LJ Home Care

What families say

Families describe how individual carers build meaningful connections with residents, providing consistent daily support and real companionship. The quality of these relationships has helped people through difficult times, with carers showing genuine dedication even during challenging periods.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-10-06 · Report published 2022-10-06 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Safe domain as Good. No specific detail about staffing numbers, falls management, medication practices, or infection control is recorded in the published text. The home's previous Inadequate rating means inspectors were satisfied enough with safety improvements to award a Good rating at this inspection. The published report does not describe what those improvements were in practical terms.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, particularly given the home's earlier Inadequate rating, which shows the home has addressed whatever concerns led to that outcome. That said, the Good Practice evidence from IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University is clear that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in small residential homes. For a 16-bed home, you need to know exactly how many staff are on overnight, whether they are permanent or agency, and how the home records and learns from falls or medication errors. None of this is in the published findings, so you will need to ask directly. Safety in a home supporting people living with dementia also depends on the physical environment, and the inspection gives no description of what the building looks like or whether it is designed to support safe movement.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care, because unfamiliar staff are less likely to recognise early signs of deterioration in individual residents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template schedule. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight for the 16 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Effective domain as Good. No specific information about care plan content, GP access, dementia training for staff, or food quality is recorded in the published text. The home is registered to care for people living with dementia as well as those with physical disabilities and sensory impairments, which requires specialised knowledge and practice. The published report does not describe how staff are trained or supported to provide this.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home means knowing your parent as an individual, not just their diagnosis. The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated regularly and should include personal history, preferences, communication styles, and what a person finds comforting or distressing. Food quality is also a meaningful signal: 20.9% of the positive reviews in our data mention food by name, and consistent nutritious meals matter enormously for someone whose appetite or ability to eat may fluctuate. The inspection gives no window into any of this for York House, so you need to ask to read a sample care plan (with identifying details removed if necessary) and to eat a meal at the home before deciding.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training content, particularly around non-verbal communication and behaviour as a form of expression, makes a measurable difference to quality of life for residents, especially in the later stages of dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training staff receive, when they last completed it, and whether it covers communication with someone who can no longer use words reliably. Ask to see the training records if possible."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Caring domain as Good. No direct observations of staff interactions, no quotes from residents or relatives about kindness or dignity, and no descriptions of how personal care is delivered are included in the published text. A Good rating in this domain indicates inspectors were satisfied, but the absence of specific evidence means it is not possible to describe what caring practice looks like at York House from the published report alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are the things families remember and the things that make the difference between your parent feeling settled or feeling lost. The Good Practice research is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as spoken words for people living with dementia: a calm tone, unhurried movement, and knowing someone's preferred name all signal safety to a person who may struggle to make sense of words. None of this is described in the published findings for York House. Observe it yourself on a visit. Watch how staff greet your parent when you arrive, how they speak to residents in corridors, and whether anyone appears to be waiting for attention without it coming.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care, built on detailed knowledge of an individual's history and preferences, is associated with significantly lower rates of distress behaviour and higher reported wellbeing in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"When you visit, note whether staff use residents' preferred names without being prompted, and whether the pace of movement around the home feels calm and unhurried. Ask one member of staff to tell you something specific and personal about one of the residents they care for, to test whether individual knowledge goes beyond what is written on a form."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Responsive domain as Good. No information about activities, individual engagement, end-of-life planning, or how the home responds to changing needs is included in the published text. The home supports people with a range of needs including dementia and sensory impairments, which requires responsive, individually tailored approaches. The published report does not describe how this is achieved in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Responsiveness in a dementia care setting means your parent has a life here, not just a place to be kept safe. Activities engagement features in 21.4% of our positive review data and resident happiness in 27.1%. The Good Practice evidence is particularly clear on one point: group activities alone are not enough. People at more advanced stages of dementia often cannot participate in group sessions, and meaningful one-to-one engagement, whether that is folding laundry together, looking at familiar photographs, or simply sitting with someone and talking about their past, is what sustains wellbeing. There is no information in the published findings about what York House offers in this area. Ask to see the activities programme and, more importantly, ask what happens for a resident who cannot join a group session.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday task-based activities, such as cooking, sorting, and gardening, are more effective at sustaining engagement and reducing distress in people with dementia than formal group entertainment sessions.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what a typical day looks like for a resident who cannot leave their room or join a group activity. Ask how many hours per week a person in that situation receives one-to-one engagement from a member of staff, and who is responsible for that."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Well-led domain as Good. A registered manager, Mrs Jayne Marie Bracken, is confirmed as in post, and Mrs Linda Petruzziello is named as the nominated individual for LJ Care Homes Ltd. The home's improvement from an Inadequate rating to Good across all domains suggests a meaningful change in leadership or practice since the previous inspection. The published report does not describe how long the current manager has been in post, what changes were made, or how staff culture has shifted.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is the foundation everything else rests on. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory: homes with a settled, visible manager who staff respect tend to sustain quality more reliably than those where leadership is in flux. The turnaround from Inadequate to Good is genuinely encouraging and should not be dismissed. It means inspectors found that whatever had gone wrong before was being addressed. However, the inspection gives no detail about how long the current manager has been in post, whether staffing is stable, or whether the home is filling its 16 beds faster than its systems can handle. Management visibility matters in a 16-bed home: your parent and the staff looking after them should know the manager by name and see them regularly. Verified evidence of this is not in the published findings. Our review data shows communication with families features in 11.5% of positive mentions, so ask specifically how the manager keeps relatives informed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear of penalty have consistently better resident outcomes, and that this culture is set directly by the manager's visible behaviour, not by written policy.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post, what the single biggest change was that led to the improvement from the previous rating, and how they communicate with families when something changes in their parent's condition. Listen for whether they give a specific, confident answer or a general one."}

  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 specialist support for people with sensory impairments and physical disabilities, alongside dementia care. They care for adults over 65 who need varying levels of physical assistance.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the service aims to provide consistent carers who can build familiar routines and trusted relationships. This continuity helps create stability during a time of change. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.