The Elms Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds28
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia, Mental health conditions, Physical disabilities, Sensory impairment
- Last inspected2023-05-23
- Activities programmeThe dining experience receives particular praise, with meals prepared with care and variety that residents genuinely enjoy. The home maintains high standards of cleanliness throughout, giving families confidence in the environment their loved ones call home.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Families describe walking into a warm atmosphere where staff greet them with genuine friendliness. Residents appear settled and content, maintaining their dignity while participating in the daily rhythm of the home.
Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10
The eight family priority themes
- Staff warmth70
- Compassion & dignity70
- Cleanliness70
- Activities & engagement65
- Food quality65
- Healthcare68
- Management & leadership72
- Resident happiness68
What inspectors found
Inspected 2023-05-23 · Report published 2023-05-23 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The Elms was rated Good for Safe at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The available published text does not include specific observations, staff ratios, or details about how medicines are administered or how incidents are logged and reviewed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors were broadly satisfied with how the home protects your parent from harm. However, the Good Practice evidence from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid review (March 2026) identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes. With 28 beds and a mixed dependency group including people with dementia and physical disabilities, knowing exactly how many staff are on overnight is essential. Our family review data shows that safe environment and staff attentiveness together feature in around 26% of positive Google reviews, suggesting these are things families notice and value.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that agency staff reliance is consistently linked to reduced safety and consistency of care, particularly at night. Homes with stable permanent teams show better incident learning and faster response to deterioration.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many staff are on duty overnight on a typical weeknight, and what proportion of shifts in the last month were covered by agency staff rather than permanent employees? Ask to see the rota, not just a template."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The Elms was rated Good for Effective at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and food quality. The available published text contains no specific detail about care plan content, GP access arrangements, dementia training completion, or food quality observations.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective is encouraging, but without published detail it is hard to know what underpins it. Food quality features in about 21% of positive family reviews and is often a reliable signal of how much genuine thought goes into daily care. The Good Practice evidence base consistently identifies care plans as living documents that should reflect your parent's actual preferences, not just medical needs. If your parent has dementia, asking how often care plans are reviewed and whether families are invited to contribute is one of the most important questions you can ask.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that regular, structured GP access and medication reviews are among the strongest predictors of positive health outcomes for older people in residential care, particularly those with dementia and co-existing physical health conditions.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample (anonymised) care plan, or ask how your parent's care plan would be written and updated. Specifically ask: how often are care plans reviewed, and would you be invited to take part in a review?"}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The Elms was rated Good for Caring at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The available published text does not include specific observations of staff interactions, examples of dignity in practice, or quotes from residents or families recorded during the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. A Good Caring rating means inspectors were satisfied, but the most reliable way to assess this for yourself is to visit at an unannounced time, ideally around a mealtime or during morning care, and watch how staff interact with the people who live there. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication, such as tone of voice, eye contact, and unhurried movement, matters as much as what staff say, particularly for people with advanced dementia.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett and IFF Research evidence review found that person-centred care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. Homes where staff know preferred names, life histories, and daily routines consistently show better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"When you visit, notice whether staff address the people who live there by name, including preferred or familiar names rather than formal ones. Watch whether interactions feel unhurried. If possible, observe what happens when a resident appears unsettled or distressed."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The Elms was rated Good for Responsive at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and end-of-life care. The available published text contains no specific detail about the activity programme, individual engagement for people who cannot join groups, or how end-of-life wishes are recorded and honoured.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for around 48% of the weighted drivers of positive family reviews in our data. A Good Responsive rating is a baseline, but what matters for your parent is whether the activities on offer would actually suit them, not just whether a programme exists. The Good Practice evidence base specifically highlights the risk that group activities are the default while people with more advanced dementia, or those who prefer solitude, receive little or no individual engagement. For a home with 28 beds and a mixed client group, ask what one-to-one activity looks like for someone who cannot join a group session.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and involvement in everyday household tasks, such as folding laundry or simple food preparation, provide meaningful engagement and support a sense of purpose and continuity for people with dementia, often more effectively than structured group activities.","watch_out":"Ask to see last week's activity schedule, and then ask what happened for any resident who was unable to join a group session that day. Ask specifically: what would a typical Tuesday look like for my parent if they were having a difficult morning and did not want to leave their room?"}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The Elms was rated Good for Well-led at the January 2025 inspection. The home is run by Evergreen Care Services Ltd, and Mrs Helena Majcan Hadzihajdic is both the registered manager and the nominated individual, meaning she holds direct personal accountability for the home's compliance and culture. The available published text contains no further detail about management visibility, governance systems, staff culture, or how the home handles complaints.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of the weighted drivers of positive family reviews. The fact that the registered manager is also the nominated individual can be a strength, as it concentrates accountability in one person, but it also means there is less structural separation between day-to-day operations and oversight. The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes: a manager who has been in post for several years and knows the staff and residents well is a very different proposition from one who is newly appointed. The previous Requires Improvement overall rating makes it worth asking directly how long the current manager has been in post and what changed.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that leadership stability is among the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Frequent management turnover disrupts staff culture, reduces consistency of care, and is associated with higher use of agency staff and poorer incident learning.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post, and what were the main changes made after the previous Requires Improvement rating? Also ask: how do staff raise concerns, and can you give me a recent example of something that was changed because a member of staff or a resident flagged it?"}
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 Elms provides specialist support for dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments. They care for both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home's dementia care approach combines professional expertise with genuine compassion. Structured activities like music and games help residents stay engaged and connected. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
The Elms has recovered from a Requires Improvement rating to a Good rating across all five domains at its most recent inspection in January 2025, which is a positive sign. However, because the published report contains very limited specific detail, scores reflect the Good rating with appropriate caution rather than high confidence.
Homes in South West typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
Families describe walking into a warm atmosphere where staff greet them with genuine friendliness. Residents appear settled and content, maintaining their dignity while participating in the daily rhythm of the home.
What inspectors have recorded
The team demonstrates both professional skill and emotional attentiveness in their daily care. Families observe staff taking time to connect with residents on a personal level, creating an atmosphere of safety and trust.
How it sits against good practice
For many families in Coleford and the surrounding areas, The Elms has become a place where difficult decisions lead to positive outcomes.
Worth a visit
The Elms, in Staunton near Coleford, was rated Good across all five inspection domains at its most recent assessment in January 2025, with the report published in June 2025. This is a meaningful improvement from its previous Requires Improvement overall rating, suggesting the home has addressed whatever concerns prompted the earlier decline. The home is registered for 28 beds and supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, and is run by Evergreen Care Services Ltd under the direct management of Mrs Helena Majcan Hadzihajdic. The main limitation of this Family View is that the available published inspection text is very brief and contains almost no specific detail: no direct observations, no resident or family quotes, and no domain-level narrative. A Good rating is a positive foundation, but it tells you little about what daily life actually looks like for your parent. Before making a decision, visit in person, ask to see the most recent full inspection report, and use the checklist questions below to fill the gaps the published findings leave open.
The three questions to ask when you visitSave this home. Compare it against your shortlist.
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In Their Own Words
How The Elms Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where compassionate care meets genuine happiness in Coleford
Residential home in Coleford: True Peace of Mind
When families visit The Elms in Coleford, they often comment on the contentment they see in their loved ones' faces. This South West care home has built its reputation on creating an environment where residents feel secure and engaged, with staff who understand that good care goes beyond meeting basic needs.
Who they care for
The Elms provides specialist support for dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments. They care for both younger adults under 65 and older residents.
The home's dementia care approach combines professional expertise with genuine compassion. Structured activities like music and games help residents stay engaged and connected.
Management & ethos
The team demonstrates both professional skill and emotional attentiveness in their daily care. Families observe staff taking time to connect with residents on a personal level, creating an atmosphere of safety and trust.
The home & environment
The dining experience receives particular praise, with meals prepared with care and variety that residents genuinely enjoy. The home maintains high standards of cleanliness throughout, giving families confidence in the environment their loved ones call home.
“For many families in Coleford and the surrounding areas, The Elms has become a place where difficult decisions lead to positive outcomes.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
