and ensuring there were regular fire safety checks. There were processes in place for the safe recruitment of staff and there were enough staff to provide the care to meet people’s needs. There were effective, organised systems in place for the safe management of medicines.

There was induction training for new staff and on-going training, as well as planned supervision and appraisals. The registered manager had been involved with the organisation of dementia training for the staff.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were given choices and supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts. Their views on the food were sought and acted upon so that the menus were changed in line with people’s preferences. The people received effective healthcare support from a range of external healthcare professionals.

Care and support was provided by knowledgeable staff that knew the people at the service well. The service had a person centred culture focussed upon supporting people to meet their assessed needs. People's rights to privacy and dignity were valued and respected.

Each person had a detailed care plan written from an assessment of their needs. People and relatives were encouraged to provide feedback on the service and felt they could raise concerns. Complaints were taken seriously, investigated and responded to with understanding. Compliments were also recorded by the management team. Various activities of interest were planned during the day in which people could be involved if they so wished.

Quality assurance processes were carried regarding the quality of the service and identified actions carried out to develop the service. The service had a statement of purpose and the aims and objectives were adhered to by the registered manager who used their knowledge and skills to manage the staff.