Woodley Grange Care Home – Romsey

What families say

People talk about finding their relatives settled and content here, often mentioning how staff build real relationships that last. Families describe walking in to find residents engaged in craft sessions or listening to visiting entertainers, with staff who know exactly how each person likes to spend their day.

Based on 18 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement85
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership70
• Resident happiness72

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-06-11 · Report published 2019-06-11 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Safe was rated Good at the May 2019 inspection. This rating covers staffing levels, medicines management, safeguarding, and infection control. The published summary does not provide specific staffing ratios, agency use figures, or detail on how medicines are handled. No concerns were flagged in this domain. The home accommodates 45 residents across a mix of needs including dementia and physical disabilities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the published text gives you very little to go on beyond the headline. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is the point where safety most often slips in residential care homes. With 45 beds and a dementia specialism, you need to know how many staff are present overnight and whether they are permanent employees or agency workers. Agency reliance matters because unfamiliar faces can cause distress for people with dementia. The inspection did not record these figures, so you will need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff use is one of the strongest predictors of inconsistent care for people with dementia, as continuity of familiar faces directly affects settled behaviour and feelings of security.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for a typical weeknight, not a template. Count how many names are permanent staff versus agency, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty after 10pm for the dementia residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effective was rated Good at the May 2019 inspection. This domain covers staff training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies training was found to be in place, but the published text does not describe the content or frequency of dementia training. No specific observations about food quality, GP access, or care plan content are recorded in the summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality is something families mention consistently in our review data, appearing in 20.9% of positive reviews. A Good Effective rating should mean nutrition is being managed adequately, but without specific inspection observations you cannot know whether your parent would enjoy mealtimes or whether dietary preferences would be genuinely respected. Care plans as living documents matter enormously for people with dementia: the Good Practice evidence base shows they should be reviewed at least monthly and updated after any significant change. Ask to see a sample care plan and ask how recently it was reviewed.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans treated as active, regularly updated records, rather than administrative documents completed at admission, are strongly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia, particularly around nutrition and behavioural wellbeing.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training the care staff have completed in the last 12 months. Ask for a specific example, not a general answer. Also ask to see the menu for the week and whether residents or families have any input into food choices."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring was rated Good at the May 2019 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations of staff interactions, direct quotes from residents or relatives, or examples of how dignity was maintained in practice. The Good rating indicates inspectors found the standard was met, but the evidence behind it is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: families are looking for whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, and whether they stop and listen rather than rushing through tasks. The inspection found these standards were met, but the absence of specific recorded examples means you should observe this for yourself on a visit. Arrive unannounced if you can, or at a time that is not a scheduled tour.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review highlights that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, unhurried body language, and physical presence at the person's level, is as important as verbal interaction for people with dementia, and is an observable indicator of genuine relational care.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff greet your parent or any resident they pass in a corridor. Do they make eye contact, use the person's name, and slow down? Or do they walk past with a nod? That corridor behaviour tells you more than any conversation with the manager."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Outstanding at the May 2019 inspection. This is the highest possible rating and indicates inspectors found strong, specific evidence that the home goes beyond minimum expectations in tailoring care and activities to individual needs. The home lists dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment as specialisms, suggesting the Outstanding finding applies across a complex mix of needs. The published summary does not describe specific activities, engagement examples, or individual care approaches in detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An Outstanding Responsive rating is genuinely significant. In our family review data, activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. Good Practice research shows that tailored one-to-one activities, rather than group sessions alone, are particularly important for people with advanced dementia who may struggle to engage in larger settings. The Outstanding finding suggests Woodley Grange was doing something meaningful in this area in 2019. The key question for your visit is whether that standard has been maintained, given the inspection is now more than five years old.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches to activity, such as folding, gardening, or simple cooking tasks, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing for people with dementia compared with passive entertainment, and are a marker of genuinely person-centred responsive care.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what your parent would do on a Tuesday afternoon if they did not want to join a group session. A home with a genuine Outstanding approach will have a clear, individual answer. If the answer is vague or defaults to television, that is worth noting."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Good at the May 2019 inspection. A named Registered Manager (Mrs Loraine Margaret Tabbner) and Nominated Individual (Mr Rizwan Walji) were recorded at the time of the inspection. The published summary does not describe the manager's visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home learns from incidents. The July 2023 monitoring review found no evidence requiring a formal reassessment of the rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence base. A manager who has been in post for several years, is known by name to residents and staff, and is visible on the floor rather than office-bound makes a measurable difference to culture. Our family review data shows management quality influences 23.4% of positive reviews. The manager named in the 2019 inspection may or may not still be in post today. This is the first thing to confirm when you visit, as a change in leadership since 2019 could mean the culture has shifted significantly in either direction.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and where managers are physically present and known to residents, consistently outperform homes with high management turnover or office-based leadership on measures of person-centred care.","watch_out":"Ask specifically how long the current manager has been in post and whether they are on site most days. Then ask a care staff member, not the manager, what happens when they have a concern about a resident's care. Their answer will tell you more about the real culture than any formal quality document."}

  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 people over 65 with various needs including physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They also support residents living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those with dementia, the home provides structured daily activities and consistent staff relationships that families say help their loved ones feel secure and engaged. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.