The Old Vicarage Nursing and Residential Care Centre

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 13 May 2026. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

About the service

The Old Vicarage, a residential and nursing home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 60 people. At the time of the visit, 56 people were living at the service.

Support was delivered across 3 separate units across 2 floors. There were communal gardens around the building, which were accessible for people.

Who the service is for

The service supports older people including people living with dementia and people with physical health needs.

Our view of the service

We carried out this inspection on 29 April 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.

People told us they felt safe living at the home and relatives spoke positively about the care and support provided. We observed kind, respectful and unhurried interactions between staff and people throughout the day. Staff supported people safely with mobility and equipment, explaining what they were doing and offering reassurance. Medicines were managed safely across the home, with good systems in place, strong clinical oversight and effective involvement from GPs and other health professionals. The environment was clean, well maintained and free from hazards, with appropriate safety checks completed and equipment in good order. Staffing levels were stable, with no recent agency use, and staff described feeling well supported by visible and approachable leaders.

Care plans were generally in place and covered key areas of people’s needs and risks. However, some care records would benefit from further improvement to ensure information is clear, consistent and action-focused. Some minor inconsistencies were identified in areas such as mobility guidance, nutrition support, pressure care and emotional support, and there were gaps in some daily records. We fed this back and the provider has since taken action to address these issues.

The service was calm, with strong medicines management, stable staffing and positive leadership. Addressing the identified care planning and recording issues would strengthen assurance and help ensure people continue to receive safe, person-centred and consistent care.

People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen.