Hartfield House Care Home

What families say

Families talk about the difference those first moments make — staff who actually stop to chat, who remember names and stories. There's a buzz about the place, with residents gathering for activities or heading out on the minibus for local trips. The structured daily programme keeps everyone engaged, whether it's cinema afternoons or simply pottering in the garden.

Based on 23 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 & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-10-23 · Report published 2019-10-23 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2024 inspection. This indicates inspectors were satisfied that risks were managed, medicines were handled appropriately, and staffing numbers were sufficient. However, the published report text does not reproduce specific observations, ratios, or examples to support this rating. The home cares for up to 62 people, including those living with dementia, which makes consistent safe staffing particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is reassuring, but for a 62-bed home with a dementia specialism, the details behind that rating matter enormously. Research from the Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency people with dementia depend on. You are not able to draw firm conclusions from the published findings alone, so ask specifically about overnight ratios and agency use before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (2026) found that night staffing levels and agency staff reliance are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, particularly for people living with dementia who may be at risk of falls or distress overnight.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count the permanent staff names against agency names, and ask how many carers and how many seniors are on each night shift for the full 62 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2024 inspection. This covers care planning, staff training, healthcare access, and nutrition. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors will have considered whether dementia-specific practice meets the required standard. No specific examples of care plan content, GP access arrangements, training records, or food provision are reproduced in the available report text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad living with dementia, the Effective rating is about whether the team actually knows them and knows what to do. The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly and updated as needs change, not filed and forgotten. The absence of specific detail in this report means you cannot verify from the published findings alone whether care planning at Hartfield House meets that standard. Ask to see a sample care plan structure and ask how often it is reviewed.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that care plans which include personal history, communication preferences, and known triggers for distress are significantly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia, but their quality varies widely between homes regardless of overall rating.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are reviewed and whether families are routinely invited to contribute. Ask what specific dementia training staff receive, how recently they completed it, and whether training covers non-verbal communication for people who can no longer express their needs in words."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2024 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether people are treated as individuals. No inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative feedback are reproduced in the available report text. A Good rating here means inspectors were satisfied during their visit, but it does not describe the texture of daily interactions.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are things you can observe directly on a visit: watch whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they make eye contact, and whether they seem to have time for the people in their care. The inspection found this to be Good, but you should use your own visit to test whether that holds on an ordinary weekday, not just when inspectors are present.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication for people with dementia, and that genuine person-led care requires staff to know the individual's history, preferences, and personality, not simply their clinical needs.","watch_out":"When you visit, walk through a communal area and observe how staff pass residents in the corridor. Do they stop, make eye contact, and speak? Or do they move through without acknowledgement? This is one of the most reliable indicators of care culture that no inspection report can fully capture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2024 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home responds to the changing needs of the people who live there, including end-of-life care. The published report text does not include specific examples of activity provision, one-to-one engagement, or how individual preferences are accommodated in daily life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive review mentions in our data, and resident happiness accounts for a further 27.1%. For someone living with dementia, group activities are only part of the picture. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that one-to-one engagement and everyday meaningful tasks, such as folding, sorting, or familiar household activities, are often more beneficial than organised group sessions, particularly for people in the later stages of dementia. The published findings do not confirm whether Hartfield House provides this level of tailored engagement.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review identified Montessori-based approaches and individually tailored activity, including familiar domestic tasks, as having strong evidence for reducing distress and maintaining wellbeing in people with dementia, compared with group-only activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity record for last week, not the planned schedule. Ask specifically what would be offered to your parent on a day when they did not want to join a group, and ask whether there is a dedicated activities person or whether this falls to care staff alongside other duties."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2024 inspection. A named registered manager, Lukasz Bogusz, is in post, and Lisa Sharon Soper is the nominated individual. The home is operated by Porthaven Care Homes No 3 Limited. The published report text does not include observations about management visibility, staff culture, how concerns are raised, or how the home responds to incidents and complaints.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our family review data shows that communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive review themes, and families who feel kept informed and heard are significantly more satisfied. The Good Practice evidence base finds that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and where leadership is visible on the floor rather than office-bound, have better outcomes. You cannot assess this from the published text, but you can test it on your visit by asking how long the current manager has been in post and how staff are supported to speak up.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff at all levels feel empowered to raise concerns are among the most reliable predictors of sustained care quality, more so than any single procedural measure.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in this role, and what was the most recent significant change you made as a result of a complaint or incident? A good manager will answer both questions with confidence and specifics."}

  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 Hartfield House provides residential and nursing care for adults over 65, with particular expertise in dementia care. The team also welcomes younger adults who need specialist support.. Gaps or open questions remain on The dementia care approach focuses on maintaining connections and capabilities. Staff work to understand each person's history and interests, weaving familiar elements into daily routines that provide comfort and structure. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.