Rushey Mead Manor Care and Nursing Home

What families say

Based on 28 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 happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-07-20 · Report published 2022-07-20 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Safety at its June 2022 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and risk management. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating suggests that concerns identified at an earlier inspection were addressed. The published summary does not include specific observations about falls management, night staffing ratios, or agency use. No immediate concerns or enforcement actions are recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors were broadly satisfied with how the home keeps people safe, but it does not tell you what happens after midnight when your parent may be at most risk. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in residential care. The fact that this home has improved from Requires Improvement is encouraging, but you should ask specifically about night cover: how many staff are on duty for 50 residents, and are those permanent or agency staff? Our review data shows that families are significantly more anxious about safety when they do not know the answer to this question.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A home that cannot give you a clear, confident answer about overnight staffing deserves a follow-up question.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency workers, and specifically check the night shifts."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effectiveness at the June 2022 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well the home meets the needs of the people it cares for. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means inspectors will have assessed whether staff have appropriate dementia-specific training. No specific detail about the content or currency of training, GP access frequency, or care plan quality is available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating tells you that inspectors found training, care planning, and healthcare arrangements broadly in order, but it does not tell you whether your mum's care plan would reflect the things that matter to her specifically, her preferences, her history, what comforts her when she is anxious. Our review data shows that 20.2% of positive family reviews specifically mention healthcare responsiveness, and 12.7% mention dementia-specific care. Ask whether dementia training is accredited, how recently staff completed it, and whether you would be invited to contribute to your parent's care plan from day one.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly with family input. Homes where families are routinely included in care plan reviews show better outcomes for residents, particularly those living with dementia who cannot always advocate for themselves.","watch_out":"Ask when care plans are typically reviewed and whether families are invited to take part. Request to see an example of how a care plan records a resident's personal preferences, not just their medical history."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Rushey Mead Manor received a Good rating for Caring at the June 2022 inspection. This domain assesses staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how well people's independence is supported. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the culture of care they observed. No specific observations, such as staff using preferred names, responding calmly to distress, or allowing unhurried mealtimes, are recorded in the published text. No concerns about dignity or respect were noted.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow close behind at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating is reassuring, but the detail that makes the difference for your parent is whether staff know their name, know what unsettles them, and have time to sit with them rather than rushing from task to task. The published inspection does not give enough detail to answer those questions definitively. When you visit, watch what happens in the corridor: do staff make eye contact with residents as they pass, or do they walk by without acknowledgement?","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base notes that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication for people living with dementia. Staff who have learned to read and respond to body language and facial expression provide meaningfully better care, and this is observable even on a short visit.","watch_out":"During your visit, observe whether staff address residents by their preferred name and whether interactions feel unhurried. Ask the manager what name your parent would be called, and how that preference would be recorded and communicated to all staff including those on night shifts."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsiveness at the June 2022 inspection. This domain covers activities and engagement, how well the home responds to individual needs and preferences, and end-of-life care planning. The published summary does not describe the activities programme in any detail, nor does it record whether residents with advanced dementia receive one-to-one engagement. No concerns about responsiveness were noted by inspectors.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Responsive rating suggests inspectors found the home was meeting individual needs at a reasonable standard, but 21.4% of positive family reviews specifically mention activities and engagement as a reason for satisfaction, and the homes that score highest on this are those with named activities staff who tailor programmes to individual interests. If your parent can no longer join a group activity, what happens then? Good Practice research shows that one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, makes a measurable difference to wellbeing for people with advanced dementia. The inspection does not tell us whether this home provides that.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies Montessori-based and individual activity approaches, including everyday household tasks, as significantly more effective for people with advanced dementia than group-only programmes. Ask whether the home has an activities coordinator and what they do for residents who cannot join groups.","watch_out":"Ask to speak with the activities coordinator and ask them to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident with moderate to severe dementia who cannot join a group session. The answer will tell you more than any brochure."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Rushey Mead Manor was rated Good for Well-led at the June 2022 inspection. This domain assesses management visibility, culture, governance, and how the home learns from incidents and feedback. The home lists two registered managers and a nominated individual, indicating a formal leadership structure. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all five domains is a meaningful indicator that leadership engaged with previous concerns and drove change. No specific detail about management visibility on the floor, staff culture, or governance systems is available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes, according to the Good Practice evidence base. The fact that this home improved from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive sign that management is responsive to challenge. However, the inspection was carried out in June 2022, which means the findings are now more than two years old. Staff and management may have changed since then. Our review data shows that 23.4% of positive family reviews mention management and leadership specifically, and families consistently value being able to speak to a manager who knows their parent by name. Ask how long the current manager has been in post and whether there have been significant staffing changes since 2022.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base finds that leadership stability directly predicts quality trajectory, and that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear tend to deliver safer, more consistent care. Ask whether the home has a staff forum or another mechanism for care staff to raise issues.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long they have been in post and whether the management team has changed significantly since the 2022 inspection. Also ask how staff raise concerns about care quality, and for an example of something that was changed as a result of a staff suggestion."}

  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 supports people with sensory impairments and physical disabilities, alongside those living with dementia or mental health conditions. They're equipped to care for adults of all ages, from younger people needing specialist support to older residents requiring nursing care.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home provides specialist care as part of their nursing and residential services. Staff work with families to create individual care plans that reflect each person's needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.