Cedar Lodge Care Home | Forest Care

What families say

Visitors often mention how staff create a proper community feeling here. There's regular live entertainment, animals coming to visit, and birthday celebrations that bring everyone together. People say the atmosphere helps residents stay engaged and connected.

Based on 8 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-08-03 · Report published 2018-08-03 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the March 2024 inspection. This is a step up from the previous Requires Improvement rating, which suggests that whatever concerns existed around safety were resolved before the most recent visit. The home provides nursing care, which means registered nurses are required to be on duty at all times, not just carers. No specific detail about medicines management, falls recording, or staffing ratios is available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety, particularly after a previous Requires Improvement, is reassuring, but it is not the full picture. Good Practice evidence highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and that agency staff who do not know individual residents can undermine consistency. For your mum or dad, the most important questions are how many staff are on overnight and whether they are familiar, permanent faces. Our review data shows that families rarely hear about safety concerns until something goes wrong, so asking proactively about how incidents are logged and what changes result from them is one of the most protective things you can do.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that learning from incidents, rather than simply recording them, is one of the clearest markers of a genuinely safe care home. Ask what has changed in the last year as a result of an incident review.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the dementia unit from last week, not a template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts versus agency names. If agency use is high, ask whether those workers have been to the home before and know your parent's routine."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the March 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether the team has the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of people living with dementia, including dementia-specific training, care planning, regular health monitoring, and access to GPs and specialists. No specific detail about training content, care plan quality, or GP visit frequency is available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For someone living with dementia, effectiveness is about whether staff know your parent as an individual, not just as a diagnosis. Good Practice research consistently shows that care plans should be living documents, updated when your parent's needs change, and that family members should be active contributors to those reviews. The fact that the home was previously rated Requires Improvement makes it worth asking directly: what specific improvements were made to training or care planning? In our family review data, dementia-specific care quality is mentioned in 12.7% of positive reviews, often tied to staff knowing the person's history and preferences.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that regular, meaningful family involvement in care plan reviews is one of the strongest predictors of effective personalised care for people with dementia. Homes that treat care plans as administrative tick-boxes rather than genuine tools tend to score lower on family satisfaction measures.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how often are care plans formally reviewed, and when was the last time a family member was invited to contribute? Request to see the section of your parent's care plan that covers their personal history, preferred routines, and what matters most to them as a person, not just their medical needs."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the March 2024 inspection. This domain assesses whether staff treat residents with kindness, dignity, and respect, including whether people are addressed by their preferred names, whether personal care is carried out with privacy, and whether residents feel heard. No direct inspector observations, resident testimony, or family quotes are available in the published inspection summary to illustrate what Good looks like in practice at this home.","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%. A Good rating for Caring is the most important domain rating for many families, but without specific observations or quotes from the published report, you cannot know exactly what the inspectors saw. Good Practice research tells us that non-verbal communication, tone of voice, eye contact, and unhurried movement, matters as much as spoken words for people living with dementia. On your visit, watch how staff move through communal areas and whether they stop to acknowledge residents who are not asking for anything.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that person-led care requires knowing the individual, not just their care needs. Staff who know a resident's name, their history, and what makes them smile can de-escalate distress and support wellbeing far more effectively than those who do not.","watch_out":"When you visit, pay attention to the first ten minutes in a communal area. Do staff greet residents they pass by name? Do they crouch down to speak at eye level to someone who is seated? Do residents who look unsettled get a calm, unhurried response? These small interactions tell you more than any rating."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the March 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether the home responds to individual needs and preferences, including the activity programme, how complaints are handled, and whether end-of-life care is planned in advance. No specific detail about the range of activities, one-to-one engagement for residents who cannot join groups, or complaint handling processes is available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad, being responsive means the home adapts to them as an individual, not the other way around. Activities engagement is valued in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness and contentment is cited in 27.1%. Good Practice research shows that group activities alone are not enough for people with advanced dementia; tailored one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks like folding, sorting, or simple cooking activities, can have a significant positive effect on wellbeing. Ask to see an actual activity schedule from last week, not a printed policy, and ask what happens for residents who are not able to participate in group sessions.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review highlighted Montessori-based and task-based approaches as particularly effective for people with moderate to advanced dementia, providing a sense of purpose and continuity through familiar everyday activities rather than performance-based group programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident who rarely leaves their room. If the answer focuses only on group sessions or if there is hesitation, that tells you something important about how individualised the activity offer really is."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the March 2024 inspection. Mrs Nenita Duldulao Jopson is the registered manager and Mr Mark Vickery is the nominated individual for Forest Care Limited. A registered manager being named and in post is a positive structural indicator. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good suggests that leadership was able to identify problems and implement changes. No specific detail about how the manager is visible on the floor, how staff raise concerns, or how quality is monitored day to day is available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability predicts the quality trajectory of a care home. A manager who is known to residents and staff, who can be found on the floor rather than only in an office, and who encourages staff to speak up when something is wrong, creates the conditions for consistent, high-quality care. Communication with family is cited positively in 11.5% of our review data, and families consistently value feeling kept informed without having to chase. The improvement from Requires Improvement is encouraging, but it is worth asking how long the current manager has been in post and what the biggest change they made after the previous inspection was.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear of reprisal are significantly more likely to identify and resolve problems before they escalate into safety incidents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in this role, and what is the one thing you changed after the previous inspection? A confident, specific answer suggests genuine ownership of the improvement. A vague answer is a signal to probe further."}

  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 specialises in dementia care and supports adults over 65. They have experience with complex conditions including Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team here understands how to support residents through different stages of dementia. Families mention feeling confident in the care provided, even during the most challenging phases of conditions like Lewy Body Dementia. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.