CQC Reports for Barnsley Care Homes - w.c 1st September 2025

Rated: Requires Improvement

Report published: 4th September 2025

Date of Assessment: 26 June to 4 July 2025

Current View of Service

We visited the service on 26 June 2025. Hunningley Grange is a care home providing personal care to older people, some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of this assessment there were 22 people living at Hunningley Grange. At the time of our visit, we found the service was supporting some people with a learning disability. However, the provider was not currently registered to provide support to this client group. We therefore assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. The provider was not currently able to fully demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ but agreed to take immediate action to rectify this and also submit an application to register for this service user band. This assessment was to follow up on actions from the last assessment in September 2024. At the last assessment the provider was found to be in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment (managing medicines, managing risks, safe environments), staffing, person centred care and good governance. Improvements were found at this assessment, and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations. The service is now rated Requires Improvement. We carried out a comprehensive assessment of the service covering all 5 key questions – Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led. We found significant improvements had been made within the service. A new manager had been recruited, and it was clear the provider had worked hard to address the shortfalls found at the last assessment. There were still some areas that required addressing and some systems and processes needed time to be fully embedded and sustained to ensure continued improvement. Staff told us they now felt supported and were receiving regular support and supervision. We shared some feedback about the recruitment procedures at the service. The provider took immediate action in response to the feedback given. The home was now clean and newly decorated and refurbished throughout. Care systems and processes were now in place to provide clearer oversight of the service. Care plans, care records and risk assessments were now more detailed, and person centred. Medicines were administered safely and learning from audits applied. The provider worked with other agencies to ensure people’s needs were met. Staff were seen to be kind and caring in their interactions and responded to people in a timely way. This service has been in Special Measures since 20 December 2024. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide. During this assessment the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

People's experience of the Service

People and relatives were positive about the changes implemented since our last visit. A person told us, “Yes, it’s good now. I am happy here, I love it.” A relative commented, “Yes, it’s so much better now. It’s all clean now and has been decorated.”

Overall people told us they felt happy and safe now living at Hunningley Grange and would feel comfortable raising concerns should they need to. People felt staff helped to keep them safe from harm and we saw people were relaxed in the company of the staff.

People and their relatives told us staff were respectful, kind and helpful, and our observations supported this.One person told us, “Yes, they are kind to me and people here. I am happy.”

People were able to make choices about their day to day lives and undertook activities at the service which supported their independence, health, and wellbeing. A relative told us, “They have a lot going on, they paint [person’s] nails, and they do pictures. [Staff name] is lovely and [staff] has brought photos of [person] doing activities. They have made a sensory garden which is lovely.”

People and relatives had opportunities to give feedback and their wishes were respected.

People said they were happy with the support they received around their medicines and could access healthcare services when needed.

People’s family and friends were free to visit when they wished.