Lavender Fields

Updated 16 July 2026

Date of assessment: 21 July to 31 July 2026. The service is a residential home providing accommodation and personal care for older people and people living with dementia. The service can support 75 people across 3 floors. There were 48 people living in the service at the time of assessment.
This assessment was undertaken to follow up on enforcement action taken following our previous assessment when the service was rated inadequate (published 16 October 2025). At the last assessment, we found the provider was in breach of 7 legal regulations. These related to person-centred care, dignity and respect, need for consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding from abuse and improper treatment, good governance and staffing. We checked to confirm if the provider had made the required improvements and the enforcement action taken had been complied with.
At this assessment we found a number of improvements had been made and although some further improvement was necessary, we were confident the provider was working towards full compliance with regulations. Stable leadership was now in place with a registered manager supported by a revised senior management structure. Staff training, safeguarding processes, care planning, maintaining people’s dignity and respect, healthcare engagement and staffing arrangements had all improved. People, relatives and staff consistently described a more positive culture, improved communication and a better quality of care. Care plans were more person-centred, healthcare needs were better managed, and safeguarding concerns were appropriately recognised and referred. Staff morale had improved and there was evidence of a stronger focus on people's individual needs and outcomes.
However, some improvements were not yet fully embedded. Medicines management remained an area of concern and systems were not always effective in ensuring medicines were managed safely. Processes to evidence compliance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 had improved but remained inconsistent. People who lacked capacity to make specific decisions could not always be assured decisions affecting them were supported by sufficiently robust assessments and best-interest processes. Governance systems had improved but were not yet consistently effective in identifying and addressing issues relating to medicines management, the quality of care planning and individual risk assessment and learning from incidents.

There continued to be breaches of regulation in relation to the safe management of medicines, implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) in relation to people’s rights and consent, and effective governance systems.

This service has been in Special Measures since 16 October 2025. The provider demonstrated improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
 

Updated 16 July 2026

People and relatives described a service that had changed for the better. They told us staffing levels had improved which meant far less reliance on agency staff which impacted people’s care and wellbeing. There continued to be some agency use at times but this had reduced significantly and this was recognised. We were told the new management team were approachable and listened to them. Relatives could see the team had a big task to improve but the impact so far was felt.
People and relatives spoke with us about some areas they felt needed to improve. These included the laundry arrangements and more timely communication. People and relatives told us, “At the moment it’s not very good, my clothes keep going missing, most of the time everything is alright, but I didn’t have anything to sleep in” and “There’s the irritation of the laundry. Even when you label it, it still goes missing.” The leadership team acted in relation to the laundry issues during our site visits and following investigation agreed with people and relatives that improvements were necessary.
It was clear that people were living in a safer environment with a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere. Comments we received from people and relatives included, “The staff are all lovely and very thorough”, “Yes, I do think she is safe. If I’d spoken to you a year ago, I’d have had a lot more to say, but it has improved. Well, it had to” and “It’s a lovely home, mum is looked after very well, as a family we couldn’t be more pleased.”
There had been considerable improvements which had positively impacted people lives. These were still ongoing, but the provider and registered manager were committed to providing a good quality service with a clear focus on supporting people to live a good life.