Appletree Court Care Home

What families say

Based on 17 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
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-06-27 · Report published 2019-06-27 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated the safe domain as Good at the May 2025 assessment. This follows a previous Requires Improvement rating, suggesting the home has addressed whatever safety concerns existed at that time. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls logging, or infection control practices. A registered manager is in post, which supports continuity of safety oversight. No concerns or requirement notices are recorded in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a period of Requires Improvement tells you that inspectors were satisfied at the time of the visit, but it does not tell you the detail of what changed or what the current night staffing picture looks like. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and with 77 beds this is a meaningful question. Because the published findings contain no specific observations, you will need to ask directly about how the home monitors falls, manages medicines, and covers shifts when staff are absent. Families in our review data rarely mention safety explicitly until something goes wrong, which is exactly why it needs to be your first question on a visit, not an afterthought.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that reliance on agency staff undermines consistency of care and is one of the most reliable early indicators of safety risk in care homes. A home with low agency use and stable permanent staffing tends to have better safety outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff and how many agency staff covered the night shifts, and ask what the usual night ratio is for the 77 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated the effective domain as Good at the May 2025 assessment. This covers training, care plans, healthcare access, nutrition, and the home's understanding of individual needs. The published report does not include specific examples of care plan quality, GP access arrangements, dementia training content, or food provision. The home lists dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment as specialisms, indicating it claims to support people with complex needs. No concerns are recorded in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good effectiveness rating is encouraging, but without specific detail from the inspection it is not possible to say whether care plans here are truly individualised or whether they follow a generic template. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after any significant change in your parent's condition, and family involvement in those reviews is one of the strongest predictors of care quality. Food quality is rated as important by 20.9% of families in our review data, yet no detail about mealtimes or dietary support appears in the published findings. Ask to see a sample care plan structure and visit at a mealtime before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, particularly training focused on non-verbal communication and behaviour as a form of expression, is one of the most impactful interventions a care home can make. Without knowing the content and recency of staff training here, this remains an open question.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what specific dementia training staff on the nursing unit have completed in the last 12 months, who delivered it, and whether it covered recognising pain and distress in people who cannot communicate verbally."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated the caring domain as Good at the May 2025 assessment. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published report does not include any direct observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they feel treated, or examples of dignity practices such as knocking before entering rooms or using preferred names. No concerns are recorded. The improvement from Requires Improvement suggests that any previous issues in this area have been addressed to inspectors' satisfaction.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. These are the things families notice most and remember longest. The inspection confirms a Good rating in this area, but because no specific observations are published, you cannot rely on the rating alone to tell you whether staff here will use your parent's preferred name, move without hurry, or respond gently to distress. These things are only visible in person. Plan a visit that includes a quiet hour on the unit, not just a tour of the show room, so you can watch how staff behave when they think no one important is watching.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research identifies non-verbal communication as equally important as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. Staff who make eye contact, crouch to the same level, and use a calm tone can significantly reduce distress even when words are no longer meaningful.","watch_out":"When you visit, find a quiet moment to observe a corridor interaction between a staff member and a resident. Note whether the staff member stops, makes eye contact, and speaks without hurrying, or whether they keep walking and call out over their shoulder."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated the responsive domain as Good at the May 2025 assessment. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, responsiveness to complaints, and end-of-life care. The published report does not include any detail about the activity programme, whether one-to-one engagement is offered to residents who cannot join groups, or how the home approaches end-of-life planning. No concerns are recorded. The home's specialisms include dementia and physical disabilities, suggesting it aims to support people whose engagement needs may be more complex.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together represent nearly half the weight of what families tell us matters most in our review data (activities 21.4%, resident happiness 27.1%). A Good rating here is positive, but the absence of any specific detail about what the activity programme looks like means you cannot tell from the published report whether your parent would have meaningful things to do each day. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient, particularly for residents with advanced dementia, and that one-to-one engagement and everyday purposeful tasks are what make the real difference. Ask to see what actually happened last week, not what was planned.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding, sorting, or tending plants, provide meaningful engagement for people with advanced dementia far more effectively than scheduled group activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the actual record of what took place last week, including who participated. Then ask specifically what happened for residents who were too unwell or distressed to join the group sessions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated the well-led domain as Good at the May 2025 assessment. A named registered manager, Mr Jandryle Umacob Trondillo, is in post, and a nominated individual, Mr Muhammad Iqbal Gurib, provides organisational oversight on behalf of the provider, Acer Healthcare Operations Limited. The published report does not include detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating suggests that leadership has made meaningful changes, though the published text does not specify what those changes were.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Good Practice research consistently finds that homes where the manager is known by name to residents and staff, and where staff feel able to raise concerns, tend to maintain better outcomes. Communication with families is cited by 11.5% of positive reviews in our data as a key driver of confidence. With a previous Requires Improvement rating now resolved, it is worth asking the manager directly what changed, which specific improvements were made, and how the home now monitors whether those improvements are maintained. A manager who can answer that clearly and without defensiveness is a good sign.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory more reliably than any single inspection rating. Homes where managers have been in post for more than two years and where staff report feeling empowered to raise concerns tend to sustain good outcomes between inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post at this home, what the main changes were that led to the improvement from Requires Improvement, and how they would contact you if something happened to your parent outside of office hours."}

  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 residents with varying needs including physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They care for both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff have experience supporting residents living with dementia, adapting their approach to meet individual needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.