The Holt Retirement Home

What families say

Families describe finding a genuinely friendly atmosphere when they visit. Staff take time to chat and make everyone feel welcome, creating a relaxed environment where residents and visitors alike feel comfortable.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership40
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-12-15 · Report published 2018-12-15 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The safe domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This suggests inspectors found that medicines were managed appropriately, staffing was sufficient to meet residents' needs, and safeguarding procedures were in place. No specific observations about night-time staffing, agency use, or falls management are available from the summary text. The home is a small 22-bed service, which can support familiarity and consistency but also means that any staffing gaps carry more weight.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, but for your mum or dad living with dementia, safety is most at risk in the quieter hours. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip in smaller homes. The inspection summary does not tell us how many staff are on after 8pm or whether the home relies on agency workers, both of which matter significantly for dementia care. Families in our review data (14% flagged staff attentiveness as a key concern) tell us that knowing staff are present and responsive matters more to them than formal ratings. Ask directly about staffing numbers and agency reliance before you decide.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of inconsistent care quality in dementia settings, because people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to unfamiliar faces and disrupted routine.","watch_out":"Ask: how many staff are on duty overnight, and how many of those are permanent employees rather than agency or bank staff?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, access to healthcare professionals including GPs, and nutritional care. No specific examples of care plan content, GP visit frequency, staff training records, or food quality observations are available from the inspection summary. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies a baseline expectation of dementia-specific training, but no detail is provided.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here means inspectors were satisfied that the home meets the standard for knowing what they are doing. For your parent living with dementia, the most important question is whether care plans are genuinely personal rather than generic, and whether they are updated when your parent's needs change. Our family review data shows that 12.7% of families specifically highlight dementia-specific care as a priority concern. Good Practice evidence tells us that care plans should be treated as living documents reviewed at least monthly in dementia settings, and that families should be actively involved in those reviews, not just informed after the fact. Ask to see a sample care plan structure and find out how the home involves families.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia training content matters as much as completion rates. Training that includes non-verbal communication, behaviour as communication, and personal history work produces meaningfully better daily care than generic health and safety modules.","watch_out":"Ask: what specific dementia training have permanent care staff completed in the last 12 months, and can you show me how a care plan is updated when a resident's needs change?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain reflects how inspectors assessed the warmth, dignity, and respect shown by staff to residents. No direct quotes from residents or relatives recorded during the inspection are available in the summary text provided. In a 22-bed home, the caring culture is often strongly shaped by a small core team, which can be a real strength but also means that the departure of even one or two key staff can shift the atmosphere noticeably.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, cited positively in 57.3% of reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good rating for caring suggests inspectors found genuine kindness in this home, but without specific observations or quotes, we cannot tell you what that looked like in practice. For your mum or dad with dementia, being called by the right name, not being rushed, and having staff who know their history and preferences are the everyday markers of real dignity. Visit at a time when the home is busy and watch how staff interact with residents who are not asking for anything. That is often where the truth of a caring culture shows.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett review emphasises that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction in dementia care. Staff who make eye contact, use touch appropriately, and approach calmly produce measurably lower anxiety in people with dementia than those who are technically competent but task-focused.","watch_out":"On your visit, notice whether staff greet your parent by their preferred name and whether they kneel or sit to speak to residents who are seated, rather than talking down to them."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether the home responds to individual needs, including through activities, personalised care, complaint handling, and end-of-life planning. No specific detail about the activities programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home tailors care to individuals is available in the summary text. For a 22-bed dementia-specialist home, responsive care should include provision for residents who cannot participate in group activities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our family review data shows that 27.1% of families specifically value visible resident happiness and 21.4% highlight activities as a key indicator of a good home. A Good rating in responsiveness is positive, but the real test in a dementia setting is whether activities are genuinely tailored or simply scheduled. Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are insufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia, who benefit most from one-to-one engagement, familiar household tasks, and sensory activities based on their personal history. Ask to see the activity records for a typical week and find out what provision exists for residents who spend most of their time in their rooms.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and life-history approaches to activity, including everyday tasks like folding laundry or tending plants, produce greater wellbeing and reduced distress in people with dementia than conventional scheduled group sessions.","watch_out":"Ask: what happens for a resident who cannot join the group activity? Who would spend time with your mum or dad one-to-one, and how is that recorded in their care plan?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the April 2021 inspection. This is the only domain where the home did not achieve a Good rating. The home is run by Banktop Securities Limited, with Mrs Lucy Marie Askew as registered manager and Mr Anthony Bryan Marsland Lee as the nominated individual. No detail is available in the inspection summary about what specific governance, oversight, or cultural issues led to the Requires Improvement rating. The inspection was carried out in April 2021 and published in July 2021, meaning these findings are now over three years old.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"This rating is the most important flag for your consideration. Good Practice research consistently shows that leadership stability is the strongest predictor of care quality over time. A Requires Improvement in well-led does not mean the home is unsafe or unkind, but it does mean inspectors found that governance, accountability, or oversight was not where it needed to be. For families, this translates into a practical question: who is in charge, how long have they been there, and what has changed since 2021? Our family review data shows that 23.4% of families rate visible and approachable management as a key factor in their confidence in a home. You deserve a clear answer about what was found and what has been done since.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that staff empowerment and the ability to raise concerns without fear are among the strongest cultural markers of a well-led dementia care service. Homes where staff feel able to speak up have consistently lower rates of avoidable harm.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what did the 2021 inspection identify as the reason for the Requires Improvement in well-led, and what specific changes were made as a result? Then ask how long the current registered manager has been in post."}

  Verified by inspector

Source: CQC inspection report →

What the evidence base says

Against the DCC Good Practice in Dementia Care standards, this home’s evidence aligns most strongly on The home provides dedicated care for people over 65, with particular expertise in supporting those with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team works to maintain familiarity and routine while encouraging moments of connection and joy. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.