Dover House

Updated 18 June 2026

Date of assessment: On site visits 30 June and 1 July 2026. The service is a residential and nursing care home providing accommodation and personal care for younger people, older people and people living with dementia. The service can support a maximum of 86 people. There were 47 people living in the service at the time of inspection.
The inspection was undertaken to follow up on enforcement action taken following our previous inspection when the service was rated inadequate (published 10 February 2026). At the last inspection, the provider was in breach of regulations in relation to person centred care, need for consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, premises and equipment, good governance and staffing. We checked to confirm if the provider had made improvements and the enforcement action taken had been complied with.
We found a number of improvements had been made and although some further improvement was necessary, we were confident the provider was working towards full compliance with regulations. The provider and registered manager had developed a service improvement plan following the last inspection and commissioned extra resources to support the immediate changes needed. They worked well with health and social care partners to ensure people’s safety was a priority. An emphasis had been placed on improving the environment people were living in, staff training and upskilling, improved risk management, learning lessons and care planning. We now had no concerns for people’s safety, and the quality of care and the environment people were living in was improving.
However, there continued to be breaches of regulation in relation to the safe management of medicines, maintenance and management of the premises, implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) in relation to people’s rights and consent and effective governance systems.
This service has been in Special Measures since 10 February 2026. The provider demonstrated improvements that have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Updated 18 June 2026

Although people and relatives had overwhelmingly fed back improvements were evident, some relatives found the upskilling and training of staff was not always apparent in practice. Some relatives felt some staff did not always pick up on signs of deterioration in their loved one and were still not as confident as they would expect.
People and relatives were aware of improvements in the environment, and the consistency of staff as limited agency staff were now used. This impacted positively on people’s care and well-being. People who required one to one support with a staff member had positive outcomes due to changes in care planning and a person-centred approach taken to their environment. There were mixed views however amongst relatives about how changes had impacted on their loved ones who were not receiving one to one care.
It was clear that people were living in a safer and cleaner environment that was more pleasant to live in. There was a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere, people looked cleaner and better cared for and staff were more confident.
A relative commented, “The environment has improved over the past months, and the home has been decorated and new armchairs put in place. The home used to smell, and this has now generally improved.”
There had been considerable improvements which had positively impacted people lives. These were still ongoing, but the provider and registered manager were committed to providing a good quality service with a clear plan and focus.