Five Oaks Care Home

What families say

Families talk about arriving anxious and leaving reassured. They describe seeing residents relaxed in communal areas, not just staying in their rooms. The atmosphere feels lived-in and comfortable, with carers who chat naturally with residents throughout their shifts.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth50
• Compassion & dignity50
• Cleanliness50
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership55
• Resident happiness50

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-12-19 · Report published 2019-12-19 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the February 2022 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to safeguarding concerns. The published inspection text does not include specific observations about any of these areas, so it is not possible to describe what inspectors actually saw. The July 2023 monitoring review found no evidence to suggest safety had deteriorated since the full inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not identify concerns serious enough to require improvement at the time of their visit. However, the inspection was carried out in early 2022, which is now over three years ago. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing levels and reliance on agency staff are the two areas where safety most commonly slips between inspections, and neither is described in the published findings. You should ask specifically how many permanent staff are on the dementia unit after 8pm, and whether the home uses agency staff to cover gaps on that shift.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that night staffing ratios and agency staff consistency are among the strongest predictors of whether a care home maintains safety standards between inspection visits.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts on the dementia unit were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and check what the minimum number of carers on nights is for the 45 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the February 2022 inspection. This domain covers staff training, dementia-specific knowledge, care planning, nutrition and hydration, and access to healthcare such as GP and specialist reviews. The published text contains no specific detail about any of these areas. Five Oaks is registered as a dementia specialist home, which means inspectors will have assessed whether staff have appropriate dementia training, but what that training involves is not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that specialises in dementia care, what staff know about the condition matters as much as how kind they are. Good Practice evidence from 61 studies (IFF Research, 2026) shows that dementia-specific training, including understanding non-verbal communication and recognising unmet need, directly affects the quality of daily life for your parent. A Good rating for Effective is encouraging, but you cannot know from this report alone whether care plans are genuinely individual or whether your parent's GP would be contacted promptly if something changed. Food quality is also assessed under this domain, and 20.9% of positive family reviews in DCC data specifically mention meals as a reason for satisfaction; ask to see the menu and, if possible, arrange a visit at lunchtime.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that care plans function best as living documents updated after every significant change, and that homes where families are included in care plan reviews report higher satisfaction and fewer concerns about whether preferences are being followed.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when your parent's care plan would last have been reviewed, who would attend that review, and whether you as a family member would be invited. If the answer is that reviews happen annually or only when something goes wrong, that is worth exploring further."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the February 2022 inspection. This covers how staff treat residents, whether dignity and privacy are respected, whether people are rushed, and whether residents feel heard and valued. The published inspection text includes no direct observations of staff interactions, no resident quotes, and no relative feedback recorded during the inspection. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied with what they saw, but the specific details that would help you picture daily life are not available here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single largest driver of family satisfaction in DCC review data, named in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity are mentioned in 55.2%. These are the things families notice most and care about most deeply. On a visit, the signals to look for are concrete: do staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, do they crouch to eye level when speaking to someone seated, do they move without hurry? These behaviours are not captured in this inspection report, so your visit is the only way to assess them. The Good Practice evidence base confirms that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication for people with advanced dementia, which means how staff move and position themselves tells you as much as what they say.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style, and that homes where this knowledge is embedded in daily practice, not just recorded in files, show measurably better resident wellbeing.","watch_out":"When you visit, notice whether staff use your parent's preferred name (not just their first name) without you prompting them. Ask the person who shows you round what they know about a current resident's life history. The depth and warmth of that answer will tell you more than any policy document."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the February 2022 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors its care and activities to individual needs, how it handles complaints, and how it approaches end-of-life care. The published text contains no description of the activities programme, no examples of individual engagement for people with advanced dementia, and no information about how the home responds to complaints or plans for end of life. A Good rating indicates inspectors found the home to be meeting the standard, but no specific evidence is available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Whether your parent will have a life in this home, not just a place to sleep, depends on how the activities programme is designed and whether it reaches people who cannot join a group session. DCC family review data shows that activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are insufficient for people with advanced dementia; one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, is what maintains wellbeing and reduces distress. The inspection gives no information about whether Five Oaks provides this level of individual engagement. This is one of the most important questions to ask on your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that Montessori-based and individual activity approaches, including everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, and gardening, are among the most effective interventions for maintaining engagement and reducing agitation in people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident who has advanced dementia and cannot join the main group session. If the answer is vague or defaults to television, ask how many hours of one-to-one engagement each resident on the dementia unit receives each week."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the February 2022 inspection. The home has a named registered manager (Mrs Rahima Ali Mulindwa) and a nominated individual (Mr Tony Thiru) recorded at the time of the inspection. The July 2023 monitoring review found no evidence to reassess the rating. The published inspection text contains no further detail about the management culture, whether staff feel able to raise concerns, how the home learns from incidents, or how families are kept informed and involved. Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality, and it is not possible to assess from this report whether the registered manager is still in post.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of whether a care home maintains its rating over time. A home that was Good in 2022 may still be Good now, or it may have changed significantly if there has been management turnover or rapid growth in occupancy. DCC family review data shows that communication with families appears in 11.5% of positive reviews, and that being kept informed about changes in their parent's condition is one of the things families value most. Because the inspection is now over three years old, the question of who is currently running the home and how long they have been in post matters more than the historical rating alone.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that leadership stability, specifically manager continuity and a culture where staff feel safe to raise concerns, is one of the most reliable indicators of sustained care quality between inspection visits.","watch_out":"Ask directly: is the registered manager named in the 2022 inspection report still in post? If there has been a change, ask when the new manager started and whether a new inspection has taken place since. Ask also how you, as a family member, would be contacted if your parent had a fall, a health change, or a significant incident overnight."}

  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 cares for adults over 65, with particular experience supporting people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff show real understanding of dementia's daily challenges. Families describe seeing confused, withdrawn relatives gradually become more engaged and talkative, suggesting the team knows how to reach people at different stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.