Whitstable Nursing Home

How it fits locally

There are 11 other care homes within 3 miles, 8 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is Bradbury Grange, under 0.5 miles away.

11 of the 23 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.

It sits in Gorrell ward, classed by ONS as urban (further from a major town or city), among the 50% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Kent and Medway ICB.

Within about a 10-minute walk there is a pharmacy (3 min), a shop (1 min), a park (9 min), a café (2 min) and a bus stop (1 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.

The registered provider

Whitstable Nursing Home is run by Uniquehelp Limited (company 02200489), incorporated in 1987, 23 years before this service registered with CQC.

At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 3 active directors and there is no insolvency history.

Its registered business activity is nursing care.

Uniquehelp Limited runs 4 CQC-registered services; 0 of the 4 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (0%), against 83% for the same mix of services across England.

All 4 are in Kent, so it is a local operator rather than a national chain.

It trades under the Nicholas James and Regal Care Trading Limited brand, which covers 26 services run by 4 registered providers.

Budgeting for this home

We estimate Whitstable Nursing Home at £1,660–£2,030 a week for nursing care (dementia), based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £86k–£106k.

If nursing care is needed, the NHS pays a weekly NHS-funded nursing care contribution directly to the home, whoever pays the rest.

With savings below £23,250, Kent Council may contribute once it has carried out a free needs assessment.

History with CQC

CQC registration dates from January 2011, so the service has been operating for around 15 years under its current registration.

CQC has published 7 overall ratings for it (2015–2023), starting at Requires improvement; it has gone up 2 and down 1 time, and is now Requires improvement.

At 3 years old, the rating may not reflect the current team. CQC prioritises higher-risk services, so ask about recent changes rather than assuming the worst.

Reports on record: 6, with the most recent dated 4 March 2023.

Reading Whitstable Nursing Home's CQC ratings

Looking at the five areas: Safe, Effective and Well-led are rated below Good; 2 other areas are Good.

Across Kent, 92 of 465 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Safe (20%), while 45 of 465 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Effective (10%), while 110 of 465 rated care homes are Requires improvement for Well-led (24%).

The Safe, Effective and Well-led findings are the part of the report to read closely; ask the manager what has been put right.