A CREWE care village has become the first nursing home in Cheshire to be rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Belong Crewe was visited by inspectors on July 24 and July 27 of this year.

Inspectors judged the service to be ‘outstanding’ in four out of five categories: caring, well-led, responsive and effective.

The care village was rated ‘good’ in the safe category, giving Belong Crewe an overall rating of ‘outstanding’.

Inspectors reported that staff supported people and provided for their individual care requirements and were highly skilled, motivated and competent at delivering effective, personalised healthcare plans.

The care village’s flexible, person-centred approach to care and commitment to helping residents retain their independence were also praised in the report.

Tracy Paine, deputy chief executive of Belong, said: “We were absolutely delighted to read the CQC’s report and immensely proud of the dedicated and skilled staff team we have in place in Crewe.

“The comments made by the inspectors were an endorsement of our approach to care and of the tremendous model we have developed for supporting people with complex nursing and dementia needs in Belong villages.”

The commended dementia care services were further supported by a varied programme of activities and social events, which inspectors said were complemented by first-class facilities, including an on-site gym and bistro.

Peter Norman, registered manager at Belong Crewe, added: “In addition to the outstanding rating that our Belong at Home domiciliary care service received from CQC last year, this latest review also acknowledged the specialist dementia care provided at Belong Crewe.

£The report praised adaptations to people’s environments that were informed by individual needs and the specialist support provided by admiral nurses.”

The management and organisation of the care village also came in for praise. The report said that managers were present, approachable and acted upon feedback to improve the service.

Managers created individual development plans for staff members and actively supported them to develop their professional skills and knowledge.

Phil Caine, general manager at Belong Crewe, said: “It was great to see our commitment to improving standards of care evidenced in the report and we will continue to evaluate new initiatives and approaches to ensure we continue to innovate and provide excellent support and quality of life to our customers.”