Forster House
41 Forster Street, Smethwick, B67 7LX · Sandwell · West Midlands
What the record says
Rated Good overall, but the rating is 2 years old, and 1 of this operator's 2 rated homes is below Good.
- Age of rating
- 2 years old — published 27 Aug 2024, and no newer rating had been published by 1 Sep 2026. A re-inspection could move it in either direction.
- This operator's rated services
- Of Hickam Healthcare Ltd's 2 rated homes, 1 is below Good — not this one.
Verbatim CQC ratings, each dated · data as at 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
- Care type
- Care home without nursing
- Beds
- 5
- Registered with CQC
- 7 Sep 2022
- Run by
- Hickam Healthcare Ltd
- Phone
- 07897579892
- Website
- www.hickamhealthcare.co.uk
Contact details as recorded by CQC — we don’t hold fees, vacancies or waiting lists, so those are worth asking about directly.
Who this service supports
The groups this service is registered with CQC to support. Registration says who a service may care for — it is not a quality judgement, and it is not a recommendation.
Select a group to see other services registered for it in Sandwell.
Care home without nursing
Looking for services registered for a particular need? Find care that fits in Sandwell.
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
The five key questions
| Key question | Rating | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Safe | Good | 27 Aug 2024 |
| Effective | Good | 27 Aug 2024 |
| Caring | Good | 27 Aug 2024 |
| Responsive | Good | 27 Aug 2024 |
| Well-led | Good | 27 Aug 2024 |
Ratings verbatim as published by CQC. Key questions can carry different dates when CQC re-inspects only part of a service.
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
Same operator — 1 other location
Other active services registered to Hickam Healthcare Ltd. The verdict above reads across this operator's whole rated portfolio.
| Name | Overall rating (published) | Local authority |
|---|---|---|
| Messenger House | Requires improvement, published 9 Apr 2021rating 3+ yrs old | Sandwell |
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
CQC publishes registrations and ratings. It holds nothing at all about fees, current vacancies, staffing levels, or the building itself — there is no field anywhere for door widths, hoists, wet rooms or ground-floor rooms. So no site, including this one, can tell you those. They are worth asking directly — the number is above.
- What are the fees, and what do they not include?
- Do you have a vacancy now, and would you hold a room?
- How many staff are on at night, and how are transfers staffed?
- What change in someone’s needs would mean they had to move, and can I see that in the contract?
More on what to look for and ask on a visit —including what an occupational therapist would check for particular needs — at choosing a care home.
- Take the visit checklistWhat to look for and the questions to ask when you visit — the things a rating cannot tell you.
- Coming out of hospitalIf this follows a hospital stay: the discharge decision, reablement, and what to ask the ward.
- Ask the council for a needs assessmentFree, whatever the savings, and the formal route to arranged care and funding.
- Understand who paysThe means test, what happens to the home, and NHS Continuing Healthcare.
- How to read this ratingWhat the words mean, the five key questions, and why the date matters.
Need this on paper? The single-site diligence pack on Forster House adds full rating history, inspection failure themes quoted verbatim, the operator's whole-portfolio record and Companies House linkage — hand-reviewed, every figure dated. £149 · delivered within 48 hours.
See a sample and order →Similar services nearby
Nearest first — a place to look around, not a ranking. Other care homes registered for care without nursing within 5 miles, registered for at least one of the same groups this service supports. Distance is straight line between registered addresses. Not an assessment of anyone’s needs.
- CareTech Community Services Limited - 68 West Park Roadabout 0.2 miles · Birmingham · 14 bedsRequires improvement, published 20 Jun 2023rating 3+ yrs old
- Chance Driveabout 0.3 miles · Smethwick · 8 bedsRequires improvement, published 17 Dec 2021rating 3+ yrs old
- Karam Court Care Homeabout 0.3 miles · Smethwick · 51 bedsGood, published 9 Oct 2019rating 3+ yrs old
- Coopers Lodgeabout 0.7 miles · Smethwick · 2 bedsNot yet rated
- Sector
- Social Care Org
- On CQC’s site
- cqc.org.uk/location/1-12656244943
Every rating on this page is shown verbatim as CQC published it, each with its own publication date. Data as at 1 Sep 2026 — as published by CQC, bulk files of 01 Sep 2026 · source: CQC · data & methods.