Kirklands Care Ltd

What families say

Families mention the friendly nature of the staff, who greet visitors warmly and seem genuinely pleased to chat. Residents appear settled and happy, with some family members noting their relatives have adjusted well to life at the home.

Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth65
• Compassion & dignity68
• Cleanliness50
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare40
• Management & leadership35
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-10-25 · Report published 2019-10-25 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Safe was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2025 inspection. This means inspectors identified shortfalls in one or more areas covering how risks to residents are managed, how medicines are handled, and how staffing keeps people protected. The full detail of what specifically fell short is not available in the published summary. A Requires Improvement rating in Safe is the area of greatest immediate concern for any family considering this home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Safety is the foundation everything else rests on. Our Good Practice evidence base, drawing on 61 studies, identifies night staffing ratios and the consistency of permanent staff as two of the strongest predictors of whether a home can reliably keep your parent safe. A Requires Improvement in Safe means the inspection found the home was not meeting all the standards required in this area at the time of the visit. That does not mean your parent would come to harm, but it does mean you should ask hard, specific questions before deciding. Find out exactly what the inspectors found and what has changed since.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that reliance on agency staff and thin night staffing are among the most consistent predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A Requires Improvement in Safe should prompt direct questions about both.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the staffing rota for the last two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff covered night shifts, and ask what specific changes have been made since the October 2025 inspection to address the Safe rating."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Effective was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training and knowledge, whether care plans are detailed and kept up to date, whether healthcare access including GP and medication review is well managed, and whether nutrition and hydration are properly supported. The published summary does not specify which of these areas fell short, so the full picture requires reading the detailed inspection report or speaking directly with the manager.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home specialising in dementia care, an Effective rating below Good is particularly important to scrutinise. Good Practice evidence shows that dementia-specific training, including understanding non-verbal communication and recognising pain in people who cannot express it verbally, makes a measurable difference to how well your parent is cared for day to day. Our review data shows food quality is mentioned in 20.9% of positive family reviews, which tells you that mealtimes matter enormously to families. If care planning and healthcare access are the areas that fell short here, those are exactly the things that affect your parent's physical wellbeing most directly.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans function best as living documents reviewed with family input, and that homes where staff receive structured dementia training show better outcomes in managing distress and maintaining daily function.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask when it was last reviewed and whether a family member was involved in that review. Also ask what dementia-specific training all staff, including night staff, have completed in the last 12 months."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Caring was rated Good at the October 2025 inspection. This is the domain that most directly reflects how staff treat your parent in daily interactions, including whether they are addressed by their preferred name, whether their privacy is respected, and whether they are treated with genuine warmth rather than just routine efficiency. A Good rating here means inspectors observed these standards being met. This is a meaningful positive in a home that otherwise has three Requires Improvement domains.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data, mentioned in 57.3% of all positive Google reviews across 5,409 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity appear in 55.2% of positive reviews. A Good rating in Caring tells you that on the day inspectors visited, the people who live here were being treated with respect and kindness. What the inspection cannot tell you is whether that is consistent across all shifts, including evenings and weekends when staffing is often thinner. Visit at different times of day and watch how staff greet your parent in corridors and common areas.","evidence_base":"Good Practice evidence confirms that non-verbal communication, such as eye contact, unhurried pace, and the use of touch, matters as much as verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia. A Good Caring rating suggests these basics are in place, but consistency across all staff and all shifts is what to probe further.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand quietly in a corridor or lounge for ten minutes and watch how staff pass by residents. Do they stop, make eye contact, use names? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? This tells you more than any formal answer will."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Good at the October 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether the home treats your parent as an individual rather than a generic resident, whether activities are meaningful and accessible, whether complaints are handled properly, and whether end-of-life care is planned and compassionate. A Good rating here is encouraging. The published summary does not provide specific examples of activities or individual responsiveness, so the detail behind this rating is not fully visible from the published summary alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness and contentment in 27.1%. A Good Responsive rating suggests the home is doing something right in this area. However, Good Practice research is clear that activities must be tailored to the individual, not just offered to a group, and that for people with advanced dementia, one-to-one engagement and familiar household tasks can be more meaningful than organised group sessions. Ask specifically about what happens for your parent on days when they cannot or do not want to join a group activity.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and the use of familiar everyday tasks, such as folding laundry or watering plants, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing and reduced distress in people with moderate to advanced dementia, far beyond what group entertainment activities achieve.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records from the last two weeks, not the planned schedule. Look for evidence of individual, one-to-one engagement rather than just group events. Ask what happens for a resident who is in bed, very anxious, or unable to participate in a group."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether the manager and leadership team have a clear understanding of how the home is performing, whether staff feel supported and able to raise concerns, whether governance and quality monitoring are effective, and whether the home learns from incidents and complaints. A Requires Improvement here, alongside similar ratings in Safe and Effective, suggests a pattern of concern rather than an isolated issue. Leadership quality is one of the strongest predictors of whether a home improves or deteriorates over time.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our Good Practice evidence base is unambiguous: leadership stability and a culture where staff can speak up are among the strongest predictors of care quality over time. A Requires Improvement in Well-led matters not just because of what it says about now, but because of what it suggests about the home's direction. In 23.4% of positive family reviews, families specifically mention feeling that someone in charge knows and cares about their parent. If the inspection found leadership falling short, that confidence is harder to establish. Ask how long the current manager has been in post and what specific governance improvements have been made since October 2025.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that bottom-up staff empowerment, where frontline carers feel safe raising concerns and see action taken, is one of the most reliable markers of a well-run home. Homes where staff feel unheard are significantly more likely to have recurring safety and care quality issues.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what were the specific findings in the Well-led domain, what actions have been taken since October 2025, and how will they know when the issues are resolved? If the manager cannot answer specifically and confidently, that is itself an important signal."}

  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 Kirklands provides care for people aged 65 and over, with particular experience in supporting those with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home welcomes residents living with dementia, offering specialised support as part of their care approach. Staff work to ensure these residents feel comfortable and engaged in daily life. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.