Kingsmead Care Home

What families say

Based on 3 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement52
• Food quality52
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-09-27 · Report published 2022-09-27 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for safety at its September 2022 inspection. This is an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement period, suggesting the home has addressed past concerns in how it manages risks, staffing and medicines. A Good Safe rating generally indicates that inspectors were satisfied with how falls, incidents and safeguarding concerns were handled. The home is a nursing home, meaning registered nurses are present u2014 which is relevant for medication management and clinical monitoring. Specific evidence about night staffing ratios, agency staff use or how incidents are logged was not available from the inspection data provided.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating after a period of Requires Improvement is genuinely reassuring u2014 it means the home had to demonstrate real change, not just promise it. For your parent, this matters most at night and during shift handovers, which is when safety tends to slip in care settings. Our family review data shows that 14% of families specifically mention staff attentiveness as a key concern, and the Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing as the single highest-risk period. Because specific figures were not available here, you cannot assume the night staffing is adequate without asking directly. The home's nursing status means your parent should always have access to a qualified nurse on site, which is a meaningful protection.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that reductions in night staffing are consistently associated with increased falls, undetected health deterioration and delayed response to distress u2014 making night ratios one of the most important practical questions for any family.","watch_out":"Ask the home: how many staff are on duty overnight on the dementia unit, and is there always a qualified nurse present on the floor u2014 not just on call u2014 between 10pm and 7am?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for effectiveness, which covers training, care planning, nutrition and healthcare access. As a nursing home specialising in dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairment, the effective domain is particularly significant u2014 it indicates inspectors were satisfied that staff had the skills and knowledge to meet the complex needs of the people living there. The home's specialisms suggest a degree of expertise beyond standard residential care. However, the full inspection text was not available, so the depth of dementia training, care plan quality and food provision cannot be assessed from the available data.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad, effectiveness means the staff do not just mean well u2014 they know what they are doing. In dementia care specifically, this means understanding that a change in behaviour is often a communication of pain, fear or an unmet need rather than a symptom to be managed. Our family review data shows healthcare is weighted at 20.2% and food quality at 20.9% in what families value most. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans need to be living documents updated with family input u2014 not paperwork completed at admission and filed away. The fact that this home has dementia as a formal specialism means you should expect a higher standard of dementia-specific training than a general residential home, and you are entitled to ask for evidence of it.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that person-centred care planning u2014 where care plans genuinely reflect individual life history, preferences and communication styles u2014 significantly reduces distress behaviours and improves wellbeing in people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan structure and ask specifically: how does the home record what each person's dementia looks like for them individually, and when was the last time a family member was invited to review and contribute to their parent's plan?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Caring at its September 2022 inspection. This domain directly assesses whether staff treat people with kindness, respect and dignity. A Good rating here means inspectors were satisfied with what they observed during their visit. The home covers a wide range of needs including dementia and sensory impairment, where caring interactions require adapted communication and genuine attentiveness. Because the full inspection text was not available, no specific observations, resident quotes or examples of dignified care practice could be retrieved and verified.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Of all the domains, Caring is the one that matters most to families u2014 our review data shows staff warmth (57.3%) and compassion and dignity (55.2%) are the two highest-weighted themes in what families identify as important when reflecting positively on a care home. A Good rating here is encouraging, but it is also the domain where the gap between what an inspector sees on a two-hour visit and what your parent experiences at 6am on a Tuesday can be largest. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as words for people with dementia u2014 being unhurried, making eye contact, using touch appropriately. These things cannot be measured in a checklist, which is why your own visit observation is irreplaceable.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that person-led care u2014 where staff know the individual's life history, preferences and communication signals u2014 produces measurably better outcomes for people with dementia than task-focused care, even when staffing ratios are similar.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch what happens when a staff member passes your parent or another resident in the corridor u2014 do they stop, make eye contact, use the person's name? That unrehearsed moment tells you more than any answer to a formal question."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsiveness, which covers how well the home tailors its care to individual needs, provides meaningful activities and supports people's independence. This domain also includes how the home handles complaints and plans for end-of-life care. For a home specialising in dementia and sensory impairment, responsiveness is particularly demanding u2014 it requires activities and daily routines that make sense for people at very different stages and with very different remaining abilities. No specific evidence about the activities programme, individual engagement or end-of-life planning was available from the inspection data.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, responsiveness is the difference between a day that has meaning and a day spent in a chair watching television. Our family review data shows activities and engagement is weighted at 21.4% and resident happiness at 27.1% u2014 these are not trivial concerns. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that group activities alone are insufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia; individual, one-to-one engagement based on life history and remaining abilities is what sustains wellbeing. A Good rating here is a reasonable foundation, but you want to understand what the home actually does for someone who can no longer join a group session or follow an activity plan u2014 because that is where the quality difference between a Good home and an excellent one is most visible.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches u2014 folding laundry, tending plants, sorting familiar objects u2014 can sustain engagement and a sense of purpose for people with advanced dementia far more effectively than organised group activities.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator: what would a typical Tuesday look like for a resident with moderate dementia who cannot follow group instructions u2014 specifically, who would spend time with them one-to-one, and what would that look like?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Well-Led at its September 2022 inspection u2014 a particularly significant improvement given that its previous inspection resulted in a Requires Improvement overall rating. Being well-led covers the management culture, governance systems, how the home responds to concerns, and whether staff feel supported and able to speak up. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains in a subsequent inspection indicates the management team drove real change rather than cosmetic improvement. No specific details about the manager's tenure, staff culture or governance systems were available from the inspection data.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The improvement from Requires Improvement to a full set of Good ratings is the single most meaningful data point in this report. It tells you that when this home had problems, it fixed them u2014 and that the management team can execute change, not just describe it. Our family review data shows management and leadership is weighted at 23.4%, and communication with families at 11.5%. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability is the strongest predictor of quality trajectory u2014 homes that keep their registered manager and empower staff tend to maintain or improve their ratings. What you want to understand on a visit is whether the current management team is the same one that drove the improvement, and whether that culture of accountability is now embedded rather than dependent on one individual.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that stable, visible leadership u2014 where managers are known to residents and families, not just present in the office u2014 is the strongest single predictor of sustained quality in care homes, outweighing staffing ratios and physical environment.","watch_out":"Ask directly: is the current registered manager the same person who was in post during the improvement from Requires Improvement, and how long have they been in their role? A manager who has been in post for less than a year since the inspection date warrants careful follow-up questions about continuity."}

  Verified by inspector

Source: CQC inspection report →

What the evidence base says

Against the DCC Good Practice in Dementia Care standards, this home’s evidence aligns most strongly on The team at Kingsmead works with residents who have sensory impairments and physical disabilities. They care for both younger adults and those over 65, with specialist dementia support available.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, Kingsmead provides specialist care as part of their broader support for people with varying needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.