Enter and View: Birchlands Care Home

Healthwatch York undertook an enter and view visit to Birchlands Care Home on 12 February 2025.  They spoke to 15 people.

At the time of our visit, Healthwatch volunteers found that Birchlands Care Home was operating to a good standard. These findings were based on their observations and reflect the general happiness of residents, and the views of residents, their family members, friends and staff members.

The staff were friendly and welcoming and interacted well with the residents. There seemed to be enough staff when we visited. 

The activities coordinator was very good and the volunteers took part in a music session which was appreciated by the residents. 

While the home was undergoing refurbishment, the areas the volunteers saw were clean and in a good state of repair. 

 Residents all looked clean, well dressed and well cared for. Most residents seemed to be happy. All those Healthwatch spoke to had family or friends visiting and all had photos of family in their rooms.

The volunteers were generally very impressed with the care home. However, there were some things they felt could be done to improve the environment and residents’ experience: 

• Increase the size of the font and pictures on people’s rooms on the ground floor.
• Where possible, add hand rails to walls to help people move around the home independently.
• Review the digital sign-in process to ensure it is accessible for everyone.
• If it doesn’t already happen, ask residents’ ideas and feedback on what activities they would like to see at the home.