Elm Tree Court
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 beds73
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia
- Last inspected2023-12-14
- 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
Based on 5 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 2023-12-14 · Report published 2023-12-14 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The home received a Good rating for Safety at the November 2023 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This indicates inspectors were satisfied that risks to residents were being managed adequately at the time of the visit. The published text does not include specific detail on staffing numbers, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. The home is registered for 73 beds and has a dementia specialism, making night staffing numbers and agency use particularly important questions.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A move from Requires Improvement to Good in Safety is the most important single fact in this report for your parent. It means the concerns that previously put the home below standard had been addressed by the time inspectors visited. That said, the inspection evidence available to us is thin. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and for a 73-bed home with a dementia specialism, knowing the actual carer-to-resident ratio after 8pm matters far more than the headline rating alone. Agency staff usage is a related concern: people living with dementia benefit enormously from familiar faces, and high agency reliance undermines that continuity. This is worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff as two of the strongest predictors of safety risk in residential dementia care. A Good inspection rating does not always capture what happens at 2am.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template schedule. Count the number of permanent staff versus agency names, and ask specifically how many carers are on the dementia unit between 10pm and 7am on a typical night."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for Effectiveness at this inspection, a step up from the previous Requires Improvement. This domain covers care planning, dementia training, nutrition and hydration, and access to healthcare. The published inspection text does not include specific observations about how care plans are written or reviewed, what dementia training staff have completed, or how mealtimes are managed. The Good rating suggests inspectors were satisfied with the general standard, but no supporting detail is available in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness is about whether the people caring for your parent actually know what they are doing and whether the written plan for your parent's care reflects who they are as a person. Our family review data shows that food quality features in 20.9% of positive reviews, which tells you it matters to families visiting and to residents living in a home day to day. Similarly, dementia-specific training affects everything from how staff respond to distress to whether your parent feels understood rather than just managed. Because the inspection text gives us no detail on either of these areas, you will need to ask directly. Care plans should be living documents, reviewed at least monthly for someone whose needs are changing, and you should expect to be invited to take part in those reviews.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans function best as genuinely living documents, updated in response to changes in the person's condition and co-produced with family members. Homes where families are included in care planning reviews report higher satisfaction and better outcomes for residents living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (with names removed) and ask specifically how often plans are reviewed and whether families are invited to take part. Then ask what dementia training staff have completed and when they last did a refresher."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"Elm Tree Court was rated Good for Caring at this inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents are treated as individuals. The published text does not include any direct quotes from residents or relatives, nor any inspector observations of staff interactions. A Good rating in this domain requires inspectors to have observed satisfactory standards, but no specific evidence is available in the published findings to confirm what those interactions looked like in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. These are not soft extras: they are what families remember and what makes a profound difference to whether your parent feels at home or merely looked after. The absence of specific evidence here does not mean the care is poor; it means the published report gives us nothing to work with beyond the rating itself. When you visit, watch for the small signals: does a carer knock before entering a room, does someone use your parent's preferred name without being reminded, and are interactions unhurried? Those moments are more informative than any document.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, such as tone, touch, and pace, matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. Person-led care requires staff to know the individual, not just their diagnosis, and that knowledge is built through consistent relationships over time.","watch_out":"During your visit, notice whether staff address residents by name without prompting, and whether interactions feel unhurried. Ask specifically what preferred name your parent would be known by and whether that is recorded in their care plan from the day they move in."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsiveness at this inspection, covering activities, individual engagement, and how well the home adapts to each resident's preferences and changing needs. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which makes the quality and variety of activity provision particularly important. The published inspection text does not include any description of the activity programme, examples of individual engagement, or feedback from residents about how they spend their time. No detail on end-of-life care planning is included either.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness features in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities account for 21.4%. For someone living with dementia, this is not about keeping busy: it is about having a sense of purpose, continuity with their past life, and moments of genuine connection during the day. Good Practice research highlights that the most effective approaches for people with advanced dementia involve one-to-one engagement and activities linked to the person's history, such as familiar household tasks, rather than group sessions alone. The inspection gives us no evidence either way on this. Ask the home to describe a typical day for a resident with moderate dementia who cannot easily join a group activity.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored approaches, including everyday household tasks meaningful to the person, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes than group-only activity programmes. One-to-one engagement is particularly important for people with advanced dementia who cannot access group sessions.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule for the past month and ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot join group activities. Find out whether there is a dedicated activities coordinator and how many hours per week they spend on one-to-one work."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The home achieved a Good rating for Well-led at this inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. The registered manager is named as Kerry Louise Moss, and the nominated individual is Heather Joy. A Good Well-led rating requires inspectors to have found evidence of stable, visible leadership, a culture of learning, and systems for monitoring quality. The published text does not include specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, or how the home handles complaints and incidents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The shift from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led is genuinely significant. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory: homes with a consistent, visible manager tend to sustain and build on improvements, while those with frequent changes often slide back. Knowing that the registered manager is named in the report and that all five domains improved together suggests a coordinated effort rather than a patch-up. Communication with families features in 11.5% of positive reviews in our data. Ask the manager directly how families are kept informed when something changes, whether that is a health concern, a change in routine, or a complaint that has been made.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability is one of the most reliable predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and where managers are visible on the floor rather than office-bound, consistently outperform those where leadership is distant or frequently changing.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post and whether they are present in the home most days. Then ask how the home communicates with families when a resident's health changes, and what happened the last time a complaint was made and what was done as a result."}
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 cares for adults both under and over 65, with particular experience in dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team provides specialised support tailored to individual needs. Families have found the staff understand how to help their loved ones navigate daily life with this condition. — 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
Elm Tree Court has improved from Requires Improvement to Good across all five inspection domains, which is a meaningful step forward. However, the published inspection text provides limited specific detail, so many scores reflect the rating itself rather than direct observations or testimony.
Homes in Yorkshire & Humberside typically score 68–82.Worth a visit
Elm Tree Court, on Preston Road in Hull, was inspected on 28 November 2023 and rated Good across all five domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. This is a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating, and all five domains moving to Good at once suggests a genuine and broad-based turnaround under the registered manager and nominated individual named in the report. The home is registered for 73 beds and lists dementia as a specialism alongside care for adults both over and under 65. The main uncertainty here is straightforward: the published inspection text is brief and contains very little specific evidence beyond the ratings themselves. There are no direct quotes from residents or relatives, no inspector observations about daily life, and no detail on staffing numbers, activity programmes, or food. The ratings are encouraging, but they cannot tell you what a Tuesday afternoon looks like for your mum or dad. Before making a decision, visit in person, ask to see last week's actual staffing rota (not the template), find out how many permanent staff work on the dementia unit at night, and ask how the home communicates with families when something changes.
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In Their Own Words
How Elm Tree Court describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where carers really listen to what residents need
Residential home in Hull: True Peace of Mind
When you're looking for the right care, knowing that staff will genuinely respond to your loved one's needs matters more than almost anything else. Elm Tree Court in Hull focuses on supporting adults of all ages, including those living with dementia. Families describe carers who pay close attention to residents and work hard to provide the right kind of daily support.
Who they care for
The home cares for adults both under and over 65, with particular experience in dementia care.
For residents living with dementia, the team provides specialised support tailored to individual needs. Families have found the staff understand how to help their loved ones navigate daily life with this condition.
Management & ethos
Families talk about carers who notice when residents need something and respond quickly. One family member shared how pleased they were that their relative was getting exactly the right level of support for their particular situation.
“If you'd like to see how the team at Elm Tree Court approaches care, visiting could help you get a feel for whether it's the right place for your family member.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
