Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvementRated 4 years ago↓ Down from Good
SafeAre people protected from abuse and avoidable harm?Requires improvement
EffectiveDoes care achieve good outcomes and a good quality of life?Requires improvement
CaringAre staff kind, compassionate and respectful?Good
ResponsiveAre services organised to meet people's needs?Good
Well-ledIs the home well managed, with a culture of high-quality care?Requires improvement
CQC hasn't inspected this home for more than 5 years. It re-inspects based on risk, so an old rating doesn't count against a home on this site, but it may not reflect the home today. ?
Run by Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited, Austen House is a nursing home in Reading, Wokingham with 79 registered beds. CQC registers it to look after older people, people with dementia and younger adults. The typical home in Wokingham has 16 beds, so this one is bigger than average.
CQC last rated the home in October 2022, giving it Requires improvement overall. It was Requires improvement for safe, effective and well-led as well. For caring and responsive, the rating was Good. Its previous rating, in November 2019, was Good, so the home has slipped. That is more recent than most ratings in Wokingham, where the typical rating is about 7 years old.
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 3 (generally satisfactory), from September 2025. 80% of homes in Wokingham score the top mark of 5. 2 other homes in Wokingham share its tier, “Requires improvement”. About 1.6 km away, Loddon Court is rated Good. 175 of Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited’s 198 rated homes are Good or Outstanding (compare care home groups).
