Elm Park Care Home

What families say

Families talk about finding a different standard of care here compared to other homes they've experienced. Staff take time to learn what makes each person tick — from favourite biscuits to preferred activities — and families feel genuinely heard when they raise concerns or share what matters most.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-04-27 · Report published 2022-04-27 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. Beyond that headline, the published report does not include specific findings about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls logging, infection control practice, or night cover. Elm Park is a large home with 100 beds and a nursing registration, meaning qualified nurses must be on duty at all times. The absence of published detail means the Good rating is the primary evidence available for this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, but the Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in larger homes. For a 100-bed nursing home caring for people with dementia and complex conditions, the ratio of staff to residents overnight matters enormously. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness features in 14% of positive reviews, meaning families notice it clearly. Because the published findings give no specifics here, this is the area where your own questions will matter most.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance and thin night staffing are the two factors most strongly associated with safety incidents in care homes. Consistent, permanent staff who know residents well are a key protective factor.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts versus agency staff, and ask what the qualified nurse-to-resident ratio is overnight."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report does not include specific observations about care plan quality, GP access, dementia training content, medicines administration, or food provision. The home's registration covers dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, which requires a broad range of skills from staff. The nursing registration requires that clinical care is delivered to a qualifying standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone living with dementia means staff who know your parent's history and preferences, care plans that are updated as needs change, and reliable access to a GP when health deteriorates. Food quality is one of the clearest signals of genuine care: our family review data shows it appears in 20.9% of positive reviews. Because none of these areas are described in the published findings, you are working from the headline rating alone. The Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents, not paperwork completed at admission and filed away. Ask directly how often your parent's plan would be reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, including non-verbal communication and understanding changed behaviour, is one of the clearest markers separating homes that manage distress well from those that default to reactive responses.","watch_out":"Ask what dementia-specific training staff have completed in the past 12 months, who delivered it, and whether it covered non-verbal communication and supporting people in distress. Ask to see an example care plan structure so you can judge whether it has space for personal history, routines, and preferences."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report includes no direct observations of staff interactions, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific descriptions of how dignity and privacy are maintained. For a home of 100 residents with complex and varied conditions, the caring culture is the single most important day-to-day experience your parent will have. The headline rating is positive, but the evidence behind it is not visible in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews by name. Compassion and dignity together appear in 55.2%. These are not abstract values: they show up in specific, observable moments. Does a carer knock before entering a room? Do they use your parent's preferred name without being reminded? Do they sit down to speak rather than talking from the doorway? The Good Practice evidence confirms that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. None of this can be assessed from the published findings, so your visit is essential.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that person-led care requires genuine knowledge of the individual, not just a filled-in form. Homes where staff can describe a resident's history, preferences, and character from memory consistently score higher on family satisfaction measures.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch what happens in the corridor. Do staff make eye contact with residents and greet them by name without prompting? Do they move at the resident's pace or their own? These small signals tell you more about the caring culture than any document."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report does not describe the activity programme, individual engagement provision, how the home responds to changing needs, or how end-of-life care is approached. The home is registered for a wide range of conditions, which means responsiveness to individual need is particularly important. The headline rating is the only evidence available here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness, which activities directly support, appears in 27.1%. The Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are not enough: people living with advanced dementia need one-to-one engagement tailored to their remaining abilities, whether that is folding laundry, looking at photographs, or simply being sat with in a calm space. For a 100-bed home, the risk is that activity provision becomes a scheduled group event that many residents cannot access. Ask specifically what happens for your parent if they cannot join a group session.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday task approaches, where residents are given meaningful, achievable roles rather than passive entertainment, are associated with reduced distress and better wellbeing in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule for last week, not a sample one. Then ask what provision exists for residents who cannot join group sessions. How many hours of one-to-one activity does a resident in the later stages of dementia receive each day?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. A registered manager, Mrs Lindsay Patricia Pargin, is in post, and the provider Bondcare (Darrington) Limited has a named nominated individual, Mr Alan Goldstein. The published report does not describe the management culture, staff feedback mechanisms, governance processes, or how the home responds to complaints. Manager stability is recorded indirectly by the presence of a named registered manager, which is a positive baseline.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is the factor that most strongly predicts whether a Good rating is maintained or whether it slides over time. Our family review data shows management and communication with families account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews respectively. The Good Practice evidence identifies leadership stability as a key predictor of care quality trajectory: homes where the manager has been in post for more than two years and where staff feel they can raise concerns without fear tend to sustain and improve their ratings. You cannot assess this from the published findings, but you can ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that homes where frontline staff are empowered to make decisions without waiting for management sign-off consistently perform better on person-centred care measures. A culture where staff can speak up is a protective factor for residents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post and how long most senior carers have been at the home. Then ask what happens when a family has a complaint. What is the process, and can they give you an example of a change that was made because of family or resident feedback?"}

  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 of all ages with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. This broad expertise means they're equipped to support people with complex or changing needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on Families whose relatives lived with dementia speak about staff managing difficult behaviours calmly and maintaining dignity even as the condition progressed. The secure environment and structured activity programme help residents feel settled and engaged. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.