Heather Holmes Care Home

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 6 January 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Heather Holmes is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 12 people. It specialises in supporting people who have learning disabilities and or autism. At the time of our inspection, 11 people were living there. We assessed quality statements for this assessment and found good practice. The scores for these areas have been combined with scores based on the rating from the last inspection (published 23rd August 2019). We carried out unannounced site visits on the 30th of August 2024, 14th September 2024, & 7th October 2024 and finished the assessment on 11th October 2024. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We spoke to people who live at Heather Holmes, 5 of their relatives, and 9 members of staff who work there. We sought feedback from the local authority, a commissioner, and health professionals who work with the service. We spent time in the care home speaking to people, and observing people who were non-verbal. We visited during the week and weekend, and at different times of the day. We observed the body language of people living at the service during their interactions with care staff to further help us understand their experience of the care they received. We reviewed a range of records including 6 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 8 staff files in relation to recruitment, supervision, and training. Records relating to the management of the service were reviewed including policies and procedures. We saw that improvements had been made since the last inspection. We identified some areas where improvements were needed. The provider took action to address these concerns immediately and sent us evidence of this. We were assured they had made the necessary improvements. The service is in the progress of transitioning to digital care planning and an incident reporting system which was considered throughout this assessment.