"I can’t go out" - Greater Manchester care home rated 'requires improvement' by CQC
The inspection began on 30 June and concluded on 16 July 2025. Stable Steps Care Centre is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 50 people. The service provides support to older and younger adults and people living with dementia and other cognitive impairments.
At the time of the CQC’s inspection there were 44 people living at the home and almost half of these people were people under the age of 65 years. The registered manager told them that 95% of people at the home were living with dementia or other cognitive impairments.
The CQC said: “The inspection was carried out to follow up on the warning notice issued to the registered manager for a continued breach relating to person centred care, along with other breaches found at the last inspection relating to governance, safe recruitment and insufficient staffing levels.”
Adding: “The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to person centred care. Improvements were not found at this assessment, and the provider remained in breach of this regulation. We found concerns relating to how people’s individual needs were met, how their preferences for care were reflected and how care was appropriate for each person, particularly in relation to people who received an enhanced level of funded support due to their conditions.”
Stable Steps Care Centre has now been rated requires improvement for the last three inspections and at every inspection since their registration with CQC. This meant there was a of a history of failing to respond adequately to serious concerns raised by CQC.
On staff support, one person commented, “If I get upset the staff sort it out. The staff are very obliging. They work very hard.” A relative commented, “The staff are lovely with him and know what it takes to look after him.”
Despite this, the CQC found that “staff were not always effective in supporting and improving people’s quality of life, particularly those who had complex needs or became distressed even when extra staff were available to support the individual.”
Adding: “We had concerns about staff’s ability to provide safe care and meaningful support. The registered manager told us they focused on safety for people. This impacted on people’s experience and freedom, due to a reduction in privacy as a result of the constant supervision in place for some people.”
Additionally, people had limited opportunity to access the outside garden space and were not encouraged to do this.
One person said: “They supervise me with everything. I don’t like the restrictions, I can’t go out.”
The CQC also found that people did not always feel their needs were responded to in a timely way with one person commenting, “I use the bell sometimes. They come when they can, it depends on how busy they are.”