Archived: Victoria House Residential Home

30-31 Victoria Embankment, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 5JR (01325) 244960

Provided and run by:
Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

16 November 2012

During a routine inspection

People were involved in a variety of activities in the community during the course of our visit and one person was away on holiday with staff at a place of their choosing. One person we spoke with told us "It's lovely here, we are like one big family".

The service had improved the processes around medication administration since our last visit which included more training for staff and storing medications in a new dedicated room.

The manager of the service told us that care plans were undergoing change to a new model and we advised it would be helpful to reduce the amount of information in people's current files so only important up-to-date documents were stored in them.

4 October 2011

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We spoke to three people. They told us they were really looking forward to their planned holiday to Norfolk. They showed us a brochure of where they were going. They also told us about attending an art class where they said they loved to knit and make pottery. One person was getting their things ready to go swimming.

We saw that there were plenty of staff on duty to support people with their daily activities. We saw that they knew how best to communicate with people and that they understood their care needs. We saw that staff treated the service users with dignity and respect.

21 June 2011

During a routine inspection

On the day of out visit there were five people living at Victoria House who had a wide range of care and support needs. We were able to meet and speak to all five people during our visit. All but one person said that they liked living at Victoria House. The person who said they did not like living there stated that they would prefer to live in their own home. The manager and staff are supporting them to reach this goal.

People told us they took part in a range of activities. This included going shopping, attending art classes and going on trips out in the home's minibus. People told us how they had all recently been on a holiday. One person told us how much they enjoyed their holiday to Norfolk, particularly the barges, a particular passion of theirs. Another person told us how they had been supported to visit their family member.

One person told us how they could compare Victoria House to other health and social care settings they had lived in and how much better Victoria House was.

People told us how they attended weekly house meetings where they had the opportunity to voice their opinions. There was a meeting on the day of our visit.

Overall there was a good rapport between the staff on duty and the people who used services. We saw that they understood the needs of the people in their care.

Some people showed us their bedrooms. We saw that people had a key to their room. These were all individual and full of personal items and possessions. People told us they liked their bedrooms and had chosen the colour schemes. One person told us how their bedroom had been decorated whist they had been away of holiday.

People who used the service said:

'I like it here',

I like the staff', 'they will do anything for you'

'I really enjoyed my holiday'

'I feel valued' and

'We do cooking and go out'.