- Homecare service
Darlison Court
Assessment report published 15 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
About the service
Darlison Court is an Extra Care Housing scheme. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant's own home. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support service.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates the personal care and support that people may receive. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.
Who the service is for
The service supported people with dementia, physical disabilities and learning disabilities in their own flats. There were 9 people using the service at the time of the assessment.Key findings
We carried out this assessment on 19 August 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.
At the time of the assessment, the service was not supporting any autistic people or people with a learning disability, but the providerhad regard to ‘Right support, right care, right culture’.
There was a positive learning culture within the service. The provider demonstrated a positive learning culture where incidents, concerns and feedback were reviewed. Lessons learnt and actions were implemented where required.
People were supported by enough staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely. Risks were assessed and people were involved in the process.
There were effective systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. The provider completed regular reviews of safeguarding events to establish key themes and trends.
Staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and were confident in recognising, reporting and responding to concerns to keep people safe from abuse and avoidable harm.
Some care records did not consistently include detailed information relating to specific healthcare needs; however, staff demonstrated a good understanding of people's needs.
The provider frequently arranged parties for the people living at the service. They also raised money for charity, giving back to the local community.
Medicines were managed safely, with clear procedures for administration, recording, storage and monitoring within people's homes. Staff told us “All medications are on their [medicine administration record] chart. Calls are spaced at intervals to correspond to the times they need their medication.
The provider had worked exceptionally hard to support people to meet their goals and outcomes. The provider evidenced reconnecting people with estranged family members, including supporting them to visit family. The provider supported people to access community activities of their interest and assisted people with decorating their flats when they moved into the service. They had also supported people from residential care into more independent living.
Governance and quality assurance systems were effective in monitoring service performance. Audits, feedback, incident reviews and oversight processes were used to support learning and improve outcomes for people. The provider demonstrated a commitment to innovation and learning, ensuring the service continued to develop and respond to the changing needs of people receiving care.
People's experience of this service
Feedback was gathered from people and those important to them through face-to-face discussion, and telephone calls.
People told us they felt safe, well supported and confident in the care they received.
People consistently told us they had a very positive experience of support from the service and felt staff were kind, respectful and focused on helping them.
One person told us the staff are “Very attentive and they do everything to the highest standards. No complaints. None!” A relative also described the service as “Top Notch and 10 out of 10. I know all of them and they are all caring and compassionate. They help [person] shower and change [their] pads. [Person] presses [their] buzzer now when [person] needs [their] pad changing and they come straight away.”
People spoke fondly of staff attitudes and the quality of relationships they developed. One relative told us staff are, “friendly, happy, they always want to help, never rush [person] and do things at [person’s] pace.”
People praised the provider for the support and quality of life the service offered them. One person told us, “It's given me my independence back. I didn't go out for a year before living here. Now I can go out. This is like a palace to me.” Another person told us, “I would never be anywhere else. The care staff are very good. It's nice here. I like to come to coffee morning, and for dinner as well.”
People told us carers understood their individual needs, health conditions and daily routines, which helped them feel comfortable and supported. People told us carers arrived at the planned time and stayed for the required time needed.
People spoke positively of the social aspect of the care provided at Darlison Court. They enjoyed the coffee morning, lunch club and ‘fish Friday’. They did express a wish for more social activities but acknowledged this was not a fault of the care provider but related to the housing provider.
People were empowered and had choice and control over their care. People told us care could be flexible and support in accessing the local community was specific to them. For example, one person liked to visit the library, which they were supported to do.