Longmead Court Nursing Home
Longmead Court Nursing Home is a care home with nursing in Braintree, run by Dovecote Care Homes Limited. CQC rated it Requires improvement overall in September 2026 (last checked 14 September 2026). It has 54 beds. It is registered to support people living with dementia, older people, people with mental health needs and younger adults.
- Care home with nursing
247 London Road, Black Notley, Braintree, Essex, CM77 8QQ
What CQC says
Overall rating
The service is not performing as well as it should.
Down from Good, 15 May 2021.
Last checked by CQC: 14 September 2026.
The five key questions
CQC rates each service on five questions. Each has its own rating.
Is it safe?
Requires improvementrated 1 month ago (14 September 2026)Is it effective?
Requires improvementrated 1 month ago (14 September 2026)Is it caring?
Goodrated 1 month ago (14 September 2026)Is it responsive to people’s needs?
Goodrated 1 month ago (14 September 2026)Is it well-led?
Requires improvementrated 1 month ago (14 September 2026)
Not sure what the ratings mean? Read how CQC ratings work.
Understanding this rating
Plain facts about how CQC rates and inspects services, as CQC describes them. This is not advice and not a rating of ours.
What CQC looks at
Safe: Requires improvement
CQC checks whether people are protected from abuse and avoidable harm. It looks at safeguarding, how risks are managed, staffing levels and training, medicines, and keeping the place clean to stop infections.
Questions you could ask
- How are medicines looked after and given on time?
- How do you decide how many staff are on duty, day and night?
- When something goes wrong, what do you do, and how do you tell families?
Effective: Requires improvement
CQC checks whether care gets good results for people and follows good practice. It looks at how needs are assessed, food and drink, working with GPs and other services, and asking people for their consent.
Questions you could ask
- How do you find out what someone needs before their care starts?
- How do you work with GPs, nurses and other services?
- How do you make sure people get enough to eat and drink?
Well-led: Requires improvement
CQC checks how well the service is run. It looks at the managers and leaders, the culture, how the service checks and improves its own quality, and whether staff feel able to speak up.
Questions you could ask
- Who is the registered manager, and how can families contact them?
- How do you check the quality of care yourselves?
- How can staff raise worries, and how are they supported when they do?
How often CQC looks again
There is no fixed timetable. CQC decides when to look at a service again. It uses the information it holds about the service and how much risk it sees. It may look sooner if it hears of concerns.
Earlier ratings
Overall ratings this service had before, newest first. These are CQC’s own earlier ratings.
- Good15 May 2021Read the report (opens in a new tab)
- Requires improvement9 November 2019Read the report (opens in a new tab)
- Good1 April 2017Read the report (opens in a new tab)
- Requires improvement10 February 2016Read the report (opens in a new tab)
About this service
- Type of care
- Care home with nursing
- Who it supports
- Dementia, Older people, Mental health needs, Younger adults
- Number of beds
- 54
- Nursing care
- Yes, nurses are on hand
- Registered since
- 31 December 2010
- Local council area
- Essex
Who runs it
- Provider
- Dovecote Care Homes Limited
- Kind of provider
- Company or organisation