Kingfisher View Complex Care Service – Exemplar Health Care

What families say

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-06-04 · Report published 2021-06-04

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. No specific concerns about safety were recorded in the published findings. A regulatory review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring the rating to be reassessed. The home is registered for nursing care, which means a registered nurse should be on site, though staffing details are not published. No information about falls management, medicines, or infection control practices is included in the available report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means the inspection found no significant failures in the systems designed to keep your parent safe. However, with only 16 beds and a mixed specialism including dementia and mental health, the details that matter most to families, such as how many staff are on duty overnight and how quickly a fall is responded to, are simply not in the published report. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety can slip in small homes, particularly for residents with dementia who may be unsettled overnight. You should ask directly how many staff are present after 8pm and whether a registered nurse is always on site. If agency staff cover overnight shifts, ask whether the same people return regularly, because familiarity with residents is itself a safety factor.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, because unfamiliar staff are less likely to recognise early signs of deterioration in residents they do not know.","watch_out":"Ask: how many staff are on the dementia unit after 8pm, and is a registered nurse present on site throughout the night? Then ask how many of those overnight shifts in the last month were covered by agency staff."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. No specific detail about care plan quality, GP access, medicines management, dementia training, or food provision is included in the published report. The home holds nursing registration, indicating a clinical governance structure should be in place. The July 2023 regulatory review did not identify any concerns that would prompt reassessment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care, in plain terms, means that staff know your parent as an individual and that their health is actively monitored and managed. The Good rating suggests the inspectors were satisfied, but without seeing what they actually examined, it is hard to know what that satisfaction was based on. For a home specialising in dementia, what families in our review data care about most is whether care plans feel personal rather than generic. Good Practice evidence shows that care plans which are regularly reviewed with family input, and which capture life history and preferences, lead to better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia. Ask to see a sample care plan, with personal details removed, to judge whether it reads like a real person or a tick-box document. Also ask how often the GP visits the home and whether a pharmacist reviews medications regularly.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that care plans treated as living documents, updated after every significant health change and reviewed with families at least quarterly, are strongly associated with better-quality dementia care and fewer avoidable hospital admissions.","watch_out":"Ask how often care plans are reviewed, whether families are invited to contribute, and what dementia-specific training staff have completed beyond mandatory e-learning. Ask to see a sample anonymised plan to judge whether it reflects a real individual."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. No direct quotes from residents or relatives are included in the published report, and no specific inspector observations about staff interactions, dignity, or compassion are recorded. The Good rating indicates that inspectors were satisfied that care was delivered in a respectful and person-centred way, but the basis for that satisfaction is not described in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, cited in over half of all positive reviews of care homes across the UK. A Good rating for caring is encouraging, but the absence of any resident or relative testimony in this report means you cannot yet know what warmth looks like at Kingfisher View on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. Good Practice research is clear that for people with advanced dementia, non-verbal communication, tone of voice, unhurried movement, and a familiar face, matters as much as any formal care intervention. On your visit, watch how staff greet your parent at the door, whether they use the name your parent prefers, and whether they make eye contact and speak calmly. These small moments are the most reliable signal of genuine caring culture.","evidence_base":"Research across 61 studies found that person-led care, defined as staff knowing and using individual preferences, history, and communication style, produces measurable improvements in mood, reduced agitation, and greater family confidence in care homes supporting people with dementia.","watch_out":"On your visit, observe a corridor interaction between a staff member and a resident. Does the staff member stop, make eye contact, use the resident's preferred name, and speak without rushing? This tells you more than any document."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. No specific information about the activity programme, individual engagement, meaningful occupation, or end-of-life care is included in the published report. The home's specialism in dementia, mental health, and physical disabilities means responsiveness to individual needs is particularly important, but the inspection text provides no detail on how this is achieved in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Responsive care means your parent has a life here, not just a bed. For someone with dementia, that means engagement that is tailored to where they are in their condition, not just a group session they sit beside without participating. In our family review data, activities and engagement features in over one in five positive reviews, and the strongest reviews describe specific, individual moments rather than general programmes. Good Practice evidence points to Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding laundry, arranging flowers, or helping to lay a table, as particularly effective for people with dementia because they connect to long-term memory and provide a sense of purpose. Ask what happens for a resident who can no longer join group activities. The answer to that question is one of the clearest indicators of whether a home truly understands dementia care.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review identified that tailored one-to-one activities, particularly those drawing on a resident's life history and previous occupations, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes than group-only activity programmes for people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator): what would a typical Tuesday look like for a resident with advanced dementia who can no longer join group sessions? If the answer is vague, press for a specific example from the past week."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The home is run by Kingfisher Health Care Services Limited. The registered manager is Mrs Kimberly Ann Payne and the nominated individual is Ms Selina Wall. Both are named in the registration record, providing clear lines of accountability. No further detail about management culture, staff feedback mechanisms, governance processes, or leadership visibility is included in the published inspection findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good leadership in a care home is not just about paperwork and compliance. It is about whether the manager knows the residents by name, whether staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and whether the home improves when things go wrong. Our family review data shows that visible, approachable management features in nearly one in four positive reviews. Good Practice evidence is clear that leadership stability, meaning a manager who has been in post long enough to know the home deeply, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality. This inspection was carried out in May 2021, which means it is now over four years old. Ask whether Mrs Payne is still the manager, how long she has been in post, and whether there have been significant changes in the senior team or staffing structure since then. A home where the manager has been stable for several years, and where staff turnover is low, is a positive signal.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that homes with a stable registered manager in post for more than two years consistently outperform homes with frequent management changes on quality indicators including safety incidents, family satisfaction, and staff retention.","watch_out":"Ask directly: is Mrs Payne still the registered manager, how long has she been in post, and has there been significant staff turnover in the last 12 months? If the manager has changed since the 2021 inspection, the Good rating reflects a different leadership team than the one currently running the home."}

  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 Kingfisher View has experience supporting both younger and older adults with varying needs. They provide specialist care for people living with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the approach focuses on understanding each person's unique needs and abilities. Staff work to create an environment where people can maintain their skills and independence for as long as possible. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.