The Close

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 16 October 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of assessment: 17 to 29 September 2025. The Close is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for older people and people living with dementia. The service is registered to accommodate up to 30 people. At the time of our assessment 27 people were living in the service.

At the last inspection in January 2022, we rated the home as requires improvement and the home was in breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment. At this inspection we found the service had made improvements and were no longer in breach. The service’s rating has changed to good.

We identified areas that needed improvement within the environment. Some pipes needed to be covered to prevent scalding, not all equipment was appropriately inspected and improvements were needed to the in-house maintenance water testing. We raised these concerns with the provider and throughout our assessment these issues were acted upon and resolved.

We received mixed feedback from staff. Most felt they needed an increase in staffing numbers to meet people’s needs more safely. We raised this with the provider, and they reviewed and increased their staffing levels and were collaborating with the staff to see where the requirements were needed. We found staff had not received training on the international dysphagia diet initiative (IDDSI) when people living in the service required IDDSI levels to mitigate their risk of choking and maintain a nutritious diet. However, staff had received support and guidance from speech and language therapy (SALT) team to mitigate this risk and the provider arranged training to commence imminently.

We found the service’s policies and procedures were not always clear and accurate for staff to follow. We addressed this with the provider, and they rectified some policies and had a plan to address the remaining ones. Throughout our assessment the provider was transitioning over to an electronic care planning software and this continued alongside the provider addressing the issues we had identified.

We received positive feedback from people in the service and their relatives. There was a good working relationship with healthcare professionals that visited the service. This meant peoples care and supports needs were monitored and managed to ensure they received safe care and treatment. Referrals were submitted promptly, and guidance was being followed and embedded within peoples care records.