St Georges Care Home

What families say

Based on 16 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 2021-12-01 · Report published 2021-12-01 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the November 2021 inspection, representing an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. The published summary does not reproduce specific detail on staffing ratios, night cover, medicines management, or falls data. The home supports people with dementia and physical disabilities across 50 beds, making staffing levels and consistency particularly important. No concerns were identified at the point of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is a positive sign after a previous Requires Improvement, but the evidence behind it is not visible in what has been published. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency that people living with dementia need. For a 50-bed home with a dementia specialism, you need specific answers: how many staff are on overnight, and how many of those are permanent rather than agency? The inspection does not answer those questions, so you will need to ask.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that inconsistent staffing, particularly the use of agency staff at night, is one of the strongest predictors of safety failures in dementia care settings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many names on night shifts are permanent staff and how many are agency. For 50 beds with a dementia specialism, you would expect at least two carers plus a senior on nights."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good. The home lists dementia as a specialism and cares for both younger adults and older people, as well as those with physical disabilities. The published summary does not include specific detail on training completion rates, care plan content, GP access arrangements, or food quality observations. No concerns were flagged by inspectors in this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here means inspectors were satisfied that staff had the knowledge and tools to care for your parent, but the published text does not show us what they looked at in detail. Dementia care training is particularly important: our Good Practice evidence shows that care plans work best as living documents updated with the person's changing needs, not static forms completed at admission. Food quality is also a meaningful signal of how well a home knows the individual. The inspection findings do not tell us whether your parent's dietary preferences, textures, or cultural needs would be understood and recorded.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identified that regular, structured dementia-specific training, particularly training that covers non-verbal communication and behaviour as expression of need, is strongly associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask how often care plans are reviewed and whether family members are invited to those reviews. Then ask what dementia training the staff on the unit have completed in the past 12 months and whether it covered communication with people who can no longer use words reliably."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published inspection summary does not include direct quotes from residents or relatives, nor specific observations of staff interactions such as use of preferred names, pace of care, or response to distress. No concerns were identified in this domain.","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%. A Good rating in Caring is therefore among the most reassuring things an inspection can confirm. The difficulty here is that without specific observations or resident testimony in the published text, you are being asked to trust the rating rather than the evidence behind it. Our Good Practice research shows that how staff interact in unscripted moments, in corridors, during personal care, when someone is distressed, tells you far more than formal assessments. Observe those moments yourself on your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that non-verbal communication from staff matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia, and that unhurried, consistent responses to distress are a key marker of person-centred care quality.","watch_out":"When you visit, spend time in a communal area and watch what happens when a resident becomes unsettled or calls out. Do staff respond promptly and calmly, using the person's name, or do they manage the situation from a distance? Also notice whether staff sit down to talk with residents or whether all interactions happen on the move."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home adapts to each person's preferences and needs. The published summary does not describe specific activity programmes, name any activity coordinators, or provide examples of how individual residents' interests or routines are accommodated. No concerns were identified in this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for nearly half of the positive signals families report in our review data (21.4% and 27.1% respectively). A Good rating in Responsive is encouraging, but what families most need to know is whether their parent would have something meaningful to do on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, not just on inspection day. Our Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are not enough: people with more advanced dementia, who may not be able to join a group session, need one-to-one engagement built into their daily routine. The published findings do not tell us whether this home delivers that.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identified that Montessori-based and everyday task-oriented approaches, including familiar domestic activities rather than formal programmes, produce better wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to severe dementia than group entertainment alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule for the past month and check whether it includes any one-to-one activities for residents who cannot participate in groups. Then ask the activities coordinator (or whoever holds that role) to describe what they would do with a resident who has advanced dementia and rarely leaves their room."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good, and both a registered manager (Mrs Debra Ann Banks) and a nominated individual (Mrs Sheena Gudhka) are named and confirmed to be in post. The inspection took place in November 2021 and the rating was reviewed in July 2023 with no change required. The published summary does not describe the management culture, staff feedback mechanisms, incident learning systems, or quality monitoring in specific terms.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to our Good Practice evidence. Knowing that a named manager is in post is a good starting point, but what families need to know is whether that manager is visible on the floor, whether staff feel able to raise concerns, and whether the home has a track record of acting on complaints and incidents. The previous Requires Improvement rating means there was a period when leadership was not delivering consistently. The improvement to Good is positive, but it is worth understanding what changed and whether those changes are embedded. Ask the manager directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture in which staff can raise concerns without fear are among the strongest structural predictors of sustained care quality, particularly in homes that have previously been rated below Good.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post and what the main changes were that led to the improvement from Requires Improvement. Then ask how staff raise concerns, and whether any concerns raised by staff in the past year have led to a change in practice. A confident, specific answer is a good sign; a vague or defensive one is worth noting."}

  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 team supports adults both under and over 65, including those with physical disabilities. They provide specialist dementia care alongside general residential support.. Gaps or open questions remain on St George's includes dementia care as part of their specialist services. They support residents at different stages of dementia alongside their other care needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.