Skip to main content
Exterior at Betsy Clara Nursing Home
Photo: Betsy Clara House. Used with permission.
Rated:Requires ImprovementNursing

Betsy Clara Nursing Home

Courtenay Road, Tovil, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6UW
01622687523
Care Type

Nursing Care

Assessment date

21 August 2025

Provider

Betsy Clara and Southdowns Limited

Beds

50 beds

About Betsy Clara Nursing Home

Betsy Clara Nursing Home is a nursing home in Kent, providing care for older people, including those living with dementia or poor mental health. Details of the most recent CQC inspection are set out below.

Betsy Clara Nursing Home provides nursing and personal care for up to 50 older people, including those living with dementia or poor mental health. The CQC rated the home Requires Improvement overall, following breaches relating to infection control, consent, staffing and governance. Inspectors found some flooring needed replacing and deep cleaning, oversight of constipation risks was lacking, and audits were not robust enough to catch shortfalls.

Despite this, the CQC found staff kind, patient and knowledgeable about people's needs, with residents supported to take part in activities and maintain family relationships. Relatives described good communication and felt involved in care. Feedback from people using the service was mixed, with some praising staff and others feeling less well understood.

Source: CQC assessment, 23 December 2025

Specialist Care

DementiaMental healthOlder people

Photographs of the home

Exterior at Betsy Clara Nursing Home
Exterior at Betsy Clara Nursing Home. Photograph from the provider’s website.Photo: Betsy Clara House. Used with permission.

Fees and availability

We have not verified a current weekly fee for this home. Ask for a written quote based on the room and care needed, including any extra charges.

Check current vacancies, the admission assessment and visiting arrangements directly with the home.

Care and inspection details

Checked against the CQC register on 20 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.

Registered service
Care home service with nursing
Registered capacity
50 places — this is not a vacancy count
Registration checked
Registered · ME15 6UW

Registered care categories

Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Dementia; Mental health conditions.

These describe the registration. The home must assess whether it can meet the individual person's needs and whether a place is available.

CQC ratings in more detail

Overall rating shown by CQC: Requires Improvement.

Assessment published 23 December 2025. Assessment date recorded: 21 August 2025.

Read CQC's assessment overview

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 23 December 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Date of assessment 02 September 2025 to 19 September 2025. We completed this comprehensive assessment to follow up on concerns received about the service. Betsy Clara Nursing Home is a residential care home providing accommodation for persons who require nursing and personal care for up to 50 people. The service is registered to provide support to older people, people with poor mental health and people living with dementia. A person had a learning disability as well as a mental health diagnosis. There were 40 people living at the service. An assessment has been undertaken of a service that is used by autistic people or people with a learning disability but is not registered as a specialist service. We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.

We identified breaches of regulations relating to infection control, consent, good governance and staffing. There had been a lack of clinical and management oversight of constipation risks because systems had not been embedded to review bowel charts for people who suffered with constipation. We observed some carpets and flooring around the service which required replacing due to stains and a strong smell. Some areas of the service required deep cleaning to control infection risks. Audit systems were in place. The audits were not always robust enough to highlight and manage shortfalls and areas for improvement in the service. People gave us mixed feedback about the staffing levels. The training matrix showed that most staff had completed mandatory training, however staff had not all completed training relevant to people’s additional health needs. The service worked with other health professionals involved in people’s care. People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Safe
Requires Improvement
Effective
Good
Caring
Good
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Requires Improvement

Questions prompted by these ratings

  • Safe: What changes have been made to medicines, staffing and safeguarding since this rating?
  • Well-led: What has changed in management, checks and oversight since this rating?

These are questions for your visit, not a claim about conditions today.

Read Betsy Clara Nursing Home's CQC record and reports.

Contains Care Quality Commission information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Ratings and registration details can change after the date checked.

5 Questions to Ask on Your Visit

When visiting Betsy Clara Nursing Home, consider asking...

  1. 1.What specific dementia training do staff receive and how recently?
  2. 2.How do you support a resident who becomes distressed or confused?
  3. 3.How does the home keep a record of a resident's life history and personal preferences?
  4. 4.How do you involve families as dementia progresses and communication becomes harder?
  5. 5.What happens when a resident's dementia reaches an advanced stage?

5 Things to Look For on Your Visit

When you visit Betsy Clara Nursing Home, look out for...

  1. 1.Is the environment calm, uncluttered and easy to navigate?
  2. 2.Do staff speak to residents with patience and dignity, even if they repeat themselves?
  3. 3.Are there memory cues around the home -- photos, familiar objects, clear signage?
  4. 4.Do residents seem settled and safe, or agitated and unsupervised?
  5. 5.Is there meaningful activity happening, or are residents just sitting quietly with nothing to do?

Could the NHS fund Betsy Clara Nursing Home's fees?

The average nursing home costs £1,535 per week. That's £79,820 a year. NHS Continuing Healthcare could cover all of it. No means test, no contribution from you.

Location

Courtenay Road, Tovil, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6UW

CQC Logo

Betsy Clara Nursing Home

CQC overall rating

Requires Improvement

Assessment date: 21 August 2025

View full inspection report
New

Have a question about this care home?

Ask in our Community Forum and get a real answer from someone who's been through it.

Share what's on your mind
01622687523