Croftfield Residential Care Home

What families say

Families have noticed how staff here strike the right balance — they're warm and caring while maintaining professional boundaries that respect residents' dignity. There's a sense that staff genuinely care about the people they support, forming meaningful connections while keeping that important element of respect.

Based on 9 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-01-22 · Report published 2020-01-22 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Croftfield Residential Care Home was rated Good for safety at its November 2019 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations, quotes from residents or families, or detail about night staffing ratios or agency staff usage. A Good rating indicates the inspectors were satisfied with safety arrangements at the time. Given that this rating is now over five years old, independent verification of current safety arrangements is strongly recommended.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring as a starting point, but the age of this inspection means you cannot rely on it alone. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in small care homes, and agency reliance can undermine the consistency that people living with dementia especially need. With 22 beds and a specialism in dementia care, the quality and continuity of overnight staffing matters greatly. You should ask directly about current night staffing numbers before deciding.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that inconsistent staffing, particularly the use of unfamiliar agency staff, is one of the most significant risks to safety and wellbeing in dementia care settings. Continuity of known faces reduces distress and supports safer care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the last two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff worked nights compared with agency cover, and ask what the home's policy is when a permanent night carer is absent."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Croftfield Residential Care Home was rated Good for effectiveness at its November 2019 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, access to healthcare professionals, and nutrition. The published summary does not include specific observations about dementia training content, care plan quality, GP access arrangements, or food provision. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with these areas at the time of their visit. No further detail is available from the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness covers some of the things families most want to know about: whether staff are properly trained to support someone living with dementia, whether care plans actually reflect who your parent is as a person, and whether food is good enough to maintain health and pleasure. These are also the areas where a five-year-old rating tells you least, because staff rotas, training programmes, and care plan practices can change significantly over time. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly with families involved, and dementia-specific training as a non-negotiable foundation.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training, going beyond basic awareness to cover communication, behaviour, and person-led approaches, significantly improves the quality of day-to-day care and reduces the use of unnecessary medication and physical restraint.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when care plans are reviewed, whether families are invited to take part in those reviews, and what dementia-specific training all care staff have completed in the last 12 months. Ask to see a sample training record if you are uncertain."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Croftfield Residential Care Home was rated Good for caring at its November 2019 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents are treated as individuals. The published summary does not include direct observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives about their experience, or specific examples of how dignity is maintained in practice. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the caring culture at the time of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity come a close second at 55.2%. These are the things families notice most, and they are also the things most visible on a single visit. What you are looking for is whether staff address your parent by their preferred name, whether interactions feel unhurried, and whether staff notice and respond when someone seems distressed. The published inspection gives you a positive signal but no specific evidence to rely on. Trust your own observation on a visit.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research identifies non-verbal communication as equally important as spoken interaction for people living with dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, maintain calm body language, and respond to facial expressions rather than words alone are demonstrating person-led care in practice.","watch_out":"When you visit, spend time in a communal area and watch how staff move around the home. Do they stop and engage spontaneously, or only when a task requires it? Ask a staff member what your parent's preferred name is and whether they know something specific about their history or interests."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Croftfield Residential Care Home was rated Good for responsiveness at its November 2019 inspection. This domain covers activities, individualised care, and how the home responds to changing needs including end-of-life care. The published summary contains no detail about the activities programme, how one-to-one engagement is provided for residents who cannot join group activities, or how end-of-life wishes are recorded and respected. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied at the time of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness accounts for 27.1% of positive reviews in our family data, and activities and engagement for 21.4%. For people living with dementia in particular, meaningful occupation during the day is not a nice extra; it is central to wellbeing and reduces distress. Good Practice research shows that individual, tailored activities, including everyday household tasks that give a sense of purpose and continuity, are significantly more effective than a standard group programme. With a dementia specialism declared, you should ask specifically how the home supports residents who cannot participate in group activities.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and the inclusion of familiar domestic activities, such as folding, gardening, and simple cooking tasks, provide meaningful engagement for people at all stages of dementia and support a sense of identity and calm.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities schedule for the last full week, including weekends. Ask specifically what happens for residents who are unable to join group activities, and whether a staff member is assigned to spend one-to-one time with them each day."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Croftfield Residential Care Home was rated Good for well-led at its November 2019 inspection. The home is run by its owner, Mrs Velda Reilly, suggesting an owner-operator model where the person responsible for the home is directly present rather than managing from a distance. This type of arrangement can support a stable and consistent culture, though the published summary includes no specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, quality monitoring, or how the home responds to complaints or incidents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of family satisfaction in our review data, and communication with families for 11.5%. Good Practice research finds that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time; homes where the manager has been in post consistently tend to maintain and improve their standards. An owner-operator running a 22-bed home has significant potential advantages in terms of presence and accountability, but you should ask how long Mrs Reilly has been running the home and whether the staffing team has been stable. Our Good Practice evidence also highlights the importance of staff feeling able to raise concerns without fear; this is worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that a culture where staff feel empowered to speak up about concerns, and where managers respond visibly and constructively, is a reliable marker of sustained care quality. This is especially important in small homes where individual staff decisions have a large impact.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been running the home and how long the most senior care staff have been in post. Ask what happens when a staff member raises a concern about care practice, and whether there have been any significant staffing changes in the last 12 months."}

  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 at Croftfield has experience supporting people with dementia, physical disabilities, and the general needs of residents over 65. They understand that each person's needs are different and work to provide the right level of support.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home's approach combines professional care with genuine understanding. Staff bring both expertise and sensitivity to their work with people experiencing memory loss. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.