- Independent mental health service
Dartmouth House
Assessment report published 10 July 2025
Contents
Ratings - Long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults
Our view of the service
We completed an assessment and inspection of Dartmouth House between 6 and 27 May 2025.
This assessment was carried out following CQC's new approach to assessment; Single Assessment Framework (SAF). We looked at all quality statements under each key question. We carried out a mix of onsite and offsite inspection and assessment activity between 6 and 27 May 2025. This was an unannounced assessment, which means the provider was not told an assessment was going to be starting beforehand.
Dartmouth House is a long stay/rehabilitation unit for up to 16 men of working age. It is registered to provide care and treatment to people detained under the Mental Health Act. The philosophy of the service is to provide rehabilitation. They provide care for male patients only, aged between 18 and 64 years old.
The service had a registered manager at the time of our inspection.
Dartmouth House was last inspected in April 2018. We rated the service as good overall and good in all key questions. At this inspection we found the service remained as good overall and good in all key questions.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 8 people who used the service during the onsite inspection.
People told us they felt safe at Dartmouth House and the staff were kind to them.
They said if things were broken, they were repaired quickly.
People said that there were enough staff who were knowledgeable and knew how to support them. They said their leave from the hospital was not cancelled because of staffing and staff supported them to access the community and visit their family.
People told us that they had a care plan and attended their ward rounds with the multidisciplinary team where they felt listened to. They said they were asked for their views about their care and treatment and were given time to respond. They had an advocate who supported them when needed.
People said that staff wanted them to be independent and to do things for themselves. This included cooking, budgeting skills, and using public transport. They visited the community often on walks, to shops, the library and gym and were supported to exercise regularly.
Staff supported people to attend places of worship if they wanted to and provided spaces to pray in the hospital. Staff supported people to celebrate religious and cultural festivals.
People said that staff responded if they needed urgent help or support.