Kirkwood Court

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 15 December 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Kirkwood Court provides accommodation with personal care for up to 72 people. There were 66 people living at the service when we visited, some of whom were living with dementia. This unannounced assessment was triggered due to concerns raised relating to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) conditions not being followed. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). In care homes, and some hospitals, this is usually through MCA application procedures called the DoLS. There were also concerns staff were not following care plans, instability with the management of the service, unwitnessed falls and medicines errors. We visited the home on 13 October 2025. The provider had acted to address the concerns and had developed a robust action plan. However, further improvements were still needed.

Care plans needed improvement as some information was missing from them and they contained conflicting information. Areas of people’s care planning relating to risk were often incomplete, despite care plans identifying potential risks. The provider did not always make sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences.Staff did not always involve people in planning their care. There were shortfalls in medicines records and care plans.

New staff were recruited safely, with checks completed appropriately. The home was clean and well-maintained throughout. Health and safety checks and environmental risk assessments were carried out to help maintain a safe environment.There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. However, some staff had not completed essential training.

Staff confirmed there was now consistent management of the home, and this was now having a positive impact on the quality of people’s care. Staff described various improvements made due to the recent management changes. However, there were ongoing issues with laundry, meals,staff consistently following agreed procedures and gaps in care records.

Quality Assurance Audits were completed and linked directly to the home’s action plan.