Church Farm Care Home at Cotgrave

What families say

Families describe a care team that takes time to understand each resident as a complete person. The staff's patience and kindness come through in everyday interactions, helping people feel valued rather than managed.

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth52
• Compassion & dignity52
• Cleanliness52
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare52
• Management & leadership55
• Resident happiness52

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-07-20 · Report published 2019-07-20 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at its May 2019 inspection. The published report does not include specific detail on staffing levels, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no new evidence requiring the rating to be changed. The home is registered for 46 beds and includes nursing care, which means qualified nurses should be on duty. No concerns were flagged in the available documentation.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the age of this inspection (2019) means you cannot be certain current practice matches what was found then. Good Practice research identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and agency reliance can undermine consistency for people with dementia who rely on familiar faces. The inspection findings do not tell you how many staff are on overnight or how often agency staff cover shifts, so these are the most important questions to ask directly. Our review data shows that families who later raise concerns about safety most often say they wished they had asked about night cover before choosing the home.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that inconsistent staffing, particularly high agency use and low night ratios, is one of the most reliable predictors of safety incidents in nursing homes supporting people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Note how many shifts were covered by agency staff, and ask specifically how many carers and nurses are on duty overnight for the 46 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness at its May 2019 inspection. The report does not include specific observations about care planning, dementia training, GP access, medicines administration, or food quality. The home's registration includes dementia as a specialism and nursing care as a regulated activity, which requires qualified nurses to oversee clinical practice. No concerns about effectiveness were identified in the July 2023 monitoring review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia nursing home means staff know your parent as an individual, care plans are kept up to date as needs change, and clinical oversight is consistent. The inspection found no concerns, but it did not record the specific detail that would allow you to judge quality confidently. Good Practice evidence from 61 studies identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed at least monthly for people with dementia, and should include personal history, communication preferences, and daily routines. Ask to see how the home records this information and whether families are included in reviews. Food quality is also a meaningful marker: research shows that mealtimes in good dementia care homes are unhurried, offer genuine choice, and reflect individual preferences rather than a single menu for all.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training, including understanding non-verbal communication and behaviour as an expression of unmet need, significantly improves care outcomes and is a key differentiator between homes rated Good and those rated Requires Improvement.","watch_out":"Ask to see the dementia training record for permanent care staff. Find out who delivers the training, what it covers, and when the most recent session was completed. Then ask whether the same training is required of agency staff before they work on the dementia unit."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for caring at its May 2019 inspection. The published report includes no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific observations of staff interactions. Dignity, respect, and warmth are not described with concrete examples in the available text. The Good rating indicates inspectors did not find concerns in this domain, but the absence of detail means the published evidence is limited.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data: 57.3% of positive reviews across 5,409 UK care homes mention it by name. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are things you can observe yourself on a visit, and they are often more revealing than any written report. Watch whether staff address your parent by their preferred name, whether they move with or without hurry, and whether they make eye contact and speak directly to residents rather than past them. Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia, and that staff who know a person's history and preferences provide demonstrably better emotional care. The inspection found no concerns here, but you need to see this for yourself.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett and IFF Research review found that person-led care, in which staff know an individual's life history, preferences, and communication style, produces measurable reductions in distress and agitation in people with dementia, independent of medication.","watch_out":"On your visit, ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like to spend their morning. If the answer is in the care plan but not known by the carer you are speaking to, that tells you something important about how person-centred the culture really is."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness at its May 2019 inspection. The published report does not describe the activity programme, individual engagement, or how the home supports people who cannot participate in group activities. End-of-life care planning and complaint handling are not described with specific examples. The Good rating indicates no concerns were identified, but the lack of detail limits what can be confirmed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities and engagement appear in 21.4%. For people living with dementia, this is not about keeping busy: it is about maintaining a sense of self, purpose, and connection. Good Practice evidence highlights that tailored one-to-one activities, including familiar household tasks and reminiscence, are more effective for people with advanced dementia than group programmes alone. The inspection did not record what the activity programme looks like here, so this is an area where you need to ask specific questions and, ideally, observe a morning or afternoon session during your visit. Ask about what happens for your parent on days when they cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review identified Montessori-based approaches and the use of familiar everyday tasks (folding, sorting, simple cooking activities) as having strong evidence for improving wellbeing and reducing distress in people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for the past two weeks, not the planned schedule but what was actually delivered. Then ask specifically what one-to-one engagement looks like for someone who cannot join group sessions, and how many hours per week of individual time each person receives."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for well-led at its May 2019 inspection. A named registered manager (Miss Margaret Anne Griffiths) and a nominated individual (Mr Patrick Atkinson) are recorded. The July 2023 monitoring review found no evidence requiring reassessment, suggesting no significant governance concerns had been raised in the interim. The published report does not include detail on management visibility, staff culture, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality over time, according to Good Practice research. A home with a long-serving, visible manager tends to have lower staff turnover, a stronger learning culture, and more consistent care. The 23.4% weight our review data assigns to management and leadership reflects how often families identify this as central to their confidence in a home. The inspection confirmed a Good rating and no deterioration since, but it did not tell you how long the current manager has been in post, how staff describe the culture, or how the home responds when things go wrong. These are questions worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that leadership stability, defined as manager tenure of two or more years, is significantly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia, including lower rates of avoidable hospital admission and higher staff retention.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post at this home and how many senior care staff have left in the past 12 months. High turnover at senior level, even in a Good-rated home, can signal a culture that does not support staff to stay."}

  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 Church Farm provides nursing care for adults under 65, those over 65, and people living with dementia. The home's approach suits those who need skilled nursing support within a patient, understanding environment.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the secure gardens and familiar spaces help create a sense of safety and continuity. The team's patient approach particularly benefits those who need extra time and understanding. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.