Care home · Halstead

Forest Home

Rated Requires improvement by CQC Rating published 30 September 2023 Rating 3 years old

Typical fee here £1,310–£1,600 a week Estimate

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A carer serving tea to residents in a care home lounge Illustrative photo, not of Forest Home
Address
58 Swan Street, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, CO9 3HT
Run by
St. Giles Homes Limited
Type of provider
Independent (private company)
Service
Residential care home
Beds
39 (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
January 2011 (15 years)
Registered manager
Pamela Margaret Oliver
Company check
Active, trading since 1994 (32 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 02903024)
Last CQC check
30 Sep 2023
Typical fees Estimated
£1,310–£1,600 a week for residential care. An estimate based on local published fees. Ask for a written quote. How we estimate

CQC regulated activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care

More in Halstead: Care homes in Halstead (19) · Best rated care homes in Halstead · Care homes for elderly care in Halstead

Full report at cqc.org.uk · CQC location ID 1-111230952

Introducing Forest Home

Forest Home in Halstead is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a residential care home, run by St. Giles Homes Limited. It is registered to support older people.

CQC rated it Requires improvement overall (September 2023). Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led were rated Requires improvement. It is one of 19 CQC-registered care homes in and around Halstead; 14 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.

Safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led

  • SafeRequires improvement67 of 364 in Essex
  • EffectiveRequires improvement35 of 364 in Essex
  • CaringRequires improvement15 of 364 in Essex
  • ResponsiveRequires improvement25 of 364 in Essex
  • Well-ledRequires improvement76 of 364 in Essex

Source: CQC, published 30 September 2023. Under each rating: how many care homes in Essex share it.

Earlier inspections

  1. Jun 2015 Good
  2. Jul 2017 Good
  3. Apr 2021 Inspected but not rated
  4. Sep 2023 Requires improvement
  5. Today Rating 3 years old

CQC rating timeline for this address. The latest rating is an improvement on the one before.

Published inspection reports

Kitchen hygiene rating

5/5

The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 11 May 2026 by Braintree. Try to visit at a mealtime: it shows how food, choice and help with eating work in practice.

From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "Forest Home"). Open Government Licence.

Location and local area

Ward
Hedingham
Parliamentary constituency
Braintree
NHS area (integrated care board)
NHS Essex Integrated Care Board
Area classification
Larger rural · further from a major town or city
Neighbourhood deprivation
Among the 30% least deprived areas in England
Postcode district
Care homes in CO9 (17)

Open the full map · Directions · Base map © OpenStreetMap

Close by

  • Bus stop 130 m (2 min walk) · 4 stops within 600 m
  • GP surgery Hilton House Surgery, 20 m (1 min walk)
  • Pharmacy Day Lewis Pharmacy, 300 m (4 min walk)
  • Shop East of England Co-op, 220 m (3 min walk)
  • Place of worship 170 m (2 min walk)
  • Library Sible Hedingham Library, 640 m (8 min walk)

Nearest of each type, measured in a straight line using OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). If a resident uses a wheelchair or frame, check the route itself.

Ward, NHS area and deprivation from ONS and NHS postcode data (postcodes.io, Open Government Licence).

History with CQC

CQC registration dates from January 2011, so the service has been operating for around 15 years under its current registration.

CQC has published 4 overall ratings for it (2015–2023), starting at Good; it has gone up 0 and down 0 times, and is now Requires improvement.

The rating is 3 years old. CQC decides when to return based on risk, so age alone is not a warning sign; still, ask who the manager is now.

Reports on record: 6, with the most recent dated 30 September 2023.

Specialisms

Registration details from CQC.

Budgeting for this home

We estimate Forest Home 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.

Check what the weekly fee leaves out; hairdressing, chiropody, trips and newspapers are common extras.

Essex Council can help with costs for people with savings under £23,250, starting with a free assessment.

Reading Forest Home's CQC ratings

Area by area, Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are rated below Good.

Across Essex, 67 of 364 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Safe (18%), while 35 of 364 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Effective (10%), while 15 of 364 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Caring (4%), while 25 of 364 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Responsive (7%), while 76 of 364 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Well-led (21%).

If you are considering it, read the Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led section of the report first and ask what has changed since the inspection.

How it fits locally

There are 6 other care homes within 3 miles, 5 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is Blamster's Link, 2.3 miles away.

3 of the 23 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.

It sits in Hedingham ward, classed by ONS as larger rural (further from a major town or city), among the 30% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Essex ICB.

Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (1 min), a pharmacy (4 min), a shop (3 min) and a bus stop (2 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.

The registered provider

Forest Home is run by St. Giles Homes Limited (company 02903024), incorporated in 1994, 16 years before this service registered with CQC.

At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 1 active director and there is no insolvency history.

Its registered business activity is residential care for older and disabled people.

Inspection findings in brief

  • There was a lack of robust management oversight in some areas of the home.
  • Some quality assurance monitoring was undertaken however, this was not always effective as the shortfalls found at inspection had not been identified through this monitoring.
  • Medicine management was not always robust, however, concerns identified at the inspection were addressed by the manager immediately with support from the GP.
  • People's care records, care plans and risk assessments would benefit from further detail to help and support staff to provide personalised and consistent care.

Inspected 29 August 2023; report published 30 September 2023; supporting 39 people at the time. From the regulator's own summary (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.

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Where Forest Home stands locally

  • Rated Requires improvement. Across Essex, 84% of the 363 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 7 are Outstanding.
  • Its rating (September 2023) is more recent than 64% of care home ratings in Essex.
  • With 39 beds it is larger than 66% of care homes in Essex, where the typical home has 22.
  • Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 69% of care homes in the area.
  • It lists 1 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Essex lists 3.
  • Areas CQC rated below Good: Safe (20% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here); Effective (10% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here); Caring (4% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here); Responsive (7% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here); Well-led (23% of care homes in Essex are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.

All figures compare it with other care homes in Essex; CQC register, Oct 2026.

Also nearby

Guides for families

Newer ratings near Halstead

Questions about Forest Home

What kind of care can Forest Home offer?
Its CQC registration covers residential homes. Ask Forest Home how it would adapt if needs increase.
Is Forest Home a registered provider?
Yes. Forest Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a care home (location ID 1-111230952) and was rated Requires improvement overall in September 2023.
What is Forest Home's address?
It is at 58 Swan Street, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, CO9 3HT.
When was Forest Home last inspected?
Its current CQC rating dates from 30 September 2023, 3 years ago. Ratings can be several years old; ask what has changed since, such as a new manager.
Is Forest Home registered for dementia care?
It is not registered with dementia as a specialism, so confirm with the provider whether it can meet that need.
Who runs Forest Home?
The registered provider is St. Giles Homes Limited, according to CQC.
How many residents can Forest Home take?
Forest Home is registered for up to 39 residents. Ask about current vacancies and whether rooms have en-suite facilities.
How did Forest Home score on each CQC key question?
By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Requires improvement; Effective: Requires improvement; Caring: Requires improvement; Responsive: Requires improvement; Well-led: Requires improvement. Start with Safe and Well-led when reading the report.
How much does Forest Home charge?
Forest Home's prices aren't on our site yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,455 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in East of England). Get the quote in writing, including any extra charges.

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Information: Care Quality Commission, Oct 2026 (Open Government Licence v3.0). Sections in the provider's own words are theirs; we compiled everything else from public data. The Care Panel is independent and not a care provider.

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