Working at Shire Oak House
33 Lichfield Road, Walsall, WS9 9DH
Operated by SORCH LTD
27 bedsResidential homes
Workplace Score
4.8/10
AI analysis of latest data
Our AI workplace review
PlainSight AI Review
Last updated: 10 February 2026
Score: 4.8/10
Key Finding
"Staff enjoy working there with up-to-date training, but weak recruitment checks and poor medication stock systems undermine governance."
Safety & Risk
4/10
!
Person missed prescribed medication for one day due to no stock and lack of follow-up on prescription; unassessed recruitment risks.
Staff Culture
6/10
✓
Staff told us they enjoyed working there, appreciated training investment, and found manager patient and available for questions.
Staffing Levels
4/10
!
One staff member had no references on file; two had unexplained gaps in work history with no risk assessment; professionals noted staff 'spread thin' due to building layout.
Training & Dev
6/10
✓
All staff had mandatory training up to date in last 12 months; inductions and some formal supervisions in place, with plans for more robust system.
Management
4/10
!
Breach of Regulation 17 for good governance: no effective system for step-down medication stock or full staff recruitment checks including references and work history gaps.
Programmes
4/10
!
Pictorial activity board, board games, colouring pads; staff ask verbally weekly about preferences, no coordinator or structured variety mentioned.
Points to consider
Recruitment checks are weak with some staff files missing references and explanations for work history gaps.
One staff member did not have any references on file. Two staff records did not have an explanation for gaps in their work history.
A person missed their medication for a day because there was no proper system to keep stock for new residents.
A person had not been administered medications that were prescribed to them for one day... the provider not holding enough stock and not having an effective system that ensured staff chase up prescriptions.
Governance systems are not fully reliable yet with issues spotted in medication stock and staff recruitment.
The provider did not have an effective process in place for 'step down beds' to ensure that a stock of peoples medication was kept... failure to ensure that effective systems were in place was a breach of Regulation 17.
AI Generated
CQC Inspection Overview
CQC Inspection
Last inspected: March 2022
Requires improvement
Safe
!
Requires improvement
Effective
✓
Good
Caring
✓
Good
Responsive
✓
Good
Management Quality
Well-led: Requires improvement
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- Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection Data
- PlainSight staff reviews