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What the CQC found at Flora Innes House

Outstandingpublished 18 June 2026, 3 months ago

Rated Outstanding: inspectors found the home performing exceptionally well.

The latest report, explained

What inspectors found, March 2018

Flora Innes House was rated Good overall, with safe, kind and personalised care but improvements needed in how the home was managed.

This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection on 19 January 2018. Inspectors spoke with people living there, relatives and staff. They observed care and checked care plans, medicines records, recruitment files, training records, complaints, incidents and quality checks.

The home was rated Good for Safe, Effective, Caring and Responsive. Inspectors found that people were protected from known risks, received enough food and drink, had access to health services and medicines were managed safely. Staff understood people's needs and supported their choices, dignity, relationships and activities.

The home was rated Requires Improvement for Well-led. The provider did not give the registered manager enough freedom to make timely changes. Quality checks were not frequent enough, a fire safety check had not been recorded in November 2017, and plans to adapt the home for people's changing needs had not been put into action.

The overall rating remained Good, as it had been at the previous comprehensive inspection in October 2015. However, the report identified continuing areas for improvement in how the home was run.

What inspectors praised
  • Risk management

    People's risks were assessed and reviewed, with clear instructions for staff. This included support for choking risks and learning road safety.

    “Risk assessments reflected people's current needs and people's care plans provided staff with clear instructions on how to reduce the known risks.” from the report
  • Kind and respectful care

    Inspectors saw relaxed and respectful relationships. Staff supported people warmly and in a person-centred way.

    “We observed that staff treated people with warmth and kindness.” from the report
  • Personalised support

    People had detailed care plans and could choose activities suited to their interests, abilities and preferences.

    “People received individualised and person centred care that met their needs.” from the report
  • Communication and choice

    People were supported to express their views, including through photographs and printed words when they could not communicate verbally.

    “Some people could not communicate verbally; they were helped to express themselves through photographs and printed words.” from the report
  • Positive relationships and community

    There was a strong sense of belonging. People were supported to maintain friendships, relationships, religion and meaningful roles in the home.

    “There was a strong sense of belonging shared by staff and people using the service.” from the report
What inspectors were concerned about
  • Quality checks were not frequent enough

    serious

    Checks were rotated between locations, leaving long gaps. A fire safety check was not recorded in November 2017 and this had not been identified through monitoring.

    “Quality monitoring checks were rotated between each location, leaving long periods of time between quality monitoring checks at Flora Innes House.” from the report
  • Plans for future needs were not completed

    needs fixing

    The provider recognised that the home and staff practices would need to change as people aged and their needs changed. However, it had not finalised the plans or put the required changes in place.

    “However, the provider had not finalised their plans on how they intended to update the service and make all of the provisions required.” from the report
  • Limited flexibility in weekday arrangements

    needs fixing

    There was an expectation that everyone would attend the provider's other location every weekday. Inspectors identified a risk that this would not remain person-centred as people's needs changed.

    “There was no provision for people to change their minds and stay at home in the daytime.” from the report
  • Limited management autonomy

    needs fixing

    The registered manager understood their responsibilities but did not always have enough freedom to monitor the service or make prompt changes.

    “The provider did not enable the registered manager to have the autonomy required to implement procedures to monitor the quality of the service or to make prompt changes where issues had been identified.” from the report
Questions to ask them, based on this report
  1. 01How often are fire safety checks and other quality checks now carried out at the home?
  2. 02What changes have been made to the building and staff skills to meet residents' changing needs, including dementia and end-of-life care?
  3. 03Can a resident choose to stay at home rather than attend Solden Hill House during the day?
  4. 04How does the provider make sure the registered manager can act quickly when a problem is found?
  5. 05How are each person's activities reviewed to make sure they remain suitable and person-centred?

This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection covering all five questions and both the premises and care provided. This explanation was written from the published report of 22 March 2018 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.

The story over the years

Every inspection of Flora Innes House

2 rated inspections over 2 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.

  1. March 2018Goodcurrent ratingstayed Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement

    Read what inspectors found at Flora Innes House →

  2. November 2015Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    We are reading this report · the original is on cqc.org.uk

  3. July 2013

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  4. December 2012

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  5. August 2011

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  6. January 2011

    Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 January 2011.

Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.

Next steps

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