Fern Lodge

108 Broad Road, Braintree, CM7 9RX

03003032642

Care Type

Residential Care

Assessment date

5 March 2025

Provider

Provide Care Solutions Limited

Beds

8 beds

About Fern Lodge

Fern Lodge is a small residential care home in Braintree, Essex, providing care for up to eight residents. Located on Broad Road, it is run by Provide Care Solutions Limited and supports people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, and older adults. The home also welcomes younger adults requiring residential care.

The home was inspected by the Care Quality Commission on 20 May 2025 and received a Good rating. This reflects the quality of care and support provided to its residents at that time.

As a smaller care home, Fern Lodge may offer a more intimate setting compared to larger facilities. Its mixed range of specialisms means it is designed to accommodate residents with varying support needs and conditions.

Specialist Care

Learning disabilitiesOlder peoplePhysical disabilitiesSensory impairmentsYounger adults

Fees and availability

We have not verified a current weekly fee for this home. Ask for a written quote based on the room and care needed, including any extra charges.

Check current vacancies, the admission assessment and visiting arrangements directly with the home.

Care and inspection details

Checked against the CQC register on 20 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.

Registered service: Care home service without nursing
Registered capacity: 8 places — this is not a vacancy count
Registration checked: Registered · CM7 9RX

Registered care categories

Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Caring for adults under 65 yrs; Learning disabilities; Physical disabilities; Sensory impairment.

These describe the registration. The home must assess whether it can meet the individual person's needs and whether a place is available.

CQC ratings in more detail

Overall rating shown by CQC: Good.

Assessment published 20 May 2025. Assessment date recorded: 5 March 2025.

Read CQC's assessment overview

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 20 May 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of Assessment: 18 March to 3 April 2025. The service is a residential care home providing support to people with a learning disability and or autistic people, as well as those with physical disabilities or sensory needs. Fern Lodge is registered to support a maximum of 8 people, and 8 people were living at the service at the time of our assessment. We carried out this assessment because the service had not yet been inspected since registration under a new provider.
An assessment has been undertaken of a specialist service that is used by autistic people or people with a learning disability. 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.
Right support: The model of care and setting maximised people’s choice, control and independence. Information was presented to people in an accessible way. Risks were assessed to help keep people safe whilst maintaining their independence. People were supported to access leisure activities and appointments in the community to support good health outcomes and quality of life.
Right care: Staff treated people with kindness and warmth. Staff were supported by leaders, and had access to training and support which helped them to meet people’s needs. Leaders had plans in place to enhance communication and involvement with people and their relatives, to ensure consistently personalised care.
Right culture: Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services led confident, inclusive and empowered lives. There was a positive and open culture. Whilst there was strong governance at provider level, some quality assurance systems at location level required improvement. A new manager had recently started at the time of our assessment.

Safe: Good
Effective: Good
Caring: Good
Responsive: Good
Well-led: Requires Improvement

Questions prompted by these ratings

Well-led: What has changed in management, checks and oversight since this rating?

These are questions for your visit, not a claim about conditions today.

Read Fern Lodge's CQC record and reports.

Contains Care Quality Commission information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Ratings and registration details can change after the date checked.

5 Questions to Ask on Your Visit

When visiting Fern Lodge, consider asking...

1.What happens if my relative's care needs increase significantly -- will they have to move?
2.How do you handle concerns or complaints from families?
3.What does the monthly fee cover and what will cost extra?
4.How do you keep families informed about their relative's day-to-day wellbeing?
5.What happens if my relative is unhappy here?

5 Things to Look For on Your Visit

When you visit Fern Lodge, look out for...

1.Do staff greet residents by name and stop to chat?
2.Are residents dressed, up and occupied, or sitting alone in front of a TV?
3.Does the home smell fresh and feel clean without being clinical?
4.Do residents look comfortable and at ease, or anxious and withdrawn?
5.Does the manager answer your questions openly or deflect?

Could the NHS fund Fern Lodge's fees?

The average nursing home costs £1,535 per week. That's £79,820 a year. NHS Continuing Healthcare could cover all of it. No means test, no contribution from you.

Find out if the NHS could fund these fees