Stratford Road

Updated 9 February 2026

Date of inspection 25 February to 3 March 2026. Stratford Road is a residential care home supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability. At the time of the inspection, 2 people were living in the service. Each person had their own self-contained flat within the service.

We have undertaken a comprehensive inspection which means we have reviewed all 33 quality statements. We carried out this inspection owing to an aged rating. The previous CQC rating for this service was good. Following this inspection, we have rated the service requires improvement.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and access to communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is a guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people which providers must adhere to. We found the provider was not consistently meeting the principles of Right Support, right care, right culture. At this inspection we found a breach of legal regulations. This breach was in relation to good governance.

Governance systems were not always effective. Audits had failed to address risks around fire safety and medicines management which meant elements of people’s care was unsafe.

Risks to people’s safety were not assessed and managed safely and the provider did not have robust processes in place to identify and act upon such concerns.

People were not always receiving the right support. Restrictions in people’s lives were not adequately assessed and monitored, and we found unnecessary restrictions were in place.

People were not always supported in a way which reflected a positive culture. Staff did not always involve people in conversations about their care. Staff spoke about people without consulting them. This demonstrated a lack dignity and respect.

Whilst the home had a manager and deputy manager in post, a registered manager had not been in post since May 2025. This service is required to have a manager who is registered with CQC.

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.

Updated 9 February 2026

As part of our inspection, we spoke to people living in the service and their relatives. A person told us they were happy living in the service, particularly because they had their own flat. They told us how staff supported them to visits their family which was clearly of great importance to them. They were confident about talking to staff and managers if they had any concerns. The person told us about choices they made which included choosing the colour of their recently decorated lounge. They said, “I chose the colour of the walls, I wasn’t sure at first, but I liked this colour, so this was what I chose. Me and the staff got the paint and we painted it together.” Whilst people and their families were generally happy with the care they told us ways in which it could be improved.

A family member we spoke with told us they had known the provider for many years. They felt they were able to talk with the managers about any concerns and how they valued the open relationship they had with both the managers and the provider. Whilst their relative could not tell us themselves, they believed that the person was happy living in the service. However, they told us they would like to see the person doing more activities. They told us how the person used to go swimming and said, “[Person] used to do it, I honestly don’t know why they don’t anymore. I wish they did because I think they’d enjoy it, they love water.”