Asmall Hall (Care Home)

What families say

Visitors often mention how staff seem genuinely aware of what each resident needs. Several families have noticed staff taking time to answer questions properly, which matters when you're worried about someone you love.

Based on 14 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 & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-11-11 · Report published 2022-11-11 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Asmall Hall was rated Good for Safe at its September 2022 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This indicates inspectors were satisfied that risks were being managed adequately at the time of the visit. The home provides nursing care, which means qualified nurses are present around the clock. No specific details about staffing ratios, falls management, medication handling, or infection control are included in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An improvement from Requires Improvement to Good in Safety is the most reassuring finding in this inspection for families. It means the home identified and fixed the problems that concerned inspectors previously. That said, the published findings give no specifics: no information about how many staff are on at night, whether the home uses agency staff regularly, or how it logs and learns from falls or incidents. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and agency reliance as the factor most likely to undermine consistency for people with dementia. You cannot assess either of those from this report alone.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are two of the strongest predictors of safety risk in care homes, yet both are frequently invisible to families without direct enquiry.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota, not the template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts, and ask how many agency shifts were filled in the same period."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effective at the September 2022 inspection, an improvement from its previous rating. Effective covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The home specialises in dementia care for both older and younger adults, which implies staff should hold relevant training. No specific information about dementia training content, GP access arrangements, care plan review processes, or food quality is included in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective means inspectors were satisfied that staff had the knowledge and tools to care for your parent properly. For a home with a dementia specialism, this should mean structured dementia training for all staff, not just a one-off induction module. Good Practice research shows that care plans work best as living documents, reviewed frequently with family input, rather than paperwork completed on admission and left unchanged. Food quality is a marker the inspection covers but has not described here. When you visit, ask to see the menu for the week and ask whether your parent's dietary preferences would be recorded and followed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews as one of the most reliable indicators that a home is genuinely adapting care to the individual, rather than treating all residents identically.","watch_out":"Ask what dementia training all staff (including night staff and domestic staff) receive, how often it is refreshed, and who delivers it. Ask whether the content covers non-verbal communication and behavioural signs of pain or distress."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Asmall Hall was rated Good for Caring at the September 2022 inspection. The Caring domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect for privacy, and whether residents are treated as individuals. The home improved from Requires Improvement, which suggests earlier concerns in this area were addressed. No direct inspector observations, resident comments, or relative feedback are included in the published text available for this report.","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%. The Good rating here is encouraging, but without specific observations or quotes it is impossible to know exactly what inspectors saw. Good Practice research shows that the quality of care for people with dementia depends heavily on non-verbal communication: how a carer enters a room, whether they make eye contact, whether they explain what they are doing before they do it. These are things you can observe on a visit, and they tell you more than any rating.","evidence_base":"Research consistently shows that for people with advanced dementia who cannot easily report their experience verbally, the quality of non-verbal interaction with staff is the most reliable indicator of whether they feel safe and respected.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch how staff greet your parent or other residents in a corridor. Do they stop, make eye contact, and use the person's name? Or do they walk past? That small interaction tells you a great deal about the culture of the home."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsive at the September 2022 inspection, up from Requires Improvement. Responsive covers activities, individual engagement, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The home supports people with dementia, physical disabilities, and a range of ages. No specific information about the activities programme, individual engagement plans, or end-of-life arrangements is included in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive reviews in our family data, and resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1%. For people with dementia in particular, a day with meaningful activity is very different from a day spent in a chair. Good Practice research supports individual, one-to-one engagement for people who cannot participate in group sessions, including simple household tasks, music, or sensory activities that connect to a person's history. The inspection confirms the rating but does not describe what actually happens during the day. Ask to see the activities timetable and, importantly, ask what happens for a resident who cannot join a group session.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies tailored, one-to-one activities as significantly more beneficial for people with moderate to advanced dementia than group programmes alone, with Montessori-based and life-history approaches showing particularly strong outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical day for a resident with advanced dementia who cannot participate in group sessions. Ask how many one-to-one sessions that person would receive in a week, and who delivers them."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Asmall Hall was rated Good for Well-led at the September 2022 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. The registered manager is Mrs Lisa Connolly, and the nominated individual is Mr Paul McLaughlin from Benridge Care Homes Limited. The improvement across all five domains from the previous inspection suggests the management team has made substantial changes since the earlier concerns were identified. No specific detail about the management culture, staff feedback mechanisms, governance processes, or how the manager is known to staff and residents is included in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research consistently shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. A home that has improved its rating across every domain has demonstrated that its management can identify problems and act on them, which is a meaningful signal. Communication with families is mentioned in 11.5% of positive reviews in our data, and it is an area where families often find gaps. The inspection does not tell us how the management team communicates with relatives during day-to-day care or at times of health change. This is worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies manager tenure and a culture where staff can raise concerns without fear as the two strongest leadership factors predicting sustained care quality. Homes that improve their rating often do so because a stable manager has built trust with the team.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Connolly directly how long she has been in post and what the main changes were that led to the improvement from the previous inspection. A manager who can answer this specifically and openly is a good sign. Also ask how families are notified when their parent's health or care plan changes."}

  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 both under and over 65, supporting people with dementia and physical disabilities. This broader age range means they're set up to help people at different life stages.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home provides specialist support. Staff work with families to understand each person's unique needs as their condition changes. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.