England

Firbank HouseTameside

Illustrative image. Photographs of this home have not yet been added.

Rated:Requires ImprovementResidential

Firbank House

24 Smallshaw Lane, Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire, OL6 8PN

01613431251

Care Type

Residential Care

Assessment date

18 April 2024

Provider

Partnership Caring Ltd

Beds

42 beds

How this home compares nearby

Of 89 care homes for older people within 5 miles, 70 are rated higher by CQC, 17 are the same and 2 are lower.

26 of these nearby homes have been inspected more recently than this one.

Based on CQC ratings, updated 22 October 2026. How we compare homes | See the nearby homes

Rating history

Requires ImprovementOct 2015
Requires ImprovementJan 2016
GoodApr 2017
Requires ImprovementSept 2018
Requires ImprovementOct 2019
Requires ImprovementOct 2021
Requires ImprovementFeb 2023
GoodMar 2023
Requires ImprovementSept 2024

Rating dropped from Good to Requires Improvement in 2024. CQC has rated this home 9 times since 2015.

Source: CQC inspection reports. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Costs and who runs this home

Run by Partnership Caring Ltd, which runs 2 care homes in England: 1 rated Good and 1 Requires Improvement.

Average care home fees in the North West: £882 a week for residential care and £1,196 for nursing care (2024-25 averages). Self-funders usually pay more. See our care home costs guide.

This home lists dementia care, which usually costs more than standard residential care. See dementia care home costs. NHS Continuing Healthcare may apply where someone's needs are primarily health needs.
How to pay for a care home explains the council means test, what counts as capital and the funding you can ask to be assessed for.

About Firbank House

Firbank House is a residential care home in Tameside, providing personal care for older people. Details of the most recent CQC assessment are set out below.

Firbank House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 42 older people across two buildings, with 32 people living there at the time of assessment. The CQC found that improvements made since the last inspection had not been maintained, and identified breaches relating to the safe management of medicines, care planning and governance to drive improvement. Some people reported waiting for staff support.

People spoke positively about staff and about the registered manager, feeling able to raise concerns. However, inspectors found it was not always clear that robust action followed to meet people's needs and reduce risk, including risks around falls. The home's overall rating remains Requires Improvement.

Source: CQC assessment, 11 September 2024

Specialist Care

DementiaOlder people

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: 42 places — this is not a vacancy count
Registration checked: Registered · OL6 8PN

Registered care categories

Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Dementia.

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: Requires Improvement.

Assessment published 11 September 2024. Assessment date recorded: 18 April 2024.

Read CQC's assessment overview

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 11 September 2024. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of Assessment: 7 May 2024 to 3 June 2024 Firbank House is a residential care home providing personal care to up 42 people across two separate buildings. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service. The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation and as a result this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of falls. This inspection examined those risks. Since our last inspection we found that the improvements made had not been maintained. During this assessment we found the service is now in breach of two breaches of the regulations. These related to the safe management of medicines, care planning and governance of the service to drive improvements.

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

Questions prompted by these ratings

Safe: What changes have been made to medicines, staffing and safeguarding since this rating?
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 Firbank House'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 Firbank House, consider asking...

1.What specific dementia training do staff receive and how recently?
2.How do you support a resident who becomes distressed or confused?
3.How does the home keep a record of a resident's life history and personal preferences?
4.How do you involve families as dementia progresses and communication becomes harder?
5.What happens when a resident's dementia reaches an advanced stage?

5 Things to Look For on Your Visit

When you visit Firbank House, look out for...

1.Is the environment calm, uncluttered and easy to navigate?
2.Do staff speak to residents with patience and dignity, even if they repeat themselves?
3.Are there memory cues around the home -- photos, familiar objects, clear signage?
4.Do residents seem settled and safe, or agitated and unsupervised?
5.Is there meaningful activity happening, or are residents just sitting quietly with nothing to do?

Could the NHS fund Firbank House'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