Silver Birch Care Home

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 15 May 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of assessment: 21 January 2025 to 7 March 2025. Silver Birch Care Home is a residential nursing care home providing accommodation and personal care to up 75 older people in a purpose-built building across 3 floors. Some people were living with dementia, frailty, and/or mental health conditions. 68 people were living at the care home at the time of our assessment. This assessment was prompted by a review of information we held about the service. The care home overall rating has remained good.

People were supported to have choice and control in their daily lives and their views and preferences were listened to and acted upon. People and, where appropriate, their relatives and or representatives were involved in decisions about ongoing care and treatment arrangements and said the staff treated them kindly and with respect.

People’s individual needs and associated risks were regularly assessed and monitored, with appropriate mitigating actions and management plans in place. People’s medicines were managed and administered safely.

People were supported to access the local community and pursue their hobbies and interests. A range of meaningful activities and events took place in the service.

Oversight and governance processes in the service had been strengthened since our last inspection. Reporting and auditing systems supported the registered manager in addressing identified shortfalls through an accompanying action plan. Feedback from stakeholders and healthcare professionals cited positive relationships with management and the staff team.

There were enough safely recruited staff with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. Staff understood how to report and escalate any concerns. However, further improvements were needed to embed a ‘whole home’ approach. The feedback from staff around the culture including freedom to speak up varied. The provider’s nominated individual gave assurances this would be prioritised. Feedback was also mixed regarding staffing arrangements including the organisation, deployment and leadership in the service. The provider was taking action to address the reliance on agency staff through active recruitment for care and activities staff, but the recent appointments had not started at the time of this assessment.