Crest Lodge Care Centre

What families say

Visitors often mention the warmth that greets them at the door. Staff are approachable and friendly, creating an atmosphere where both residents and families feel comfortable. People describe watching their loved ones relaxed and engaged, clearly at ease with the team caring for them.

Based on 12 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-04-04 · Report published 2020-04-04

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at the January 2020 inspection. This rating covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. No specific concerns were recorded in the published summary. The home cares for people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities across 47 beds, which means safe staffing and consistent routines are particularly important. No detail on night staffing ratios or agency staff usage is included in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the inspection evidence here is thin. Our Good Practice evidence review found that safety issues in care homes are most likely to surface on night shifts and during periods of high agency use, when familiar faces are absent and routines break down. The published report does not tell you how many staff are on overnight or how often agency carers cover shifts at Crest Lodge. These are the two most important questions to ask before your parent moves in. Ask to see the actual rota from last week, not a template, and count the permanent names against the agency names, especially after 8pm.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and reliance on agency staff are among the strongest predictors of safety problems in care homes, particularly for people living with dementia who may become more distressed and harder to support during overnight hours.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual night-shift rota for the dementia unit. Count how many permanent carers versus agency carers were on duty, and ask what the minimum number of staff overnight is for 47 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness at the January 2020 inspection. This domain covers care planning, staff training, healthcare access, and nutrition. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means inspectors will have considered whether staff have appropriate training and whether care plans reflect individual needs. No specific observations, training records, or care plan examples are included in the published summary. The home also cares for people with mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, so the breadth of training required is significant.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, effectiveness means that staff know who they are, what they need, and how to respond when things change. Our review data shows that dementia-specific care knowledge matters to 12.7% of families in their positive reviews, and food quality features in 20.9% of positive mentions. The published findings do not confirm either. Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans need to be living documents, reviewed regularly with family input, not paperwork filed at admission. Ask to see how your parent's care plan would be written and updated, and ask how frequently the GP visits.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that care plans function as a marker of genuine person-centred care only when they are updated regularly, reflect the individual's own words and preferences, and are known by all staff, including those covering night shifts and agency workers filling in.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, who is present at those reviews, and whether families are routinely invited to contribute. Then ask to see an example of a care plan (anonymised) to judge the level of individual detail for yourself."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for caring at the January 2020 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and the degree to which residents are treated as individuals. No inspector observations of staff interactions, no resident quotes, and no family testimony are included in the published summary. The Good rating indicates inspectors did not find cause for concern, but the absence of specific evidence means the published record cannot confirm the quality of everyday interactions your parent would experience.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract values; they show up in specific, observable moments: whether a carer knocks before entering a room, uses your parent's preferred name, and sits down to speak rather than calling across a corridor. The inspection did not record specific examples of these moments at Crest Lodge. That means you need to look for them yourself on a visit. Arrive unannounced if possible, or at a time that was not pre-arranged, and spend time in a communal area watching how staff move and speak with the people who live there.","evidence_base":"Good Practice evidence confirms that non-verbal communication, pace, and tone matter as much as spoken words for people living with dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, make unhurried physical contact, and respond to non-verbal cues produce measurably lower levels of distress in residents, even when verbal communication has become difficult.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch whether staff address residents by name and make eye contact, or whether interactions are task-focused and brief. Ask a carer what name your parent would prefer to be called, and notice whether they know without having to check a folder."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness at the January 2020 inspection. This domain covers activities, individualised engagement, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The home's specialisms include dementia and mental health conditions, which means responsiveness to individual communication styles and preferences is particularly important. No specific activities, examples of individual engagement, or end-of-life planning details are included in the published summary. The July 2023 data review did not identify concerns, but equally did not add new detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness features in 27.1% of positive family reviews and activities in 21.4%. For people living with dementia, the Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are not enough. Your parent may reach a stage where joining a group session is too overwhelming or no longer possible, and what matters then is whether a member of staff will sit with them one to one, fold laundry together, look at photographs, or simply be present. The published report does not confirm whether Crest Lodge does this. Ask the activities coordinator directly, and ask to see the rota for one-to-one time as well as the group programme.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-based individual engagement, including everyday household activities such as folding, sorting, and simple gardening, produces significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia than group entertainment activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator how a resident who cannot join group sessions would spend a typical Tuesday afternoon. Ask whether there is a dedicated budget and rota for one-to-one engagement, or whether it depends on individual carers finding spare time."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for being well-led at the January 2020 inspection. The inspection record names a registered manager and a nominated individual, indicating a formal leadership structure is in place. No observations of the manager's day-to-day presence, staff culture, or governance processes are included in the published summary. The home is run by Crest Lodge Care Centre Limited. The July 2023 data review did not find evidence to change the rating, but it also did not add new qualitative detail about leadership or culture.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our Good Practice evidence review found that leadership continuity, and a culture where staff feel able to speak up about concerns, predicts whether a home improves or deteriorates between inspections. The published report names the registered manager and nominated individual but does not tell you how long either has been in post, whether staff feel supported, or how the home has responded to any complaints or incidents. These are questions worth asking directly. Also ask how long the current manager has been in the role, since a recently appointed manager means you are judging the home partly on its future rather than its track record.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a bottom-up culture, where frontline staff can raise concerns without fear, are among the most reliable markers of sustained care quality, particularly in homes that are growing in occupancy or undergoing ownership changes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post, and ask whether the home has had any safeguarding concerns or complaints in the past 12 months and what changed as a result. A manager who can answer the second question specifically and without hesitation is a good sign."}

  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 welcomes residents with various needs including dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments and mental health conditions. They care for adults both under and over 65.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families navigating dementia care, the home provides specialist support. Staff work to maintain each resident's dignity and sense of self through the progression of their condition. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.