Agnes House

Who the service is for

Agnes House is a service which supports older people and people with dementia.

Key findings

We carried out this assessment between 29 July and 4 August 2026. This service was previously rated as good. 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.

Agnes House was led by an experienced management team. Their vision and values were clearly embedded across the staff team and focused on delivering person-centred care, promoting choice, independence and inclusion. Staff and managers consistently demonstrated an understanding of these values. People were actively involved and routinely consulted in their care preferences and social needs and activities.

The registered manager was a visible presence in the service supporting staff when needed and interacting with people who resided at Agnes House. People, relatives and staff were all complimentary about the leadership team and the service as a whole. One person said, “I would definitely recommend it here, there is nothing they could do better; 10 out of 10 I would rate it.” A staff member told us, “Management are really good and encourage good practice. Care standards have always been good, and we are reminded regularly of the home’s philosophy; ‘this is the residents own home’, ‘not just our workplace.”

People were supported by caring and compassionate staff who promoted choice. Staff spoke with and about people with warmth and respect, understanding each person’s individuality and maintaining their dignity. People were encouraged and supported to maintain and develop their independence across all aspects of their daily lives. Staff worked alongside people to help them achieve their goals, make informed decisions and live in line with their preferences, wishes and aspirations.

People were supported by enough safely recruited staff, who had the skills and knowledge to provide effective support. A staff member told us, “The staffing level here is excellent.” Staff told us they were provided with the requisite training and ongoing competency assessments. A staff member said, “We have on site moving and handling training by a staff member who is a ‘train the trainer’. We also have a new ‘training academy’ starting soon. All of this makes sure we [staff] know what we are doing and we can ask for feedback too.”

Staff understood their responsibility to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and understood the actions they should take and who and when to report any concerns to. They were knowledgeable about what concerns they would need to report and to whom. A staff member said, “I would report concerns to manager or the CEO (Chief Executive Officer). If I wasn’t satisfied I would whistleblow to you [CQC]. If the concerns were really urgent, I would go the Police.”

People received their medicines when they needed them however, recording processes required strengthening. These were immediately acted upon and resolved during the inspection. Staff told us they welcomed the action taken to resolve the issue.

Risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed to ensure they were supported with their health conditions. Senior staff, who were key workers to specific people to ensure continuity and oversight, told us they reviewed support plans regularly to ensure they contained relevant and up to date information to manage and mitigate risks. A staff member said, “We work closely with outside professionals where needed where people have specific needs for instance dementia.”

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. Staff and management worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (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.

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