\n Kings Court Care Home, in Holt, has been rated inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its first inspection, with the regulator also beginning enforcement action against the provider.\n<\/p>\n
\n The home, run by Kingsley Buckingham Lodge Limited and which opened two years ago, was rated inadequate for responsiveness and leadership, while safety, effectiveness and caring were all rated as requiring improvement.\n<\/p>\n
\n A view of the care home off Hempstead Road in Holt in planning documents (Image: Kingsley Healthcare \/ Planning and access statement)\n<\/p>\n
\n The CQC found the service was in breach of regulations relating to governance, staffing and the employment of fit and proper persons.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of adult social care for the East of England, said: \u201cWhen we inspected Kings Court Care Home, we found significant shortcomings in leaders\u2019 abilities to ensure people consistently received safe, effective and responsive care.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhile frontline staff were described as kind and caring, leaders had failed to address concerns around staffing arrangements, which impacted people\u2019s experience of care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n A flashback photo to 2024 showing North Norfolk MP Steffan Aquarone taking part in the care home’s time capsule project in collaboration with Holt Youth Project (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n The report highlighted a number of serious incidents and concerns at the home, which opened in 2024.\n<\/p>\n
\n People left waiting for help\n<\/p>\n
\n Inspectors observed one resident ask for help to use the toilet at 11.30am. Although a staff member was called, the patient was left waiting while further assistance was sought and was not helped for around eight minutes.\n<\/p>\n
\n This person became incontinent and was visibly upset before support arrived.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kings Court Care Home, in Holt, has been rated inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission (Image: Google Maps)\n<\/p>\n
\n Inspectors also reviewed call bell records, which showed delays of up to 30 minutes before residents were attended to.\n<\/p>\n
\n The report said: “Some relatives also described delays when people required assistance.\n<\/p>\n
\n “One relative told us their family member often experienced delays when using their call bell, while another felt staff were frequently rushed and unable to respond as quickly as they would like.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The report found safeguarding and risk management concerns, including one resident suffering two falls within approximately 90 minutes and another experiencing multiple falls across a three-week period despite preventative measures being in place.\n<\/p>\n
\n The care home being constructed off Hempstead Road in Holt in 2023 (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Elsewhere, inspectors found two unlocked showroom bedrooms which were accessible to residents and only secured after staff were alerted.\n<\/p>\n
\n Knitting needles were also discovered stored in an unlocked communal area, creating a potential risk for residents living with cognitive impairment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Inspectors said: “The provider relied heavily on agency workers but could not demonstrate effective oversight of their compliance.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Staff files reviewed contained significant gaps, including missing DBS evidence, barred list checks, employment histories, references, right to work documentation, conduct in previous roles and evidence of competency assurance.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Staff working more than 70 hours\n<\/p>\n
\n A member of agency staff was also found to have worked more than 70 hours in a single week, while inspectors said the provider could not demonstrate effective oversight of working hours or staff wellbeing.\n<\/p>\n
\n A view of the then-planned care home off Hempstead Road in Holt (Image: Kingsley Healthcare \/ Planning and access statement)\n<\/p>\n
\n Staff feedback painted a troubling picture, with one worker reportedly saying they were \u201cshort-staffed every shift\u201d and another describing morale as very low.\n<\/p>\n
\n Other staff raised concerns about a “culture where appearance, presentation and organisational image” were prioritised above residents\u2019 comfort and wellbeing.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, the report also identified positive aspects of the service.\n<\/p>\n
\n Residents and relatives praised frontline care staff for being kind, caring and attentive.\n<\/p>\n
\n The home’s response\n<\/p>\n
\n Reacting to the report, Kingsley Healthcare Group apologised to residents and families and said significant improvements had already begun.\n<\/p>\n
\n Shane Collier, operations director for the East, said: \u201cWe recognise the seriousness of the findings at Kings Court and accept that the standards identified in the report were not where they needed to be.\n<\/p>\n
\n Shane Collier, operations director for the East, said he recognised the ‘seriousness’ of the findings at Kings Court. (Image: Kingsley Healthcare)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSince these concerns were identified, we have taken decisive action. New management is in place, reliance on agency staff has been significantly reduced, and our operations and quality teams are maintaining regular oversight of the home and its improvement plan.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOur focus now is on ensuring those improvements are embedded in day-to-day practice and are reflected in the experience of residents and their families.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The provider said a new dedicated home manager had been appointed, additional permanent staff recruited, and oversight strengthened.\n<\/p>\n
\n It added that formal representations submitted against a CQC warning notice in July remain under review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kings Court Care Home, in Holt, has been rated inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-781626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}