Willow Green Residential Care Home

What families say

Based on 22 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-10-07 · Report published 2023-10-07 · Inspected 9 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection, having previously been assessed as Requires Improvement. This improvement means inspectors were satisfied that risks to the people who live here were being managed adequately. The home supports 63 residents, including people living with dementia, which means robust systems for medicines management, falls prevention, and staffing cover are all relevant. No specific concerns were recorded in the published findings. The published summary does not include detail on night staffing ratios or agency staff usage.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A move from Requires Improvement to Good in Safe is not a small step. Inspectors would need to see evidence that the specific problems identified previously had been addressed and that new systems were holding. That said, 14% of positive family reviews in our data specifically mention staff attentiveness as a safety signal, and the published findings do not give us enough detail to confirm what that looks like here after 8pm. The Good Practice evidence base flags night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in nursing homes, so this is the area to probe directly. You should not rely on a domain rating alone to answer the question of whether your parent is safe overnight.","evidence_base":"Research across 61 studies found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are the two factors most strongly associated with safety failures in nursing home settings. A Good daytime rating does not automatically tell you what happens between 10pm and 7am.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many permanent carers and how many senior staff are on duty overnight for the full 63 beds, and can you show me the actual rota from last week rather than the planned template?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the skills and knowledge to deliver care properly, including dementia-specific training, care planning, nutrition and hydration, and access to healthcare professionals such as GPs and specialist nurses. The published summary does not include specific examples of care plan content, training records reviewed, or observations of mealtimes. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that standards were met, but the detail behind that judgement is not available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality features in 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, and nutrition is one of the clearest indicators of how well a care home truly knows the people in its care. A person with dementia may not be able to say clearly that they are hungry, dislike a dish, or need help eating, so the quality of staff observation and individual care planning really matters here. The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated regularly and shaped by family input, not just completed at admission. Because the published findings give no detail on any of this, these are questions you need to ask and observe directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans functioning as genuinely individualised, regularly updated records, rather than administrative compliance documents, are one of the strongest predictors of person-centred outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see how a care plan is structured, specifically whether it records your parent's food preferences, eating history, and any support needed at mealtimes, and ask how recently plans are reviewed and whether family members are invited to those reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. This domain is where inspectors assess whether staff treat the people who live here with genuine warmth, dignity, and respect, including whether residents are addressed by their preferred names, whether privacy is maintained, and whether care is delivered without rushing. The published summary does not include specific observations of staff interactions or direct quotes from residents or relatives about how they experience care. A Good rating indicates the inspection team was satisfied, but the texture of day-to-day kindness is not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, named in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity features in 55.2%. These are not abstract ideals; they are things families notice immediately on a visit, in whether a carer pauses to listen, uses your parent's preferred name, or sits down rather than talking from a standing position. The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that for people living with advanced dementia, non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and physical proximity, matters as much as words. Because the published findings give no specific observations here, you will need to form your own judgement on a visit.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that non-verbal communication quality, including unhurried physical presence and staff who make eye contact and use touch appropriately, is a stronger predictor of wellbeing for people with advanced dementia than verbal interaction alone.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand in a corridor or communal area for ten minutes and watch how staff move. Do they pause when passing a resident, make eye contact, and use the person's name? Or do they move quickly between tasks without acknowledgement? This tells you more than any conversation with management."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether the home is organised to meet each person's individual needs, including the range and quality of activities, support for people who cannot join group sessions, complaint handling, and end-of-life care planning. The home specialises in dementia care as well as general nursing care for adults of varying ages. The published summary does not describe specific activity programmes, individual engagement approaches, or end-of-life planning processes.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement feature in 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness and contentment is mentioned in 27.1%. For someone living with dementia, the question is not just whether there is a weekly activities timetable but whether there is something meaningful for your parent specifically, particularly if they are less mobile or cannot easily follow group sessions. The Good Practice evidence base identifies tailored one-to-one activity, including familiar household tasks, music linked to personal history, and sensory engagement, as significantly more effective for wellbeing than group programmes alone. This is an area where the published findings give you no detail at all, so it must be a priority question on your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, particularly those drawing on a person's life history and familiar roles, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing and reduce distressed behaviour in people living with dementia, compared with group-only activity provision.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe specifically what they would offer your parent on a day when they did not want to join a group session. If the answer is vague or defaults to television, that tells you something important about how individually responsive the home actually is."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection, having previously been Requires Improvement. A named registered manager, Mrs Hayley Louise Robertshaw, is in post, and the nominated individual is Mr Thomas Horn. The home is run by St. Martin's Care Limited. Achieving Good in Well-led after a previous Requires Improvement rating indicates inspectors found that governance systems, staff culture, and accountability had genuinely improved. The published summary does not describe the manager's visibility on the floor, staff feedback mechanisms, or how the home monitors quality on an ongoing basis.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is referenced in 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and communication with families features in a further 11.5%. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability, particularly a settled manager who is known to staff and residents, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality. The fact that this home has moved from Requires Improvement to Good is encouraging, but it also means the current good standard is relatively recent. The key question for families is how long Mrs Robertshaw has been in post, whether the management team is stable, and how the home plans to maintain improvement as it potentially grows its occupancy.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that manager tenure and leadership continuity are among the most reliable predictors of care quality trajectory. Homes that improve under a settled manager are significantly more likely to sustain that improvement than those where leadership changes frequently.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Robertshaw directly: how long have you been registered manager here, what were the main changes made since the previous inspection, and how do you make sure staff feel able to raise concerns about care without fear of consequences?"}

  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 specialises in supporting adults under 65 who need residential care, alongside providing dementia care across all age groups. They also care for older adults in a setting that accommodates different age ranges and care needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on Residents living with dementia have access to structured activities including music sessions. The home works to support residents with varying stages of dementia alongside their other specialist services. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.