Woking Homes

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 19 August 2026. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Woking Homes is a residential care home predominantly for retired railway personnel and their families. People without a railway connection are also welcome to live there. The service is a registered charity with a board of trustees. The home can accommodate up to 51 people. At the time of our inspection there were 48people living at the service, some of whom were living with dementia.

We carried out this assessment on 30 July 2026.The service was last inspected in July and August 2019 and was rated good overall. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.

People were supported to take part in a range of activities, although these were usually group activities rather than personalised, because only one activity coordinator was on duty each day. Some people described activities as ‘samey’ or ‘boring’ whilst others told us they were happy with activity provision.

The environment was not sufficiently developed to meet the needs of people living with dementia, for example, there was very little visible signage to help people orient themselves around the home, most bedroom doors did not have the person’s name at the height they could see this, and there were no sensory or tactile objects for people to touch and feel.

Whilst we observed good and respectful care throughout our visit, we also observed care that was not person-centred where staff focused on tasks rather than the person they were supporting.

We discussed our findings with the registered manager and the chief executive who provided evidence they took prompt action to make the necessary improvements following our inspection.

People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions. They had choice, control and freedom over their lives.

People were supported by enough staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely. Risks were assessed and people were involved in the process. There were effective systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. Medicines were administered safely and there were systems in place to ensure the environment was safe. For example, the provider employed 3 maintenance workers who oversaw all aspects of building safety including regular fire safety checks.

The staff told us they enjoyed working for the service and felt valued and supported. Their comments included, “My colleagues, they make me enjoy working here. It’s a very nice place to work”, “I think it’s a very good culture. We provide the best care we can for the residents. We work well as a team, and communication is very good” and “I never feel bored coming to work, and I don’t feel stressed. It’s a good place to work.”