Roche Abbey Care Home

What families say

Families visiting the home have commented on the spacious environment and the approachable nature of staff members. Some relatives have found staff willing to answer questions and provide updates about their loved one's care.

Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare72
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-07-22 · Report published 2023-07-22 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at the July 2025 inspection. The home cares for people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, so robust safety systems are essential. Beyond the Good rating itself, the published text does not include specific detail on falls management, medicines administration, infection control practices, night staffing numbers, or agency staff usage. The previous overall rating was Requires Improvement, so it is worth asking what specifically changed to achieve Good in this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find the kind of serious concerns that would trigger a warning or an Inadequate rating, and that is a meaningful baseline. However, Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, particularly for people with dementia who may be more restless or at higher risk of falls after dark. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness is mentioned in around 14% of positive reviews, suggesting families notice and value visible, responsive staff. Because the published report does not give specific figures for night staffing or agency use, you will need to ask these questions directly before you can feel confident about safety after hours.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of inconsistent safe care, because unfamiliar staff do not know individual residents' behaviours, routines, or risks. Asking about permanent versus agency staffing on nights is one of the highest-value questions a family can ask.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual night-shift rota, not a template. Count how many permanent staff were on duty for the 67 beds, and ask how many of those shifts were covered by agency workers."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for effectiveness at the July 2025 inspection. The home supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, which means care plans, staff training, and healthcare coordination need to be well developed and regularly reviewed. The published text does not include specific detail on dementia training content, care plan review frequency, GP access arrangements, or how families are involved in care planning. The move from a previous Requires Improvement overall rating to a Good across all domains suggests improvement has taken place, but the detail of what changed is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a care home context means that staff know what they are doing, that care plans reflect who your parent actually is rather than a generic template, and that health needs are spotted and acted on promptly. Our family review data shows that dementia-specific care is mentioned in around 12.7% of positive reviews, suggesting families notice when staff genuinely understand the condition. Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans should be treated as living documents, updated after every significant change rather than reviewed annually. Because the inspection text does not confirm how often reviews happen or whether families are routinely included, this is an area to probe directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base found that regular, meaningful care plan reviews, especially those that include family input, are one of the strongest markers of effective person-centred care. Homes where families are invited to contribute to care planning show better outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask when it was last updated. Then ask how the home involves families in those reviews, and whether you would be contacted before a review or only afterwards."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for caring at the July 2025 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how staff respond when someone is distressed or in pain. The published summary does not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, resident or family quotes about how staff made people feel, or specific examples of dignity practices such as knocking before entering rooms or using preferred names. Without this detail, it is not possible to describe the texture of daily caring life at the home from the inspection record alone.","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 compassionate treatment appears in 55.2%. These are not abstract values. Families notice whether staff address your mum by the name she prefers, whether they move at her pace rather than their own, and whether they respond calmly when she is distressed. A Good rating for caring means the inspector was satisfied, but the observable signals of genuine warmth are things you will only see on a visit. Good Practice research emphasises that non-verbal communication matters as much as words for people with advanced dementia, so watch how staff use eye contact, touch, and tone, not just what they say.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led caring requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. Homes where staff know residents' life stories, not just their care needs, consistently score higher on family satisfaction measures.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand in a corridor for ten minutes and watch how staff pass residents. Do they stop, make eye contact, and use the person's preferred name? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? This is one of the most reliable signals of genuine caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for responsiveness at the July 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether people have meaningful activities, whether the home responds to individual preferences, and whether end-of-life care is thoughtfully planned. The home supports people with a wide range of needs including dementia and mental health conditions, which means responsiveness to individual communication styles and capacity is particularly important. The published summary does not include specific detail on the activity programme, one-to-one engagement for people who cannot join group activities, or how end-of-life preferences are recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities appear in 21.4%. For families choosing a home for someone with dementia, the question is not just whether the home runs group activities but whether there is meaningful engagement for people who can no longer participate in groups. Good Practice research is clear that tailored one-to-one activities, including everyday household tasks, familiar routines, and Montessori-based approaches, produce better wellbeing outcomes than group programmes alone. Because the inspection text does not confirm whether one-to-one engagement is in place, this is a question worth asking explicitly.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett University evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar domestic tasks and sensory activities, significantly improve wellbeing for people with moderate to advanced dementia compared with group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what happens on a typical weekday for someone with advanced dementia who cannot join a group session. If the answer is vague or defaults to television, that tells you something important about how the home thinks about individual engagement."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for well-led at the July 2025 inspection. The home is run by East And West Healthcare Limited, with Mrs Rehana Khan as Nominated Individual. The previous overall rating was Requires Improvement, so the improvement to Good across all domains represents a positive trajectory. The published summary does not include specific detail on how long the current manager has been in post, whether staff feel able to raise concerns, how the home learns from incidents, or what governance systems are in place to sustain the improvement.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is mentioned in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families appears in 11.5%. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory: homes with a consistent, visible manager tend to maintain and improve their ratings, while homes with frequent management changes often slip back. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good is encouraging, but it is worth asking how long the current management team has been in place and what specifically changed, because a recently improved home needs sustained leadership to hold those gains.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear of reprisal show consistently better quality outcomes. A bottom-up empowerment culture, where care staff are listened to, is a more reliable indicator of sustained quality than governance paperwork alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post, and ask one or two care staff (not in the manager's presence if possible) whether they feel comfortable raising concerns. The answers to both questions will tell you more about the leadership culture than any document."}

  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 people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They support both younger adults under 65 and older residents, providing nursing care across a range of complex needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialist nursing support. Staff have experience caring for people at different stages of their dementia journey, including those requiring end-of-life care. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.