- Care home
St Catherines Nursing Home
Assessment report published 4 November 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 13 October to 26 October 2026. The service is a care home providing personal and nursing care to older people including people living with dementia. We carried out an assessment looking at all the quality statements and all key questions. Our decision to inspect the service was due to the length of time since our last rated inspection and due to concerns we had received in relation to safeguarding. The service can support up to 70 people. At the time of our assessment 53 people were using the service. The home was previously rated good and following this assessment remains good.
People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. Staff understood how to protect people and raised concerns when appropriate. The management team analysed accidents and incidents to identify trends and patterns. The registered manager continually looked for learning opportunities and made changes to improve practice.
Risks associated with people’s care were identified but not always managed effectively to keep people safe. We found care plans did not always reflect people’s current needs and lacked detail preventing effective review. We identified some concerns with the environment and infection control. Following our visit the registered manager took action and addressed these areas.
There appeared to be sufficient staff available to meet people's needs during our observations. However, we observed staff were task orientated and spent time on handheld devices updating records. The registered manager assured us this was due to new staff and updates to the system, which staff were becoming familiar with. People told us staff were friendly and approachable. People had access to an activity co-ordinator who provided and arranged social stimulation and events.
Information was provided to people and relatives and displayed throughout the home. The provider had a complaints procedure and took action to address concerns raised with them.
Governance and oversight of the service was improving; the registered manager had identified shortfalls and was working with staff to embed new systems into practice. Most staff we spoke with felt listened to, respected and valued. The registered manager was aware of all the issues we had identified and had an improvement plan in place.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with people and their relatives to gather their views of the service. Where people had specific communication needs, we observed interactions between them, their peers and staff to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
People told us they felt safe. One person said, “I feel safe and secure here.” Another person said, “The care is good and they do look after me very well.” Relatives were very happy with the care and support provided. One relative said, “I find the home great. My [relative] is always well presented. The staff are always kind, and I feel welcomed as well. I wouldn’t keep my [relative] here if I didn’t think it was good.” A visitor told us, “The carers are wonderful and caring, they respond to people’s needs really well.”
People and relatives, we spoke with, felt listened to and able to raise issues which they said would be dealt with appropriately. People were able to attend regular meetings to have their say and be involved.
We saw people took part in meaningful activities, which were planned every day, including weekends. The activities included ball games, quizzes, hand and nail therapy and various arts and crafts. Once a month there was a chair-based exercise session, which people told us was very popular, and recently there had been a Shetland pony visit. One person said, “There are plenty of activities; the activities coordinator is amazing.” Another said, “I’m not too interested in the activities, but the activities coordinator will sit with me for a 1:1 chat.” They said they really enjoyed the chat.
We saw people took part in “meaningful conversation” sessions which showed evidence of conversations with people about what they had done in their lives and what they felt they had to be thankful for. Examples included photographs of people’s hands with the following captions; “These hands raised my beautiful children.” and “These hands helped me live through a war.”
People and relatives knew the registered manager and found them approachable. One relative said, “I think, personally, it's well-led as I am here most days and can't see anything wrong.”