• Care Home
  • Care home

The Limes Retirement Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Earlsford Road, Mellis, Eye, Suffolk, IP23 8DY (01379) 788114

Provided and run by:
The Limes Retirement Home Ltd

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

Latest inspection summary

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Our current view of the service

Good

Updated 15 May 2026

Date of Assessment: 4 and 5 June 2026. The Limes Retirement Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 26 older people, including people living with dementia. The service is made up of the main building and 2 single accommodation cottages within the grounds. There are other cottages onsite, but people do not receive the regulated activity under the provider’s registration. At the time of our visits there were 20 people using the service.

This assessment was carried out to check if improvements had been made to the service following our warning notice regarding governance of the service following our last assessment published in July 2025. At the last assessment we found the provider was in breach of regulation relating to person centred care, consent, safe care and treatment and staff training, the rating was requires improvement. At this assessment we found the service had met the requirements of the warning notice and was no longer in breach of regulation. The rating had improved to good.

Improvements had been made since our last assessment. This included in the governance and monitoring systems. Audits assisted the registered manager to identify and address shortfalls. Incidents and accidents were analysed and monitored and actions taken to learn lessons and mitigate future risks. Care plans and risk assessments had improved and included the current person centred needs of people using the service and how risks were reduced. Staff were supported and had received training relevant to their role and competency checks were being undertaken. The service was clean and hygienic.

There were systems in place to reduce the risks of avoidable harm and abuse. The systems to calculate the numbers of staff needed to meet people’s needs were kept under review. Staff were recruited safely. Medicines were managed in a safe way, and people received their medicines when needed.

People’s needs were assessed and these were used to inform care plans and risk assessments, and these were kept under review. People had access to external professionals where required and received support to maintain good health. Staff worked well with other professionals involved in people’s care which supported consistent care. People were provided with enough to eat and drink and their weights monitored. People’s capacity to consent to care was assessed and people’s decisions were respected.

Staff treated people as individuals, with care and compassion and people’s independence, privacy, choice and dignity promoted and respected. Staff responded to people’s requests for assistance. Systems were in place to provide person centred care and social interaction and activity.

People's experience of the service

Updated 15 May 2026

During our site visits, we spoke with 11 people who used the service and 8 relatives. An Expert by Experience attended the site visit on 4 June 2026. An Expert by Experience has experience of caring for a person who used service.

People and relatives were positive about the service provided and how the staff were caring and compassionate. A person told us, “It is home from home here.” Another person said, “I would recommend, it is lovely, they have done well and got me back on my feet, that is down to the staff… my sense of humour has come back.” A relative told us, “It has got a good atmosphere, staff all very good, lovely… got no concerns whatsoever, would recommend them, they are so caring, lovely people.” Another relative said, “It is homely not an institution.”

People told us they received choices of food and drink, and they were complimentary about the quality of the food provided.

People told us the staff were available when they needed them and they felt safe. People told us there was a range of activities provided, so they did not feel bored. People’s relatives could visit with no restrictions.