Hazelford Residential Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds36
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Dementia
- Last inspected2023-06-23
- Activities programmeThe cleanliness here catches families' attention immediately — it's the kind of well-maintained environment that puts worries to rest. Everything feels properly looked after, from the tidy communal areas to individual rooms. The riverside setting adds something special too, with countryside views that bring a sense of calm to daily life.
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
What strikes families most is how content their relatives seem here. People talk about residents who've adapted well to their new surroundings and maintained their spark over years of care. The staff's attentiveness means wishes are heard and acted on promptly, helping residents feel valued rather than just cared for.
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
- Cleanliness70
- Activities & engagement60
- Food quality60
- Healthcare68
- Management & leadership75
- Resident happiness68
What inspectors found
Inspected 2023-06-23 · Report published 2023-06-23 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"Hazelford Care Home received a Good rating for Safe at its most recent inspection in May 2023. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and the physical safety of the environment. The home had previously been rated Inadequate overall, which means inspectors were at some point sufficiently concerned to use the lowest rating available. The published report does not include specific observations about staffing ratios, falls management, or how medicines are stored and administered, so it is not possible to verify the detail behind the Good rating from the published summary alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The improvement from Inadequate to Good is the most important thing to understand here. It means that whatever inspectors found during the earlier inspection, the home has worked to put it right to a level that satisfied inspectors by May 2023. However, Good for Safe does not tell you whether night staffing is robust, how quickly call bells are answered, or whether agency staff are a regular presence on the unit. Our Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) highlights that safety most often slips at night and in periods of staffing change. Ask specifically about overnight cover before you make a decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night staffing is the single most common point at which safety standards decline in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency of care that people with dementia need.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count how many permanent staff were on overnight shifts compared with agency cover, and ask what the ratio of carers to residents is after 8pm on the dementia unit."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the May 2023 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, nutrition, and access to healthcare including GPs and medication management. Hazelford lists dementia as a specialism, which means the inspection would have considered whether staff have appropriate training to support people living with dementia. The published summary does not include specific detail about training content, how frequently care plans are reviewed, or how the home works with GPs and other health professionals.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective is a reassuring baseline, but families consistently tell us in our review data that the specifics matter most. Does the home know your parent as an individual, not just a diagnosis? Are care plans updated when your parent's needs change, and are you involved in that process? The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should function as living documents, updated with family input and reviewed regularly, not filed away after admission. Food quality also sits within this domain, and our review data shows that 20.9% of positive family reviews specifically mention food. Ask about this directly when you visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that dementia-specific training, including understanding non-verbal communication and recognising pain in people who cannot express it verbally, is a strong predictor of care quality and should go beyond basic induction level.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often your parent's care plan would be reviewed, who leads those reviews, and whether you would be contacted and invited to contribute. Also ask to see the menu and whether your parent could have a meal at a different time if they preferred."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"Hazelford received a Good rating for Caring at the May 2023 inspection. This domain covers how staff treat the people in their care, including warmth, respect, dignity, and whether people are supported to maintain their independence. The published inspection summary does not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, resident accounts of how they are treated, or family testimony about the quality of relationships between staff and the people living there.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive Google reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity together account for 55.2% of positive mentions. These are not soft measures. They are the things families notice immediately on a visit and remember long after. A Good rating for Caring is a positive signal, but the absence of specific observations in the published report means you cannot rely on the rating alone. When you visit, pay attention to whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether interactions feel unhurried.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, tone of voice, and physical proximity, is as important as spoken language for people with advanced dementia, and that training staff in these approaches measurably reduces distress.","watch_out":"During your visit, find a moment to sit in a communal area for ten or fifteen minutes without the manager present. Notice whether staff engage with the people sitting around them or move through the room without stopping. Watch whether interactions feel rushed or calm."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the May 2023 inspection. This covers how well the home tailors its care and activities to individuals, how it handles complaints, and how it supports people at the end of life. Hazelford has 36 beds and specialises in dementia care. The published inspection summary does not include specific examples of activity programmes, one-to-one engagement, or how the home responds to individual preferences and needs.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our review data shows that 27.1% of positive family reviews mention resident happiness and engagement, and 21.4% specifically mention activities. For people living with dementia, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that individual, meaningful activity, including familiar household tasks and one-to-one engagement, is far more beneficial than group-only programmes. A Good rating for Responsive is encouraging, but the detail behind it matters. Ask whether there is a dedicated activities coordinator and what happens on a day when your parent does not want to join a group, or when their dementia means group settings feel overwhelming.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar domestic tasks and sensory activities, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing for people with dementia, particularly those who can no longer participate in group activities.","watch_out":"Ask whether the home has a dedicated activities coordinator and whether you can see the activity schedule for the past two weeks, not just the planned one. Ask specifically what structured engagement your parent would receive on a day when they could not or did not want to join a group session."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"Hazelford Care Home was rated Good for Well-led at the May 2023 inspection. The home is registered under Hazelford Care Home Ltd, with Shaun Terry Rodgers named as registered manager and Amy Rebecca Tomlinson as nominated individual. The improvement from a previous Inadequate rating to Good across all domains is the clearest available evidence of effective leadership, as it demonstrates the home identified what needed to change and put it into practice. The published summary does not include detail about how the manager is visible to staff and residents, how staff feel about speaking up, or what governance systems are in place.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality, according to the Good Practice evidence review. A home that has moved from Inadequate to Good has demonstrated it can respond to serious challenge, which is a meaningful indicator. Our review data shows that 23.4% of positive family reviews mention management, often describing a manager who knows residents by name and is visibly present on the floor. The question for you is whether the current leadership team has been in post long enough to have driven the improvement, and whether they have the systems in place to maintain it. Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that manager tenure and visibility are directly linked to staff confidence, with teams led by long-serving, present managers more likely to raise concerns early and less likely to develop a culture of silence around problems.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post at Hazelford and what specific changes they made following the previous Inadequate rating. Ask also how staff can raise concerns if they are worried about the care being given, and whether there have been any whistleblowing concerns in the past year."}
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 caring for adults over 65, with particular expertise in dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on Families dealing with early-stage dementia have found the approach here particularly reassuring. Staff show they understand the condition's challenges while maintaining each person's dignity and independence where possible. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
Hazelford Care Home has achieved a Good rating across all five inspection domains following a significant improvement from a previous Inadequate rating. The score reflects positive momentum and a solid foundation, but the limited detail available in the published inspection report means many areas cannot be verified beyond a general compliance level.
Homes in East Midlands typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
What strikes families most is how content their relatives seem here. People talk about residents who've adapted well to their new surroundings and maintained their spark over years of care. The staff's attentiveness means wishes are heard and acted on promptly, helping residents feel valued rather than just cared for.
What inspectors have recorded
Families appreciate how efficiently things run here. When concerns arise or needs change, staff respond quickly and thoughtfully. This reliability extends to respite care too — family carers taking much-needed breaks know their relatives are in capable hands. The team seems to understand what matters most to both residents and their families.
How it sits against good practice
Sometimes the best recommendation is simply knowing that families keep choosing this home for respite care and long-term stays alike.
Worth a visit
Hazelford Care Home, on Boat Lane in Nottingham, was rated Good across all five inspection domains at its last inspection in May 2023. This is a significant improvement from a previous rating of Inadequate, and it tells you that inspectors found the home had addressed serious earlier concerns and reached a broadly satisfactory standard across safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness, and leadership. The home specialises in dementia care and residential care for adults over 65, with 36 beds. The main limitation of this report is the level of published detail available. The inspection summary confirms Good ratings but includes very little specific evidence, such as inspector observations, resident or family quotes, or examples of day-to-day practice, to help you understand what life actually looks like for your parent inside the building. A Good rating following an Inadequate is encouraging, but it is worth understanding what changed and whether those improvements have held. When you visit, ask the manager to walk you through what was found during the Inadequate inspection, what was put in place to address it, and how the home now monitors quality on an ongoing basis. Pay particular attention to night staffing numbers, how staff respond to distress, and whether the activity programme includes individual engagement for people who cannot join group sessions.
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In Their Own Words
How Hazelford Residential Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where families find reassurance through attentive dementia care
Hazelford Care Home – Expert Care in Nottingham
When you're searching for the right care, you want to know your loved one will be heard and understood. Hazelford Care Home in Nottingham offers exactly that kind of responsive support. Families describe a place where staff genuinely listen to residents' wishes and adapt care to individual needs, creating an environment where people settle well and remain engaged.
Who they care for
The home specialises in caring for adults over 65, with particular expertise in dementia care.
Families dealing with early-stage dementia have found the approach here particularly reassuring. Staff show they understand the condition's challenges while maintaining each person's dignity and independence where possible.
Management & ethos
Families appreciate how efficiently things run here. When concerns arise or needs change, staff respond quickly and thoughtfully. This reliability extends to respite care too — family carers taking much-needed breaks know their relatives are in capable hands. The team seems to understand what matters most to both residents and their families.
The home & environment
The cleanliness here catches families' attention immediately — it's the kind of well-maintained environment that puts worries to rest. Everything feels properly looked after, from the tidy communal areas to individual rooms. The riverside setting adds something special too, with countryside views that bring a sense of calm to daily life.
“Sometimes the best recommendation is simply knowing that families keep choosing this home for respite care and long-term stays alike.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
