South West Care Homes: Lake View

What families say

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-08-12 · Report published 2023-08-12 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Lake View was rated Good for Safe at its most recent inspection. This is an improvement on a previous Requires Improvement rating, indicating that earlier safety concerns have been addressed. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls monitoring, or infection control practices. A named registered manager is in post, and the home is registered to accommodate up to 29 people.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is reassuring, particularly given the home previously required improvement in this area. However, Good is a threshold, not a ceiling. Our review data shows that families particularly value consistent, familiar staff, and the Good Practice evidence base highlights that safety is most at risk on night shifts and when agency staff are used frequently. Because the published report gives no figures for night staffing or agency reliance, these are exactly the questions to press on when you visit. Ask to see the actual rota rather than a staffing template.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and agency staff consistency are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A Good rating does not confirm either is adequate unless the inspection specifically examined them.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency workers, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight for the 29 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Lake View was rated Good for Effective at its most recent inspection. This domain covers staff training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The published report does not describe the content of dementia training, how frequently care plans are reviewed, how GP access is arranged, or how dietary needs are assessed and met. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which implies some structured approach to training and care planning.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective means inspectors were satisfied that the home's systems for training, care planning, and health monitoring met the required standard at the time of the visit. Food quality accounts for 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, and care plans as living documents are highlighted in the Good Practice evidence base as central to good dementia care. Because the published report contains no specific examples in either area, you cannot take it on trust that your parent's individual history, preferences, and health needs would be captured in detail. Ask to see a sample care plan format and ask how the home involves families in reviews.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans used as living documents, updated regularly and co-produced with families, are associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia. Generic or infrequently reviewed plans are a common gap even in homes rated Good.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed and whether you would be invited to attend or contribute. Also ask what dementia training staff receive, who delivers it, and when it was last updated."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Lake View was rated Good for Caring at its most recent inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published report does not include inspector observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they are treated, or descriptions of how privacy is maintained. The improvement from Requires Improvement suggests that concerns in this area have been resolved.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good rating for Caring tells you inspectors were satisfied, but the absence of any recorded observations or quotes means you have no window into what daily life actually looks like for your parent. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that non-verbal communication, how staff move, speak, and make eye contact, matters as much as formal care practices for people living with dementia. This is something you can only assess by visiting and watching.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review highlights that person-led care requires staff to know each individual well, including their history, preferences, and communication style. Homes that score highly on caring outcomes tend to have low staff turnover, so permanent staff know residents by name and by character.","watch_out":"When you visit, walk through a communal area and watch how staff speak to residents. Do they use the resident's preferred name? Do they crouch down to make eye contact? Do they seem unhurried? These are more reliable signals than any rating."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Lake View was rated Good for Responsive at its most recent inspection. This domain covers activities, engagement, individuality, and end-of-life care. The published report does not describe the activity programme, whether one-to-one engagement is available for residents who cannot join group activities, how the home responds to individual preferences, or how end-of-life care is planned. Dementia and physical disabilities are listed as specialisms.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and meaningful engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. The Good Practice evidence base is particularly strong on this point: group activities alone are not sufficient for people with advanced dementia, and homes that offer individual, tailored engagement, including everyday tasks such as folding, gardening, or reminiscence, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes. Because the published report gives no detail on what the activity programme looks like at Lake View, this is an area you need to investigate directly, especially if your parent would not be able to join a group session.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches produce significantly better engagement and reduced distress in people living with dementia compared with group-only programmes. Homes should be able to describe what they do for residents who cannot participate in group settings.","watch_out":"Ask to see the current activity timetable and ask what happens on a day when the activities coordinator is absent or unwell. Then ask specifically what one-to-one engagement would look like for your parent if they were unable or unwilling to join a group."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Lake View was rated Good for Well-led at its most recent inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Carole Linda Nora Fellows, is in post, and Mr Richard Thomas White is listed as the nominated individual. The home is run by South West Care Homes Limited. The published report does not describe management visibility, staff culture, how concerns are raised and acted on, or what governance systems are in place. The improvement from Requires Improvement indicates that leadership has stabilised.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of a care home's quality trajectory according to the Good Practice evidence base. A named, permanent manager in post is a positive sign, and the fact that the home has moved from Requires Improvement to Good across all five domains suggests that leadership has driven real change. Communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive reviews in our data. However, the published report gives no insight into how staff are supported, whether they feel able to raise concerns, or how the home involves families in decisions about care. These are things you can probe directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes with stable, visible leadership and bottom-up staff empowerment, where staff at all levels feel able to speak up, consistently outperform homes where leadership is distant or management turnover is high.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post and whether there have been any significant changes to the senior team in the past 12 months. Also ask how families are kept informed when something changes in their parent's health or care, and what the process is for raising a concern."}

  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 team supports residents with dementia, learning disabilities and physical disabilities. They care for adults over 65 who need residential support.. Gaps or open questions remain on Lake View provides specialist dementia care as part of their residential services. The home supports people at different stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.