Winscombe Care Home

Updated 30 June 2025

Date of Assessment: 23 June 2025 to the 18 of July 2025. The service is a residential care home providing support to older people, people living with mental health conditions, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and dementia. People were not always protected against the risk of harm and consent to make decisions had not always been made in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People did not always receive their medicines safely and medicines were not always stored safely. Each person had their own care plan; however, care plans often contained conflicting information and were not kept updated with people’s changing needs. People’s care did not always reflect their needs, impacting upon their wellbeing. There were limited activities taking place and limited opportunities for people to engage in their interests or within the local community. Some audits were being completed to monitor quality and risk in the service. However, these were not effective at identifying and acting on the concerns found during this inspection.

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. Care was not always person centred, and people were not always treated with dignity and respect. People were not always included in decisions and did not always live empowered lives.

The provider was in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, person-centred care, good governance, need for consent, notification of other incidents and staffing. We notified the local authority of our concerns.

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.

We have also asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 30 June 2025

Some people told us they felt safe living in their home. Staff, relatives and external professionals were satisfied with the leadership and care provided. However, our assessment found care did not meet the expected standards. We identified people were not always provided with person centred activities, they did not always receive their medicine on time and staff were not always trained in line with best practice to deliver effective care and support. People were not always protected against the risk of abuse and financial arrangements were not made in people’s best interests. Although external professionals told us staff engaged with them positively and were enthusiastic to learn, the provider failed to consistently notify us about incidents of possible harm.

We shared our observations with the provider for investigation and with the local authority safeguarding team. The provider was responsive when we provided feedback. The sent us various emails containing information suggesting the immediate improvements they were making.