Riccall House

What families say

Based on 7 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 & leadership75
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-11-05 · Report published 2022-11-05 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the October 2022 inspection, representing an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, safeguarding, and infection control. The published summary does not include specific details about staffing ratios, night cover, falls management, or medicine administration practices. No concerns were raised in this domain. The improvement in this rating suggests the home addressed whatever shortcomings were identified in the previous inspection cycle.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, but the absence of specific detail means you cannot verify from the published report alone how safe your parent would be overnight or during a staffing gap. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the area where safety most often slips in small residential homes. With 18 beds, the home is small enough that one poorly staffed night shift affects everyone. The previous Requires Improvement rating also means it is worth understanding specifically what changed, as sustained improvement is more reassuring than a single good inspection.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance undermines consistency and that safety incidents are disproportionately concentrated in overnight hours in homes with fewer than 20 beds.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template version. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency or bank staff, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty overnight."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the October 2022 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The published summary does not include specific observations about care plan content, GP access arrangements, dementia training programmes, or how food and dietary needs are managed. No concerns were identified. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement cycle suggests training and care planning practices were strengthened under the current management.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home specialising in dementia, the Effective rating matters because it covers whether staff actually know how to support your parent as their needs change. Our Good Practice evidence base shows that care plans should function as living documents updated regularly with family input, not paperwork completed at admission and rarely revisited. The inspection did not record how often plans are reviewed or whether families are invited to contribute, so you will need to ask this directly. Dementia training content also varies enormously between homes; a Good rating confirms the minimum standard was met but does not tell you whether staff understand, for example, how to communicate with someone who has lost verbal language.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that regular GP access and dementia-specific training that covers non-verbal communication and behaviour as communication are among the strongest predictors of good outcomes for people living with dementia in residential settings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when your parent's care plan would first be reviewed after admission, who attends that review, and whether family members can join. Also ask what the dementia training consists of and when it was last completed by the staff who work nights."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the October 2022 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations about how staff interacted with residents, whether preferred names were used, or how privacy was maintained during personal care. No concerns were raised. A Good rating in this domain indicates inspectors did not find evidence of undignified or disrespectful practice.","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 the things families tend to notice first on a visit and remember longest. The absence of specific observations in the published report means you cannot rely on the inspection alone to answer the question of whether staff here are genuinely kind. Observe this yourself by arriving unannounced if possible, or at a time of day when personal care is happening, and watch how staff move through the building, whether they knock on doors, and whether they stop to speak to residents without being prompted.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review notes that non-verbal communication, including tone, pace, eye contact, and physical proximity, is as important as verbal communication for people living with dementia, and that staff who slow down and follow the resident's lead produce measurably better emotional outcomes.","watch_out":"Sit in a communal area for at least 20 minutes during your visit. Notice whether staff passing through stop to acknowledge residents, whether they use names, and whether the pace of interaction feels unhurried. Ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like their tea."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the October 2022 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The published summary does not include specific observations about activity programmes, one-to-one engagement for residents who cannot join groups, or how individual preferences are built into daily routines. No concerns were raised. The Good rating indicates inspectors did not find the home to be unresponsive to residents' needs or preferences.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness features in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and meaningful activities account for 21.4%, making this domain one of the most family-visible aspects of care. For a small 18-bed home, activities may be less formal than in a larger home, which can sometimes mean more individual attention but can also mean limited variety. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that people living with advanced dementia benefit most from one-to-one engagement and familiar everyday tasks rather than structured group sessions. The inspection did not record whether this kind of individual engagement happens here, so it is worth asking specifically about what a typical afternoon looks like for a resident who does not want to join a group activity.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday task-based activities, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking, produce greater wellbeing benefits for people with advanced dementia than organised group entertainment, because they draw on long-term procedural memory that is often preserved.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator or manager to describe what happened yesterday afternoon for a resident who was not in the mood to join the group. Ask whether staff have time during the day to sit one-to-one with residents who are withdrawn or distressed."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2022 inspection, improving from a previous Requires Improvement rating. The home is run by named owners, Mrs Gillian Conroy and Mr John Conroy, with a named registered manager, Michelle Louise Douglas. Owner-operated homes of this size often have a more visible and consistent leadership presence than larger corporate-run homes. The published summary does not include specific observations about management culture, staff empowerment, governance systems, or how the home acted on feedback from residents and families.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in a care home, and our Good Practice evidence base confirms that leadership continuity directly affects staff retention and care consistency. The fact that this home improved from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led is encouraging and suggests the owners and registered manager took the previous findings seriously. For an 18-bed owner-operated home, it is reasonable to expect the manager to know every resident by name. Communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive reviews in our data, and the inspection did not record how the home keeps relatives informed, so this is worth exploring directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that bottom-up staff empowerment, where frontline carers can raise concerns without fear and see those concerns acted on, is one of the clearest markers of a well-led home and predicts fewer safeguarding incidents over time.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long she has been in post and whether she works regular hours at the home or manages remotely. Ask how families are kept informed when something changes for their parent, and request an example of a complaint or concern the home received and how it was resolved."}

  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 specialises in dementia care alongside general support for older adults. They understand the unique challenges families face when a loved one needs specialist memory care.. Gaps or open questions remain on Dementia care here means creating an environment where residents feel secure and valued. The team works to maintain dignity and connection throughout each resident's journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.