Hickling House
- Care home
- 29 beds
- No nursing
- Dementia care
- Registered since 2017
- Sutton, Norfolk, East of England
Requires improvement
Rated on
Rating from the Care Quality Commission.
At a glance
2 ratings
Its last inspection moved it down from Good to Requires improvement.
2 months
since the latest rating was published.
86 of 288
rated care homes in Norfolk are rated Requires improvement, like this one.
Hickling House: inspection record
Rated Requires improvement in August 2026, down from Good.
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | ||||||||||||
| Safe | ||||||||||||
| Effective | ||||||||||||
| Caring | ||||||||||||
| Responsive | ||||||||||||
| Well-led |
Ratings published by the Care Quality Commission.
Compare nearby
Nearest rated Good or Outstanding: Ingham Old Hall Care Home (Good, 1.8 miles away) and Sydney House (Good, 2.9 miles away).
Nearest care homes:
- RI Honeysuckle Cottage Requires improvement, 1.8 miles away
- G Ingham Old Hall Care Home Good, 1.8 miles away
- G Sydney House Good, 2.9 miles away
- RI Broadland House Residential Care Home Requires improvement, 3.2 miles away
- RI The Old Vicarage Requires improvement, 3.9 miles away
What inspectors found
From the Care Quality Commission's assessment published 19 August 2026 (assessment visit 13 April 2026). Quoted under the Open Government Licence.
Date of inspection: 06 May 2026 to 06 July 2026.
Hickling House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 29 people. It provides support for older people and people living with a dementia. At the time of our inspection, there were 25 people living in the service. We completed a comprehensive inspection due to the length of time since the last inspection. This included 2 unannounced site visits. We observed the environment, spoke with people living in the service and interacted with staff. Offsite we gained feedback from people’s relatives, healthcare professionals and spoke with staff. We found the provider was in breach of the regulation relating to governance and have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this inspection. We found that care documents were not always recorded in detail and quality assurance tools and informative guidance was not always monitored, accurately recorded or updated and acted upon.
- Safe No rating
- Effective Good
- Caring Good
- Responsive Good
- Well-led No rating
Read the rest of CQC's summary
However, people were generally well cared for, safe and treated with kindness and dignity. Feedback from people and relatives was overwhelmingly positive. People felt protected from abuse and avoidable harm and risks were generally identified. There was appropriate involvement with healthcare professionals when people’s needs changed. Care was effective and responsive, and people were supported to access health care services where professionals spoke positively about how staff communicated and worked in partnership with them. Medicines were managed safely, infection risks were mostly controlled, and the environment was generally clean and well maintained.
People were assisted to meet their nutritional and wellbeing needs, including participating in activities and social interaction. Staff understood people’s needs well and ensured people could express views and make choices. People and families were included in decisions about their care, and families and professionals told us they felt listened to and praised staff that have acted quickly when concerns arose.
-
Safe
No rating
Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement. This meant some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety. There was an increased risk that people could be harmed.
-
Effective
Good
Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.
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Caring
Good
Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.
-
Responsive
Good
Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.
-
Well-led
No rating
Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has changed to requires improvement. This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to governance at the service.
Questions to ask when you visit
- Safe was rated Requires improvement on 19 August 2026. Ask how medicines are managed, how staffing levels are decided and how incidents are reviewed.
- Well-led was rated Requires improvement on 19 August 2026. Ask about changes in management and what has changed since the report.
- Ask to see the most recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report and what the home did about any points in it.
Registration details
- Registered manager
- Donna McCourt-Hall
- Registered with the CQC since
- What it provides
- Care home service without nursing
- Who it supports
- Dementia, Older People, Younger Adults
Inspection report
Read the full inspection report (opens the Care Quality Commission website)2 inspection reports, latest 20 March 2021. Latest assessment published 19 August 2026; the Care Quality Commission's newer assessments are published on its website rather than as reports.
The rating is the Care Quality Commission's. We show it as published and do not change it.
Who runs it
- Provider
- Hickling House Limited
- Ownership type
- Organisation
- Companies House number
- 10715927 (opens Companies House)
Getting help from Norfolk County Council
The council can assess what care someone needs and tell them what help with the cost they may get.
- Adult social care at Norfolk County Council
- Ask for a care needs assessment
- Phone: 0344 800 8020, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
- Support for carers
- Paying for care: Norfolk County Council
Checked on the council's website, November 2026.
Common questions
- Does Hickling House provide nursing care?
- No. The Care Quality Commission lists Hickling House as a care home without nursing.
- How many beds does Hickling House have?
- The Care Quality Commission's register lists 29 beds at Hickling House.
- When was Hickling House last inspected?
- The Care Quality Commission's latest rating for Hickling House was published on 19 August 2026.
- Who runs Hickling House?
- Hickling House is run by Hickling House Limited.
- What is Hickling House's CQC rating?
- Its overall rating from the Care Quality Commission is Requires improvement, published on 19 August 2026.
Contact
- Phone
- 01692 598372
- Address
- Town Street, Hickling, Norwich, NR12 0AY Map (opens Google Maps)
Compare nearby
Nearest rated Good or Outstanding: Ingham Old Hall Care Home (Good, 1.8 miles away) and Sydney House (Good, 2.9 miles away).
Nearest care homes:
- RI Honeysuckle Cottage Requires improvement, 1.8 miles away
- G Ingham Old Hall Care Home Good, 1.8 miles away
- G Sydney House Good, 2.9 miles away
- RI Broadland House Residential Care Home Requires improvement, 3.2 miles away
- RI The Old Vicarage Requires improvement, 3.9 miles away