All inspections: Mental Health Care - Kimblesworth

When we visited MHC Kimblesworth we found nineteen people lived there. As we arrived, eight of those people were going out for a day trip to Goathland and Whitby. We spoke with three of those people before they left, as well as four other people who lived at the home. Everyone spoke favourably about living at MHC Kimblesworth. Comments included, “I haven’t been here long, but the place is great. The food is good and the staff are brilliant,” and, “It’s really good. I’m looking forward to Whitby.”

We found people’s rooms were personalised and homely, and the home was clean and free from odours.

We spoke with staff who told us they had received a lot of updated training recently. They spoke with knowledge about the people who lived at the home, and clearly understood their needs.

At a previous inspection visit we saw the provider did not operate effective systems to monitor the quality of services provided. During this visit we saw the provider had improved its monitoring systems and had developed a detailed action plan to ensure continuous improvement took place.

The provider had an effective complaints policy in place which was accessible to people living at the home and their relatives and visitors.

At the time of our visit Mental Health Care Kimblesworth was temporarily relocated to another of the charity's homes, whilst refurbishment work was undertaken at the Kimblesworth site. The service had occupied the upper floor of Benfield Villa at Blackhill, Consett, County Durham. This building was usually a home for elderly people and at the time of our visit was operating as such on the ground floor only. The residents of Kimblesworth had been at Benfield Villa since June 2012.

We brought forward a scheduled inspection because concerns had been raised about the care and treatment the residents of Kimblesworth were receiving whilst at their temporary location.

We found that 15 people were living at home on the day we visited. The home was well maintained and clean. Entry and exit from the building was by a keypad locking system. People with capacity had been given the number and others were assisted by staff to leave and return to the building.

We spoke with most of the residents during our visit. All expressed a desire to return to their regular home at Kimblesworth but were generally in good spirits and very positive about living at the home. One said 'I feel safe. The lasses here are great; on their feet all day. They must be worn out.' Another person commented 'We can come and go as we please.'

We spoke with people about the service. One person told us, 'It's not bad at all here, the staff are good to us and there is always someone to talk to.'

We saw that people looked comfortable in the home. One person told us, 'I've been here for a long time, it's my home.' People in the home looked after a pet budgie. People were very enthusiastic when they spoke about him. One person told us, 'It's good that we have a pet here, I like helping out and feeding Harry.'

We spoke with some of the people who shared a bedroom, they told us they were happy with the arrangements. One person said, 'I don't mind sharing, we get on well. Sometimes I get woken up when my room mate turns her light on to read her book, but I don't mind.'

The people we talked with spoke highly of the staff at the home. One person told us, 'The staff are alright, they're easy to talk to.' Another person told us, 'They care about us, they're always checking if we're ok.'

These older reports are from our old approaches to inspection, including those from before CQC was created.

Archived: Mental Health Care - Kimblesworth

All Inspections

15 May 2013

During a routine inspection

9 October 2012

During an inspection in response to concerns

31 January 2012

During a routine inspection

Reports under our old system of regulation