Lofthouse Grange and Lodge Care Home

What families say

Based on 6 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 2022-08-24 · Report published 2022-08-24 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Lofthouse Grange and Lodge was rated Good for safety at its August 2022 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied with the safety arrangements in place at the time, including staffing, medicines management, and infection control. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement, so reaching Good in Safe represents a documented improvement. No specific incidents, concerns, or observations are described in the published summary. A monitoring review in July 2023 found nothing requiring a change to that rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but it tells you less than you might hope. The published report does not record how many staff are on duty overnight, how much of the rota is covered by agency workers, or how falls and incidents are logged and acted on. Good Practice research from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review of 61 studies highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency your parent needs. Because this report gives no detail on either of those points, you need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance as the two variables most predictive of safety lapses in care homes. Neither is addressed in the published inspection summary for this home.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from the past two weeks, not a template. Count the permanent versus agency names, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty on the dementia unit after 8pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effective at the August 2022 inspection. Dementia and learning disabilities are listed as specialisms, which means inspectors will have considered whether training and care planning meet the needs of those groups. The Good rating in Effective implies inspectors were satisfied with training levels, care plan quality, and access to healthcare. No specific training content, care plan examples, or healthcare arrangements are described in the published report. The home is run by Indigo Care Services (2) Limited.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective means inspectors found that care planning and staff training met acceptable standards. What it cannot tell you is whether your parent's care plan would genuinely reflect who they are as a person, their preferred name, their routines, their food preferences, their history. Good Practice research consistently finds that care plans function best as living documents, reviewed regularly with family involvement, rather than paperwork completed on admission and rarely revisited. The inspection gives no detail on how often reviews happen here or whether families are included. Food quality is also part of this domain, but the published report says nothing about menus, choice, or how dietary needs are managed.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that care plans which are co-produced with families and updated in response to changing needs are a strong marker of genuinely person-centred care, particularly for people with dementia who cannot easily advocate for themselves.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when your parent's care plan would first be reviewed after admission, who would be involved in that review, and whether you can attend. Then ask to see an anonymised example of an existing care plan to judge how much individual detail it contains."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Lofthouse Grange and Lodge received a Good rating for Caring at the August 2022 inspection. This domain covers how staff interact with residents, whether dignity and privacy are respected, and whether people are supported to maintain independence. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied on these points during their visit. No inspector observations of staff interactions, no resident comments, and no specific examples of dignified or respectful care are recorded in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in the DCC review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow close behind at 55.2%. The inspection confirms that inspectors found Caring to be Good, but without any recorded observations or quotes, you cannot know from this report whether staff knock before entering rooms, use your parent's preferred name, or move at a pace that feels unhurried. These details are small but they matter enormously to daily quality of life. The evidence base on non-verbal communication in dementia care is clear: how staff physically approach and speak to a person with dementia shapes that person's emotional state throughout the day, even when verbal memory has faded.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research identifies non-verbal communication, including tone, pace, and physical approach, as equally or more important than verbal interaction for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Consistent, unhurried contact from familiar faces is a key marker of genuine caring quality.","watch_out":"When you visit, observe what happens in a corridor or communal space. Do staff make eye contact with residents as they pass, or do they walk through on task? Does anyone stop without being asked? Watch whether residents who seem unsettled are acknowledged or bypassed."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Responsive at the August 2022 inspection. This domain covers whether people's individual needs are met, whether activities are meaningful and varied, and whether the home handles complaints well. The Responsive rating applying to a home that cares for people with dementia and learning disabilities means inspectors considered whether the service adapts to different levels of ability and need. No specific activities, examples of individualised support, or complaint-handling detail are described in the published report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in the DCC data, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. The Good rating here suggests inspectors found acceptable standards, but the published report gives no picture of what a typical day looks like for your parent. This is particularly important if your parent has advanced dementia and cannot join group activities: Good Practice research consistently finds that individual, one-to-one engagement, including simple household tasks, music, or sensory activities, has a significant positive effect on wellbeing for people who can no longer participate in organised group sessions. Whether this home provides that kind of individual attention is not answered by the published findings.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and task-based individual activities, such as folding, sorting, or tending plants, reduce agitation and increase periods of calm engagement for people with moderate to advanced dementia, particularly when group participation is no longer possible.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what they would do to engage your parent on a day when your parent did not want to join a group session. Ask whether there is a named person responsible for one-to-one activities, and how many hours per week that amounts to per resident."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Well-led at the August 2022 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement in this domain. The registered manager is named as Mr Krzysztof Adam Bialczyk, and the nominated individual is Mr Hayden Knight. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led is particularly significant because leadership quality is the domain most predictive of a home's overall trajectory. No specific detail about governance systems, staff culture, or how the manager is visible to residents and families is included in the published report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in the DCC data, and Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as the strongest single predictor of whether a home continues to improve or slips back. The fact that this home moved from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led suggests real change has happened. What you cannot know from the published report is how long the current registered manager has been in post, whether they are regularly visible on the floor, or how they handle staff who raise concerns. These are the questions that tell you whether the improvement is likely to hold.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies manager tenure and visibility as key predictors of sustained quality. Homes where the manager is known by name to residents and regularly present on the floor consistently outperform those where leadership is office-based or frequently changing.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether they are typically on site during the week. Then ask staff, not the manager, what they would do if they had a concern about a colleague's behaviour. The confidence and specificity of the answer tells you a great deal about the culture."}

  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 team here supports adults under 65 with learning disabilities alongside older residents who need dementia care. They also welcome people for short respite stays when families need a break.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home provides specialised care tailored to individual needs. Staff understand the importance of maintaining routines and personal preferences. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.