Hendford Nursing Home

Hendford Nursing Home in Epsom provides accommodation, nursing, and personal care for up to 34 older individuals, supporting 27 residents at the time of our visit. Families looking for a reliable care environment will find a dedicated core team of long-standing staff who know residents well, alongside active leadership that maintains regular quality checks, audits, and positive communication with relatives and healthcare professionals. The home fosters a welcoming atmosphere where residents are generally treated with kindness, respect, and dignity, and where activities and community connections are actively promoted. However, our inspection also highlighted specific areas requiring attention, including documentation practices, environmental updates, and consistency in daily care delivery.

When it comes to safety, the home maintains robust risk assessments, emergency procedures, and appropriate safeguarding systems managed by well-trained staff. Health and safety checks of the environment and equipment are regularly carried out, and medicines are managed safely by nurses, though inspectors noted that thickening agents and topical creams need stricter storage security, clear opening dates, and body maps for staff guidance. While most residents reported feeling that staffing levels are sufficient and call bells are answered quickly, some mixed feedback regarding staff distribution was noted, and occasional cosmetic wear and tear as well as cobwebs in skylights require ongoing maintenance.

Residents receive effective care supported by appropriate staff training, supervision, and regular collaboration with external healthcare professionals such as GPs and speech therapists. However, the home needs to improve how it applies the legal principles of the Mental Capacity Act, ensuring that capacity assessments are strictly decision-specific and that best-interest decisions for restrictive practices like bedrails are properly recorded. Additionally, while meals are generally well-received and supported appropriately, staff must ensure clearer communication during mealtimes and mobility transfers, and maintain fully legible weight-tracking records. The physical environment would also benefit from ongoing refurbishment and dementia-friendly signage, such as memory boxes or photos on bedroom doors.

The caring aspect of the service is highlighted by compassionate staff who speak passionately about their roles and respect residents' religious beliefs, privacy, and personal independence. Relatives feel warmly welcomed at any time, and resident involvement in day-to-day choices is actively encouraged. Despite overwhelmingly positive feedback, inspectors noted a single instance where a staff member did not speak nicely to a resident and another instance where staff did not communicate their actions clearly during a wheelchair transfer, both of which management agreed to address.

Responsive care is delivered through detailed care plans that capture residents' life histories, personal preferences, and communication needs, supported by an activity coordinator, regular events, tea dances, and trips out using the home's minibus. Feedback from residents and relatives regarding complaint handling and management accessibility is positive, with issues investigated and resolved appropriately. For end-of-life care, while some advanced care plans effectively outline resident and family wishes regarding hospitalization and comfort, the service needs to ensure more consistent end-of-life planning documentation across all records from the point of admission.

The service is guided by an approachable registered manager who maintains active oversight through audits, incident reviews, and staff observations, earning strong praise from families for overall care quality. Management demonstrates a clear commitment to ongoing learning, addressing feedback promptly, and implementing planned improvements. Leadership is actively engaged in monitoring service performance, supporting staff development, and working alongside external agencies to maintain standards, while addressing the identified improvement areas to strengthen future care delivery.