Walcot Hall, Diss, praised by Care Quality Commission following 'good' rating

A Diss care home has been praised by a social care watchdog for being “kind, caring and treating residents with both dignity and respect”.

Residents and staff at Walcot Hall Nursing Home in Diss are celebrating the start of 2022 and the home’s good ranking in its most recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The inspection, which took place in December, rated the home, in Walcot Green as good in all five categories inspected – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

In line with new CQC procedures introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, infection control and prevention measures were also inspected to ensure the home is able to prevent or manage any infection outbreak.

Clare Pethick, home manager at Walcot Hall, said: “We’re proud and delighted to have received a good overall rating, which reflects the hard work and care each and every member of my team demonstrates every day here at Walcot Hall.”

Gordon Cochrane, chief executive of Healthcare Homes – the provider that runs the home – added: “The health and wellbeing of each and every resident is always our primary concern and, as an operator with an excellent track record in care quality, we are delighted that Walcot Hall has been recognised by the CQC inspectors as a good home in every respect.

“We’re enormously proud of the hard work and commitment of the teams across all of our homes, who have delivered amazing care to our residents through an extended period of very challenging conditions caused by successive waves of the Covid epidemic as well as a sector-wide staffing shortage.”

Residents and their families are involved in making decisions about the care they receive at Walcot Hall.

Inspectors noted in the report: “These interactions show staff and residents clearly enjoyed each other’s company and, furthermore, they treat each other as equals.”

Recent CQC reports have not been as kind to other care homes across the Diss Express area.

In March, a damning report brought to light severe incidents of malpractice at St John’s House Hospital, in Palgrave. Inspectors found staff were asleep on the job and failing to safeguard patients from self-harm.

The 49-bed mental hospital was banned from admitting any new patients, and given four months from the date of the inspection to clean up its act.

Following another unsatisfactory inspection months later, the Priory Group chose to shut down the home for good.