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The Firs Residential Care Home
Residential Care
9 March 2026
Barrels UK Care Ltd
29 beds
How this home compares nearby
Of 6 care homes for older people within 5 miles, none are rated higher by CQC, 5 are the same and 1 is lower.
None of these nearby homes has 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
- May 2019
- Oct 2019
- Dec 2020
- May 2022
- Dec 2023
- Jun 2026
Improved from Inadequate to Good in 2026. CQC has rated this home 6 times since 2019.
Source: CQC inspection reports. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Costs and who runs this home
This is the only care home Barrels UK Care Ltd runs in England.
Average care home fees in the East of England: £1,034 a week for residential care and £1,411 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 The Firs Residential Care Home
The Firs Residential Care Home is a residential care home in Cambridgeshire, providing personal care for older people, including those living with dementia or physical disabilities. Details of the CQC's most recent findings are set out below.
The Firs Residential Care Home provides personal care for up to 29 older people, including those living with dementia or physical disabilities, in a building arranged over two floors. The CQC carried out this assessment after receiving concerns about fire safety, medicines management, staffing and culture, but found no ongoing issues in these areas and confirmed the home remained rated good overall.
Inspectors found people received safe, compassionate and personalised care, with strong relationships between staff and residents. Some relatives felt the environment appeared worn and dated, though they said this did not affect the quality of care, describing staff as genuine, kind and attentive.
Source: CQC assessment, 29 June 2026
Specialist Care
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 21 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.
- Registered service
- Care home service without nursing
- Registered capacity
- 29 places — this is not a vacancy count
- Registration checked
- Registered · CB6 2TD
Registered care categories
Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Caring for adults under 65 yrs; Dementia; Physical disabilities.
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: .
Assessment published 29 June 2026. Assessment date recorded: 9 March 2026.
Read CQC's assessment overview
The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 29 June 2026. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.
Date of assessment 30 March to 28 May 2026. We visited the care home on 30 March and 21 April 2026. The Firs Residential Care Home is a care home providing personal care for up to 29 older people who may live with dementia or physical disabilities. Accommodation is arranged over 2 floors, with stair and lift access. At the beginning of this assessment, there were 17 people using the service.
Our unannounced assessment was carried out following concerns we received about fire safety, medicines management, staffing suitability, safe care and culture. The fire safety concerns were reviewed by the local fire officer and by the end of our assessment the provider was compliant with requirements. Overall, we found people experienced safe, compassionate and personalised care. We did not identify any concerns surrounding medicines management, staffing suitability, safe care or culture. This was a comprehensive assessment, and we reviewed all the quality statements. The care home was previously rated good, and this assessment has found the care home remained good.
This assessment was undertaken by 3 inspectors, 1 medicines specialist and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who had personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. We received feedback from 3 healthcare professionals who work with the service, the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
The provider demonstrated a proactive approach to safety, based on openness and honesty. This included undertaking thorough pre-admission assessments to ensure staff could meet people’s needs. Leaders and staff had a shared vision with a focus on learning and continual improvement. People, relatives, staff and visiting health and social care professionals told us they felt supported to provide feedback and felt their views would be listened to and acted upon. Medicines were managed safely at the care home and staff worked well alongside a range of health and social care professionals to ensure safe continuity of care.
- Safe
- Effective
- Caring
- Responsive
- Well-led
Read The Firs Residential Care Home'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 The Firs Residential Care Home, 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 The Firs Residential Care Home, 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 The Firs Residential Care Home'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.
Location
Tower Farm, Tower Road, Little Downham, Ely, CB6 2TD

The Firs Residential Care Home
CQC overall rating
Assessment date: 9 March 2026
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