Care home · Southport
The Spinal Unit Action Group
Illustrative photo, not of The Spinal Unit Action Group- Address
- 6 Weld Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 2AZ
- Run by
- Spinal Unit Action Group
- Service
- Residential care home
- Beds
- 12 (registered with CQC)
- Registered with CQC
- January 2011 (15 years)
- Registered manager
- Margaret Cheetham
- Last CQC check
- 20 May 2025
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,080–£1,330 a week for residential care. Estimate only, from published local rates. How we estimate
Registered activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care
Full report at cqc.org.uk · CQC location ID 1-120388047
About The Spinal Unit Action Group
The Spinal Unit Action Group in Southport is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a residential care home, run by Spinal Unit Action Group. Its registered specialisms include physical disabilities.
CQC rated it Requires improvement overall (May 2025). Safe and Well-led were rated Requires improvement. It is one of 70 CQC-registered care homes in and around Southport; 51 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Who they support
As listed with the regulator.
What the ratings tell you
Looking at the five areas: Safe and Well-led are rated below Good; 3 other areas are Good.
Across Sefton, 23 of 107 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Safe (21%), while 26 of 107 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Well-led (24%).
The Safe and Well-led findings are the part of the report to read closely; ask the manager what has been put right.
The inspection, summarised
- Accommodation is provided for up to 12 people who are physically disabled.
- There were 11 people living at the home at the time of this assessment.
- The assessment was prompted in part due to concerns received about people’s safety.
- Their comments included, “Couldn’t ask for a better place and better staff, they look after me so well, not a bit worried about my safety if I was, I’d tell one of the staff” and “Very safe indeed, being unsafe has never crossed my mind.
Inspected 18 May 2018; report published 11 July 2018; supporting 11 people at the time. In CQC's words, from its published findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Choice nearby
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 17 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Seren House, under 0.5 miles away.
2 of the 24 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Duke's 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 Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (6 min), a pharmacy (8 min), a shop (6 min), a park (9 min), a café (7 min), a bus stop (1 min) and a railway station (7 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
How its rating has changed
- Feb 2016
- Sep 2017
- Jul 2018
- May 2025
- Today Rating 1 year old
Published CQC ratings in date order. The latest rating is lower than the one before.
Inspection reports to read
- CQC inspection report 11 July 2018
- CQC inspection report 21 September 2017
- CQC inspection report 18 February 2016
- Inspection report 10 February 2015
- Inspection report 29 May 2014
- Inspection report 12 March 2014
Food hygiene
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 23 July 2026 by Sefton. Meals matter in a care home: ask to see a menu and whether residents can choose.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "Spinal Unit Action Group"). Open Government Licence.
Map and area details
- Ward
- Duke's
- Parliamentary constituency
- Southport
- NHS planning area
- NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board
- ONS area type
- Urban: nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 40% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in PR8 (39)
See the wider area · Get directions · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Within walking distance
- Bus stop 70 m (1 min walk) · 19 stops within 600 m
- Railway station Birkdale, 590 m (7 min walk)
- GP surgery Grange Surgery, 500 m (6 min walk)
- Pharmacy Rowlands Pharmacy, 670 m (8 min walk)
- Shop Morrisons Daily, 510 m (6 min walk)
- Park Victoria Park, 700 m (9 min walk)
- Café Cafe Bar N'ista, 540 m (7 min walk)
- Place of worship St James, 160 m (2 min walk)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). These are direct-line distances, so real walking routes, and times, will be longer.
Ward and NHS boundaries from official postcode data, Open Government Licence.
Ownership and company checks
The Spinal Unit Action Group is the only service its provider, Spinal Unit Action Group, runs, so it is an independent, single-site operator rather than part of a chain.
Costs to expect
We estimate The Spinal Unit Action Group at £1,080–£1,330 a week for residential care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £56k–£69k.
Get the extras in writing: items such as hairdressing and outings are usually charged on top.
If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Sefton Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.
Track record
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 (2016–2025), starting at Requires improvement and improving to Requires Improvement.
The CQC website holds 6 reports for it, the latest from 11 July 2018.
How CQC rated each area
- Safe23 of 107 in Sefton
- Effective92 of 107 in Sefton
- Caring95 of 107 in Sefton
- Responsive91 of 107 in Sefton
- Well-led26 of 107 in Sefton
CQC key question ratings, published 20 May 2025. Under each rating: how many care homes in Sefton share it.
Family reviews
There are no reviews of The Spinal Unit Action Group yet. If you know the service, your experience could help someone else.
Reviews are from families and clients and are separate from CQC ratings. Each one is checked against a real email address; we publish good and bad reviews and providers cannot edit or remove them. How reviews work.
Compared with other care homes locally
- Rated Requires improvement. Across Sefton, 79% of the 107 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 3 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (May 2025) is more recent than 92% of care home ratings in Sefton.
- With 12 beds it is smaller than 78% of care homes in Sefton, where the typical home has 27.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 79% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 1 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Sefton lists 3.
- Areas CQC rated below Good: Safe (22% of care homes in Sefton are also rated below Good here); Well-led (25% of care homes in Sefton are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.
All figures compare it with other care homes in Sefton; CQC register, Oct 2026.
Nearest care homes
Guides for families
Southport: care homes inspected recently
- Rosebank Care HomeNov 2025
- Northern Counties Eventide Home LimitedFeb 2025
Frequently asked about The Spinal Unit Action Group
- Is The Spinal Unit Action Group registered for dementia care?
- No dementia specialism is recorded with CQC. Ask the provider directly if this is likely to matter.
- When was The Spinal Unit Action Group last inspected?
- The latest rating is dated 20 May 2025, 1 year ago; ask whether there have been changes since.
- What is The Spinal Unit Action Group's address?
- It is at 6 Weld Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 2AZ.
- Is The Spinal Unit Action Group registered with CQC?
- It is. The CQC register records The Spinal Unit Action Group as a care home, location ID 1-120388047 and was rated Requires improvement overall in May 2025.
- What kind of care can The Spinal Unit Action Group offer?
- The Spinal Unit Action Group is registered for residential homes. Ask which of these it provides at the moment.
- How much does care from The Spinal Unit Action Group cost?
- We don't have published prices from The Spinal Unit Action Group yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,100 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in North West). A written quote should spell out weekend, bank holiday and short-notice rates.
- How did The Spinal Unit Action Group score on each CQC key question?
- By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Requires improvement; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Requires improvement. Safe and Well-led tend to say most about day-to-day reliability.
- How many beds does The Spinal Unit Action Group have?
- CQC registers The Spinal Unit Action Group for 12 residents; ask about vacancies, room sizes and en-suite bathrooms.
- Which provider runs The Spinal Unit Action Group?
- The Spinal Unit Action Group is run by Spinal Unit Action Group, the registered provider on the CQC register.
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Details from the Care Quality Commission register, updated Oct 2026. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Text marked "in the provider's own words" is supplied by the provider. The Care Panel is not a care provider.