Croft Residential Home

What families say

Families have seen their loved ones gain weight and strength after moving in, particularly those who'd been struggling at home. The home understands that small comforts matter — they've welcomed residents' beloved pets, helping people maintain those precious connections.

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 & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-01-11 · Report published 2020-01-11 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the December 2019 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that risks were identified and managed, medicines were handled appropriately, and staffing was sufficient at the time of the visit. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement, so this represents confirmed progress on safety. No specific staffing numbers, incident data, or infection control observations are reproduced in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is the baseline you need to see, but it tells you less than you might hope without the underlying detail. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in residential care homes, particularly those with a dementia specialism. For a 30-bed home, you would typically expect at least two staff on duty overnight, but the published report does not confirm this figure. The previous Requires Improvement rating means there were once specific concerns; ask the manager directly what those concerns were and how they were resolved.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the clearest predictors of safety risk in dementia care settings, because unfamiliar faces increase agitation and reduce the likelihood that subtle changes in a resident's condition are noticed quickly.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many permanent staff were on duty on the dementia unit last Saturday night, and how many of those were agency? Request to see the actual rota rather than the staffing template."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the December 2019 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and food and nutrition. A Good rating means inspectors considered these adequate at the time. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies staff should have specific dementia training beyond basic induction. No detail on care plan quality, GP access arrangements, or food provision is reproduced in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality is mentioned in 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, making it one of the eight themes families care about most. It is also a reliable indicator of how well a home understands individual needs: a resident with dementia who is losing weight or who has swallowing difficulties requires a genuinely personalised approach, not just a standard menu. The inspection's Good rating in Effective suggests the home met this standard, but you should taste the food yourself and ask whether a speech and language therapist is involved if your parent has swallowing concerns. Care plans as living documents, reviewed regularly with family input, are a key marker of good practice identified in the evidence review.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans updated less frequently than monthly for people with dementia are associated with missed changes in health status and reduced personalisation of daily support.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: when was the last care plan review for a resident with a similar level of need to your parent, who was present at that review, and can you see a redacted example of how the plan reflects personal history and preferences?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the December 2019 inspection. Inspectors were satisfied that staff treated residents with dignity and respect, and that care was delivered in a way that promoted independence. No specific observations of staff interactions, no preferred-name practices, and no quotes from residents or relatives are reproduced in the published summary. The Good rating is a positive signal but cannot substitute for what you observe on a visit.","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 follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in specific, observable behaviours. Does a staff member knock before entering a room? Do they use your parent's preferred name rather than a generic term of address? Do they sit down to speak rather than talking from standing height? The inspection confirmed these standards were met in December 2019, but staff teams change and culture can shift. The only way to assess warmth now is to visit at different times, including an unannounced drop-in if the home allows it.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including pace, posture, and eye contact, is as important as spoken words for people with advanced dementia, and that staff who receive specific training in these approaches produce measurably lower levels of distress in residents.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch how staff in the corridor greet residents they pass. Are interactions unhurried and by name, or brief and task-focused? This is one of the most reliable indicators of day-to-day care culture that you can observe without any prior notice."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the December 2019 inspection. This domain covers activities, individualised engagement, and responsiveness to personal preferences and complaints. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied that the home was meeting people's social and emotional needs at the time. No specific activities, activity timetables, or examples of individual engagement for residents with advanced dementia are reproduced in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is referenced in 27.1% of positive family reviews and activities engagement in 21.4%. For a person with dementia, meaningful activity is not optional: the Good Practice evidence base identifies tailored individual engagement, including familiar household tasks, music, and sensory activities, as a significant factor in reducing agitation and preserving wellbeing. Group activities are easier for a home to organise and evidence, but they do not reach everyone. If your parent has advanced dementia or is physically frail, ask specifically what happens for them on a day when they cannot join the group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and life-history-informed individual activities produce stronger wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia than group-only activity programmes, particularly in the afternoon hours when agitation is most common.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity timetable for the past two weeks, not just the planned schedule. Then ask: for a resident who cannot join group activities, what did a member of staff do with them one-to-one on a typical weekday afternoon?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the December 2019 inspection. The home is run by Tawnylodge Limited, with a named Registered Manager and a named Nominated Individual recorded at the time of registration. A Good rating in Well-led means inspectors found adequate governance, a positive culture, and a management team that was accountable and learning from incidents. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating across the whole home suggests leadership played a central role in driving that change.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our review data shows that communication with families, mentioned in 11.5% of positive reviews, is closely linked to how visible and approachable the manager is. The Good Practice evidence review identifies bottom-up empowerment, where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, as a key marker of a well-led home. The fact that this home improved from Requires Improvement to Good is genuinely encouraging. However, the inspection is now several years old. Leadership teams change, and a home that was well-led in 2019 needs to demonstrate that the same culture is in place today.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability, measured by manager tenure of more than two years, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes, particularly those serving people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the current manager directly: how long have you been in post, what were the main concerns identified in the Requires Improvement inspection, and can you show me one specific change the home made as a result of that inspection that is still in place today?"}

  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 care for people over 65 and has experience supporting residents with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on As a home that welcomes people living with dementia, Croft provides specialised support for residents at different stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.