The Grove -4

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

Date of assessment: 13 May 2025 to 17 June 2025

The Grove-4 is a care home supporting people who may be autistic or living with a learning disability with personal care. The service can support up to 7 people and 6 people were living at the service at the time of our inspection.

At our last inspection the service was in breach of a regulation of the Health and Social Care Act (2014) in relation to good governance. At this inspection the service had improved and is no longer in breach of any regulations. The service has improved from Requires Improvement to Good at this inspection, although there are still some areas which the service is still working on improving. Please see the full report for details.

Some risk assessments and care plans were not always updated when people’s needs changed. Guidelines were not always in place to support staff in helping people in some areas of their daily lives. Some areas of medicines management were not safe. Staff deployment sometimes meant people went for longer periods of time without meaningful interaction. It was sometimes unclear how people were being supported to have their desired experiences and outcomes met. Governance measures and audits at the service were not always effective in identifying these areas for improvements.

However, people were safe being supported by the staff team. Staff were trained and knew how to report safeguarding concerns. Risks to people had been assessed, including in relation to medicines. Staff supported people to take positive risks. There were enough trained and competent staff to support people safely. The environment of the service was safe, and staff followed good infection and prevention control (IPC) procedures. Staff supported people to stay healthy and see health professionals if necessary. People were supported in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). People were positive about the staff who supported them, and relatives described staff as kind and caring. People were supported to make choices and be independent if they chose to do this. People were supported in line with their preferences as much as possible and the registered manager and staff team had started increasing opportunities for people to access and be a part of the local community. People’s care plans were clear and detailed. The registered manager was passionate about the service and had started to implement measures to more effectively monitor aspects of the support being provided and drive improvements where necessary. There was a positive culture at the service, people were happy with their support and staff enjoyed their job roles.