Felbury House

Felbury House is a residential care home supporting up to 30 older people, including those with physical disabilities and frailty. The recent CQC inspection highlighted that while residents experience warm, safe, and individualized daily care from a dedicated team, there are notable areas requiring attention from management, particularly concerning leadership oversight, staff workloads, and activity provisions for less mobile residents.

Residents live in a safe and secure environment where robust safeguarding processes are actively followed and staff know how to report concerns. Risk assessments are well-maintained, and staff respond proactively to prevent accidents, although minor shortcomings were noted on the inspection day regarding the recording of certain medicine room temperatures, body creams, and eye drops.

The home provides effective care grounded in thorough pre-admission assessments and good nutritional support, with menus tailored to individual preferences and dietary needs. Staff undergo regular training and work well with external healthcare professionals, though some staff supervision meetings were not formally recorded, and specialized training had to be promptly booked during the inspection to better support a resident's specific emotional needs.

Interactions between staff and residents are consistently characterized by warmth, kindness, and genuine respect. Residents and relatives consistently praise the compassionate nature of the care team, noting that staff understand individual backgrounds and always treat people with dignity.

Care plans and daily practices are responsive to individual choices, and residents have good access to healthcare services and community visits. However, feedback regarding daily activities was mixed, as residents who are less able or choose not to leave the premises reported a lack of in-house engagement and activities provided for them.

The leadership and governance of the home require improvement due to a lack of robust provider oversight, which failed to catch issues regarding recruitment and medicines management before the inspection. Additionally, measures to address a perceived culture of unfairness and favouritism among staff were ineffective, and care staff frequently had to cover extra cleaning and laundry duties, which sometimes stretched their workloads.