Sherwood House Residential Care Home

What families say

Family members who've spent time here describe staff as friendly and warm. While specific details about daily life are limited, the consistent impression is of carers who make an effort to connect with both residents and their relatives.

Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness50
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-07-06 · Report published 2019-07-06 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Requires Improvement at the December 2020 inspection. The published summary does not specify which aspects of safety fell short, whether staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, or incident learning. A review was carried out in July 2023 and no new concerns were identified at that stage, but no full re-inspection has been published. For a 19-bed home supporting people with dementia and mental health conditions, the absence of specific safety detail is something families should probe directly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in Safe is the finding that should matter most to you as you consider this home for your parent. Our Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing consistency and learning from falls and incidents as two of the clearest early-warning signals in residential dementia care. Because the published report gives no detail on what triggered this rating or what was done about it, you are being asked to take more on trust than is comfortable. The July 2023 review noted no new concerns, which is a mildly reassuring signal, but it is not the same as a clean re-inspection. Ask for specifics before you make a decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that safety failures in smaller residential homes most commonly cluster around night staffing ratios and inconsistent incident-reporting processes. Both are difficult to observe on a daytime visit and require direct questioning of the manager.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: what specifically caused the Requires Improvement rating in Safe in 2020, and can you show me the action plan and evidence that those issues have been resolved? Then ask to see the accident and incident log for the last three months to check whether incidents are being recorded, reviewed, and acted upon."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well staff put their knowledge into practice. The published summary does not include specific observations, staff training records, or care plan examples. Sherwood House supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, all of which require specific and regularly updated staff knowledge.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here is a positive baseline, but the lack of published detail means you cannot confirm from the report alone whether your parent's specific needs would be well understood. Food quality is one of the themes families mention most in our review data (cited in 20.9% of positive reviews), and the inspection gives no information on meals, choice, or dietary management. Similarly, dementia-specific training is a key marker in the Good Practice evidence base: training that covers non-verbal communication and behaviour as a form of communication predicts better outcomes for people in later stages. Ask directly what training staff have completed and when.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans function best as living documents, updated with family input after every significant change in a person's condition. Homes that review plans at least quarterly and involve relatives in that review show measurably better person-centred outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how recently was the care plan for a new resident reviewed after they moved in, and can you explain how families are included in that review process? Then ask what dementia-specific training all care staff have completed in the last 12 months."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. This domain covers warmth, dignity, respect, and whether staff treat people as individuals. The published summary contains no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific inspector observations such as staff using preferred names or responding to distress. The Good rating indicates inspectors found broadly positive practice, but families should look for the detail themselves on a visit.","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 in Caring is encouraging, but a rating without published detail is harder to interpret than one supported by specific observations. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that for people living with dementia, non-verbal communication, an unhurried pace, and familiar routines matter as much as spoken kindness. These are things you can observe directly on a visit rather than read about in a report.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. Homes where staff can name a resident's favourite music, their preferred form of address, and their daily routine without consulting a file score significantly higher on family satisfaction measures.","watch_out":"On your visit, notice whether staff address your parent by their preferred name during introductions, and watch whether any interactions feel rushed. Ask a member of care staff, not a manager, to describe one thing they know about a resident's life before they came to live here."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home responds to changing needs and complaints. No specific activities, engagement approaches, or examples of individualised responses are included in the published summary. The home supports people with dementia and mental health conditions, for whom tailored, meaningful activity is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities are named in 21.4%. For a small 19-bed home, a Good Responsive rating suggests inspectors found the home was trying to meet individual needs, but a rating without examples is difficult to evaluate. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that group activities alone are insufficient for people with advanced dementia: one-to-one engagement, including everyday household tasks and familiar routines, produces better wellbeing outcomes. With no published activity detail, this is an area where your visit will tell you more than the report can.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual engagement approaches, such as folding laundry, watering plants, or sorting objects, significantly reduce agitation and improve mood in people with moderate to advanced dementia, particularly when group sessions are not accessible to them.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity schedule from last week, not a template or planned programme. Then ask the activities coordinator or a care staff member how they support residents who cannot join group sessions to have meaningful engagement on a typical afternoon."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. The home is run by Nottingham Community Housing Association Limited, with Miss Hannah Louise Owens recorded as registered manager and Ms Colette O'Neill as nominated individual. The published summary does not include detail on how leadership operates day to day, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how the home uses feedback from residents and families to improve. The July 2023 review found no evidence requiring reassessment of the rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management visibility and accountability are cited in 23.4% of positive family reviews. The presence of a named registered manager and an organisational structure through Nottingham Community Housing Association is a positive baseline. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability, specifically a manager who has been in post for more than two years and is known by name to staff and residents alike, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality. Because the last full inspection was in 2020, you should ask directly whether the current manager was in post at the time of that inspection and whether there have been significant staffing changes since.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that bottom-up empowerment, specifically whether care staff feel able to raise concerns without fear and whether their suggestions are acted upon, is a more reliable indicator of sustained quality than top-down governance structures alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post at Sherwood House, and ask whether the leadership team that was in place during the 2020 inspection is still largely the same. Then ask a care staff member, during your visit, whether they feel comfortable raising a concern about a resident directly with the manager."}

  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 Sherwood House provides care for adults both under and over 65, including those living with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, or sensory impairments.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the home offers specialist support alongside their general care services. The staff's welcoming approach may be particularly valuable for families navigating the challenges of dementia care. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.