Enter and view: Ashleigh House Care Home

Healthwatch Lewisham carried out an Enter and View visit to Ashleigh House, a ten-bed care home supporting people with mental health conditions. Feedback from residents and staff was generally positive, with residents describing staff as supportive, respectful and approachable. Residents reported feeling safe, well supported with daily living and healthcare appointments, and satisfied with the outdoor space, activities and overall care they received.

The home was found to be clean and functional overall, with residents able to personalise their rooms and access communal and outdoor spaces. However, Healthwatch identified several environmental issues, including an unclean shared toilet, worn furniture and décor, outdated noticeboard information, and a rusting external fire escape. Accessibility was also highlighted as an area for improvement, as wheelchair access relied on a removable rather than permanent ramp. 

Staff spoke positively about working at the home, describing strong team relationships, supportive management and good training opportunities. Healthwatch observed respectful interactions between staff and residents and found evidence of safeguarding, fire safety and medication management procedures. However, staff were not wearing visible name badges during the visit, and opportunities were identified to expand activities and strengthen communication tools for residents with differing communication needs. 

Healthwatch concluded that Ashleigh House provides a caring and supportive environment with generally positive resident and staff experiences. Recommendations focused on improving cleaning and hygiene monitoring, refurbishing parts of the environment, repairing safety features such as the external fire escape, strengthening accessibility, ensuring staff wear identification badges, and keeping noticeboards and information materials up to date.