Care home · St Albans
Birchwood Bungalow
Typical fee here £1,310–£1,600 a week Estimate
Free · 2 minutes · No obligation · 34,334 registered providers compared
Illustrative photo, not of Birchwood Bungalow- Address
- Off How Wood, Park Street, St Albans, AL2 2QZ
- Run by
- Voyage 1 Limited (278 services)
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Residential care home
- Beds
- 7 (registered with CQC)
- Nursing care
- No, residential care only (CQC registration)
- Dementia
- Not listed as a specialism with CQC; ask the provider
- Registered with CQC
- December 2010 (15 years)
- Part of
- Voyage
- Registered manager
- Nonyelum Odukunle
- Company check
- Active, trading since 1988 (38 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 02215899)
- Last CQC check
- 28 Sep 2019
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,310–£1,600 a week for residential care. Our estimate from published local prices, not a quote. How we estimate
Registered activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care
More in Bricket Wood: Care homes in Bricket Wood (8) · Best rated care homes in Bricket Wood · Care homes for elderly care in Bricket Wood · Care homes for learning disability care in Bricket Wood · Care homes for care for adults under 65 in Bricket Wood
CQC page for this service · CQC location ID 1-129460492
About Birchwood Bungalow
Birchwood Bungalow in St Albans is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a residential care home, run by Voyage 1 Limited. The service is registered to support adults of all ages and lists learning disabilities among its specialisms.
CQC rated it Good overall (September 2019). It is one of 8 CQC-registered care homes in and around Bricket Wood; 5 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Ratings for safety, care and leadership
- Safe161 of 219 in Hertfordshire
- Effective193 of 218 in Hertfordshire
- Caring194 of 218 in Hertfordshire
- Responsive182 of 217 in Hertfordshire
- Well-led148 of 219 in Hertfordshire
Source: CQC, published 28 September 2019. Under each rating: how many care homes in Hertfordshire share it.
The registered provider
Birchwood Bungalow is run by Voyage 1 Limited (company 02215899), incorporated in 1988, 22 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 3 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is care for people with learning disabilities, mental health problems or substance misuse and social work without accommodation for older and disabled people (which includes home care).
Voyage 1 Limited runs 280 CQC-registered services across 87 council areas; 244 of the 268 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (91%), against 84% for the same mix of services across England.
4 of its services are in Hertfordshire.
It trades under the Voyage brand, which covers 320 services run by 13 registered providers.
Who they support
Taken from its CQC registration.
How its rating has changed
- Jan 2015
- Feb 2017
- Sep 2019
- Today Rating 7 years old
Published CQC ratings in date order.
Reports on the CQC website
- CQC inspection report 28 September 2019
- CQC inspection report 17 February 2017
- CQC inspection report 12 January 2015
- Inspection report 24 August 2013
- Inspection report 27 September 2012
- Inspection report 17 April 2012
Location and local area
- Ward
- Park Street
- Parliamentary constituency
- St Albans
- NHS integrated care board
- NHS Central East Integrated Care Board
- Urban or rural
- Urban; nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 40% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in AL2 (13)
Open the full map · Plan a journey · OpenStreetMap (ODbL)
Nearby
- Bus stop 230 m (3 min walk) · 14 stops within 600 m
- Railway station How Wood, 650 m (8 min walk)
- Pharmacy 220 m (3 min walk)
- Shop Co-op Food, 200 m (3 min walk)
- Park 360 m (5 min walk)
- Café 410 m (5 min walk)
- Place of worship Park Street Baptist Church, 530 m (7 min walk)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). These are direct-line distances, so real walking routes, and times, will be longer.
Area details from ONS and NHS postcode data via postcodes.io (Open Government Licence).
Track record
Registered in December 2010, it has 15 years on the CQC register.
CQC has published 3 overall ratings for it (2015–2019), starting at Good and staying Good every time.
7 years have passed since the last overall rating. Services judged lower-risk wait longer for a visit, but teams change, so check what is different today.
CQC lists 6 reports for this location, the latest dated 28 September 2019.
Reading Birchwood Bungalow's CQC ratings
Birchwood Bungalow has an even profile: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are each rated Good.
For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 147 of the 218 other care homes in Hertfordshire that CQC has rated.
Key points from CQC's visit
- People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
- The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance.
- These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
- The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion.
Inspected 3 September 2019; report published 28 September 2019. In CQC's words, from its published findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Costs to expect
We estimate Birchwood Bungalow at £1,310–£1,600 a week for residential care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £68k–£83k.
Ask whether the fee changes if needs increase, and what is extra: hairdressing, chiropody, outings and newspapers are often charged separately.
With savings below £23,250, Hertfordshire Council may contribute once it has carried out a free needs assessment.
Choice nearby
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 16 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Allington Court Care Home, 0.5 miles away.
6 of the 19 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Park Street ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 40% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Central East ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a pharmacy (3 min), a shop (3 min), a park (5 min), a café (5 min), a bus stop (3 min) and a railway station (8 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
Family reviews
Nobody has reviewed Birchwood Bungalow here yet. Have you used it? A short, honest review helps the next family decide.
Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. We verify the reviewer's email and never let providers remove reviews. How reviews work.
Birchwood Bungalow questions answered
- Is Birchwood Bungalow rated well for safety?
- CQC rates five key questions. For Birchwood Bungalow: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led tend to say most about day-to-day reliability.
- How much does care from Birchwood Bungalow cost?
- We don't have published prices from Birchwood Bungalow yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,455 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in East of England). Request a written quote and check what is charged on top.
- Who is the registered provider for Birchwood Bungalow?
- CQC lists Voyage 1 Limited as the provider responsible for Birchwood Bungalow.
- How many residents can Birchwood Bungalow take?
- Birchwood Bungalow is registered for up to 7 residents. Ask about current vacancies and whether rooms have en-suite facilities.
- When was Birchwood Bungalow last inspected?
- 28 September 2019 is when the current rating was published, 7 years ago. Check what has changed since, such as the manager or staffing.
- Is Birchwood Bungalow registered for dementia care?
- It is not registered with dementia as a specialism, so confirm with the provider whether it can meet that need.
- Is Birchwood Bungalow registered with CQC?
- Yes: CQC lists it as a care home under location ID 1-129460492 and was rated Good overall in September 2019.
- Where is Birchwood Bungalow?
- It is at Off How Wood, Park Street, St Albans, AL2 2QZ.
- What type of care does Birchwood Bungalow provide?
- Its CQC registration covers residential homes. Ask Birchwood Bungalow how it would adapt if needs increase.
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Register data from the Care Quality Commission, refreshed Oct 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Provider-written text is labelled as such. We are an independent directory, not a care provider.