Cleeve Lodge Residential Care Home

What families say

Visitors notice the friendly atmosphere straight away. The staff here have a knack for making people feel comfortable, whether you're popping in for a look around or spending time with someone you love. There's a quietness about the place that feels calming rather than isolated.

Based on 15 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth85
• Compassion & dignity88
• Cleanliness75
• Activities & engagement75
• Food quality72
• Healthcare88
• Management & leadership78
• Resident happiness78

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-04-17 · Report published 2019-04-17 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated Safe as Good at the February 2025 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that medicines were managed appropriately, staffing was sufficient, and risks to residents were identified and mitigated. No concerns about safety were recorded in the published findings. The published summary does not include specific detail on night staffing ratios, falls management, or infection control, so these remain areas to explore on a visit.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors found no significant gaps in how the home protects the people who live there. For families of people with dementia, safety concerns most often centre on night staffing, falls prevention, and how quickly staff respond when something goes wrong. The Good Practice evidence base from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in smaller homes, and that agency reliance can undermine the consistency that people with dementia need. The published report does not give you the specific numbers, so this is worth asking about directly before you make a decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that safety incidents in care homes most commonly occur during night hours and at handover points, and that homes with low agency use and stable permanent teams have measurably better safety records.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count permanent names against agency names, and ask specifically how many care staff and senior staff are present overnight for the 23 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated Effective as Outstanding at the February 2025 inspection. This is the highest possible rating and requires specific, direct evidence rather than general compliance. In a home specialising in dementia care, Outstanding Effective means inspectors found that care plans were detailed and person-centred, staff training was substantive and applied in practice, and healthcare needs were identified and acted on promptly. The published summary does not include verbatim examples or direct observations, but the rating itself is a meaningful benchmark.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Outstanding Effective is relevant to your parent's daily experience in a direct way. It means inspectors were confident that the staff looking after your mum or dad understand dementia as a condition, know the individual as a person, and act on healthcare changes without waiting to be prompted. Our Good Practice evidence base shows that care plans used as living documents, updated after every significant change in health or behaviour, are one of the strongest predictors of positive outcomes for people with dementia. Healthcare access (one of the eight themes from our family review data, weighted at 20.2%) is also captured here, so this rating should give you reasonable confidence that medical needs will be taken seriously.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that dementia-specific training which goes beyond e-learning modules and includes observed practice and regular supervision significantly improves the quality of daily interactions and reduces the use of inappropriate responses to distress.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when your parent's care plan would first be written, who contributes to it, and how often it is formally reviewed. Ask whether relatives are invited to review meetings and whether they can make changes between scheduled reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated Caring as Outstanding at the February 2025 inspection. An Outstanding Caring rating is only awarded where inspectors find specific, consistent evidence across multiple observations, conversations with residents and relatives, and record reviews. In a dementia specialist home, this rating reflects how staff communicate with people who may not be able to express their needs verbally, how privacy is maintained during personal care, and whether independence is supported rather than replaced. The published summary does not include direct quotes from residents or relatives, which is a limitation of the available text.","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%. An Outstanding Caring rating means inspectors found evidence of both, observed in practice rather than described in a policy document. For families choosing a home for a parent with dementia, this is the most important domain rating to look for. The Good Practice evidence base also highlights that non-verbal communication, how staff use touch, tone of voice, and physical proximity, matters as much as words for people in later stages of dementia. You cannot fully assess this from a report, which is why a visit at a quiet time of day is essential.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that person-centred care outcomes are strongest in homes where staff know each resident's life history, preferred routines, and communication style, and where this knowledge is embedded in daily handovers rather than stored only in files.","watch_out":"On your visit, spend time in a communal space when nothing formal is happening, not during a scheduled activity. Watch whether staff sit at eye level when speaking to residents, whether they use the person's preferred name, and whether they appear unhurried. These are the observable signals that translate an Outstanding Caring rating into lived experience."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated Responsive as Good at the February 2025 inspection. This means inspectors found that the home responded to individual needs and preferences, complaints were handled appropriately, and people's changing needs were acted on. The published summary does not include specific detail on the activities programme, how the home supports people with advanced dementia to stay engaged, or how end-of-life care is planned. These are areas that a Good rather than Outstanding rating leaves open to further exploration.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness are both captured in this domain, with activities weighted at 21.4% and resident happiness at 27.1% in our family review data. A Good Responsive rating is positive, but it does not tell you whether your mum or dad will have meaningful things to do on a quiet Tuesday afternoon or whether the activities are tailored to people who cannot join group sessions. The Good Practice evidence base shows that individual, one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks such as folding laundry, tending plants, or looking through photographs, produces significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia than group activities alone. This is the area where the inspection leaves the most unanswered questions.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that Montessori-based and occupation-focused approaches, where people with dementia are supported to do familiar everyday tasks rather than observe or participate in structured activities, are among the strongest evidence-based interventions for reducing agitation and improving quality of life.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule for the past month and ask the activities coordinator how they support residents who cannot or do not want to join group sessions. Ask for a specific example of a one-to-one activity arranged for someone in the past week."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated Well-led as Good at the February 2025 inspection. The registered manager is Miss Emma-Jane O'Connor and the nominated individual is Mrs Satwant Gill. A Good Well-led rating means inspectors found governance systems were functioning, staff were supported, and there was a clear accountability structure. The published summary does not include detail on manager tenure, staff turnover, or how the home handles occupancy pressures, which are the leadership indicators most closely linked to quality trajectory over time.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management visibility and communication with families are both themes in our review data, weighted at 23.4% and 11.5% respectively. Families who feel informed and able to raise concerns without difficulty are significantly more likely to rate a home positively, regardless of its official inspection outcome. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality over time: homes where the same manager has been in post for more than two years consistently outperform those with recent leadership changes on family satisfaction measures. A Good Well-led rating tells you the basics are in place. Your visit will tell you whether the culture feels confident and open.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that care homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear of reprisal, and where managers are regularly visible on the floor rather than office-based, have significantly lower rates of poor practice and significantly higher rates of family satisfaction.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in post and whether there have been any significant staffing changes in the past six months. Ask how families are kept informed if something goes wrong, and what the process is for raising a concern if you are not happy with something."}

  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 Cleeve Lodge focuses on caring for people over 65, with particular experience in dementia support.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home provides specialised care in surroundings designed to feel familiar and safe. The quiet, settled atmosphere can be particularly helpful when the world feels overwhelming. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.