Courtlands Lodge

“Who the service is for”

“Courtlands Lodge is a care home providing accommodation, personal care and nursing care for older and younger adults. The service supports people living with dementia and people with a range of mental health needs.”

“Our view of the service”

“We carried out this assessment on 20, 25 August and 1 September 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.”

“People were protected from avoidable harm by staff who understood individual risks and safeguarding responsibilities. Staff demonstrated an understanding of least restrictive practice and adapted their approach to meet people's needs. However, risk assessments and care plans did not always provide sufficient guidance on responding to refusals of care. The registered manager recognised these areas for improvement and undertook a review of care plans and associated documentation.”

“People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions they had choice, control and freedom over their lives.”

“Learning was discussed and shared through supervision and staff meetings. However, more consistent management oversight of incidents was needed to ensure learning and any actions taken were regularly reviewed and clearly evidenced.”

“Medicines were managed safely, and staff followed appropriate processes for their storage, administration and recording. Staff were recruited safely and received regular training, supervision and support.”

“The environment was clean and well maintained, with regular safety checks and ongoing improvements.”

“People's needs had been assessed, and staff demonstrated a good understanding of people's support requirements. Staff were able to describe personalised approaches to supporting people, including providing reassurance, repeating information where required, allowing people time and adapting support to individual preferences. Staff worked effectively with healthcare professionals and monitored people's health and wellbeing to support positive outcomes. Staff understood the importance of gaining consent and described using explanation, reassurance and revisiting people at a later time if support was initially declined. However, records did not always clearly demonstrate how best interest decisions should be implemented in practice or provide enough detailed guidance regarding responses to refusals of care. Following discussions during the assessment, the registered manager reviewed care documentation and involved relevant health and social care professionals to review some decisions where people lacked capacity.”

“People were supported to maintain their independence and make choices about how they spent their time. We observed people accessing the community and leaving the service independently or with support from companions. Staff understood the importance of promoting people's independence and encouraging participation in activities and social opportunities. Whilst people experienced…”