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CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by Anchor

St Marys

Woodlands Road, Holbrook, Ipswich, IP9 2PS

Goodpublished 13 February 2026, 6 months ago

Rated Good: inspectors found the service performing well and meeting their expectations.

The latest report, explained

What inspectors found, December 2023

Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care across all five areas.

The inspection was unannounced and took place on 30 October 2023. Inspectors spoke with 12 people, four relatives and four staff. They reviewed care records, staff files, medicines information and records about how the home was managed.

The home was rated Good overall and Good in Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines arrangements, suitable training and care plans that reflected people's needs and choices.

People were treated kindly and with respect. Inspectors also found good food, activities, support with health needs, involvement in care decisions and systems for handling complaints and learning from incidents.

What inspectors praised
  • Enough staff

    Inspectors found staff were visible, available and had time to provide care and spend relaxed time with people.

    There were enough staff to meet people's needs. During our inspection, staff were visibly present, providing people with the appropriate care and support they needed.from the report
  • Kind and respectful care

    People described staff as kind and compassionate. Inspectors observed caring interactions and staff respecting privacy.

    People told us they were supported by staff who were kind and compassionate.from the report
  • Personalised support

    Care records included people's needs, preferences and communication guidance. People were involved in reviews and choices about their care.

    People's care records were written in a person-centred way and included people's specific needs and preferences and guidance for staff in how they were to be met.from the report
  • Food and activities

    The home offered varied food, support for special diets and activities based on what people wanted to do.

    There were many appropriate activities on offer based upon what people requested to do such as baking, planting bulbs, growing indoor plants.from the report
  • Learning and oversight

    The home reviewed incidents, complaints and audits. Inspectors found that action was taken when improvements were needed.

    Audits were undertaken which assisted the registered manager to identify shortfalls and address them.from the report
What inspectors were concerned about

Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.

Questions to ask them, based on this report
  1. 01How would you meet my relative's specific needs if their mobility, falls risk or health needs change?
  2. 02What support is available for people living with dementia, including help with communication and activities?
  3. 03How would you support my relative if they need a special diet or help with eating and drinking?
  4. 04How are relatives involved in care reviews and decisions about end-of-life care?
  5. 05How would you respond if we had a complaint or concern about the care?

This was an unannounced inspection that looked at the premises and care provided across all five CQC questions; the previous rating was Good and was published on 27 January 2018. This explanation was written from the published report of 6 December 2023 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 St Marys

2 rated inspections over 6 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.

  1. December 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read what inspectors found at St Marys

  2. January 2018Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

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

  3. February 2017

    Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 6 February 2017.

Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission. A service can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections, not every contact the CQC has had with the service.

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