The Order of St John Care Trust

What families say

Visitors consistently mention feeling genuinely welcomed when they arrive. Family members notice how staff engage with residents throughout the day — not just during care tasks but in those small, meaningful moments that matter. There's a real sense of warmth here that families pick up on straight away.

Based on 30 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality58
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership42
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-04-17 · Report published 2018-04-17 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the November 2020 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published summary does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, night staffing arrangements, or agency use. No concerns about immediate safety were flagged by inspectors.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the published findings give very little specific detail to help you judge how safe your parent would actually be day to day. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often falls short, and agency reliance as a factor that undermines consistency for people with dementia who depend on familiar faces. The inspection does not tell us how many staff were on duty overnight, or how often agency carers cover shifts. These are questions you need to ask directly before you can feel confident.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff as two of the strongest predictors of safety risk in care homes. Homes with low agency use and consistent night teams have better incident and falls records.","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 agency staff, and ask specifically how many carers are on the dementia unit after 8pm on a typical night."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good, covering areas such as staff training, care plan quality, healthcare access, and nutrition. The home specialises in dementia care and also supports adults under 65, which places particular demands on staff competence and care planning. No specific findings about dementia training content, GP access frequency, or food quality are available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating suggests inspectors were satisfied that staff had the knowledge and tools to care for your parent properly, but without specific detail it is hard to know what that looks like in practice. For families choosing a dementia care home, the quality of care plans matters enormously: a good care plan is not a form filed once but a living document updated as your parent's needs change, and it should include personal history, preferences, and communication style. Our review data flags dementia-specific care as a concern for 12.7% of families. Ask to see a sample care plan format and ask how often it is reviewed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that care plans functioning as living documents, updated with family input and reviewed at least quarterly, are strongly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia. Homes where families are actively included in reviews report higher satisfaction scores.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, and whether you as a family member would be invited to take part in that review. Ask specifically what dementia training staff have completed and when it was last updated."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good, which covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. This is the domain most closely connected to the day-to-day experience of living in the home. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative feedback that would give a more detailed picture of how staff actually interact with people in their care.","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 closely at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating is a positive signal, but without specific observations from inspectors it is difficult to know whether warmth here is consistent and genuine or simply adequate. When you visit, pay attention to how staff speak to residents in corridors and communal areas when they do not know they are being watched. Are residents addressed by their preferred names? Do staff pause and make eye contact, or do they keep moving? These small moments are the most reliable guide.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, unhurried pace, and physical positioning, matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia who may have lost language. Person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history and preferences, not just their medical needs.","watch_out":"During your visit, ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like to be addressed. Watch whether staff knock before entering rooms and whether interactions feel unhurried. These are observable signals of genuine dignity practice, not just policy compliance."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good, covering how well the home tailors care to individual needs, the quality and variety of activities, and how it handles complaints and end-of-life care. The published summary provides no specific detail about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home supports residents with advanced dementia who cannot participate in group activities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews in our data, and activities and engagement are mentioned in 21.4%. A Good Responsive rating suggests the home met the expected standard, but the absence of specific findings means you cannot rely on the inspection alone to judge whether your parent would have a meaningful life here. Good Practice research is clear that for people with moderate to advanced dementia, group activities are often not accessible, and one-to-one engagement, including familiar everyday tasks like folding laundry, handling objects, or looking through photographs, is what maintains wellbeing. Ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot join group sessions.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies tailored one-to-one activities, including Montessori-based approaches and familiar household tasks, as significantly more effective than group-only programmes for people with advanced dementia. Homes that rely solely on group sessions risk leaving the most vulnerable residents with little meaningful engagement.","watch_out":"Ask to see the current weekly activity schedule and then ask specifically: what does a member of staff do with a resident who has advanced dementia and cannot join a group session? How many hours of one-to-one time does that resident receive each week?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the November 2020 inspection. This is the only domain where the home fell below the Good standard. Well-led covers management visibility, governance systems, how the home learns from incidents, staff culture, and whether leaders create an environment where problems are identified and addressed. The registered manager is named as Nicola Marie Millar and the nominated individual as James Norman Robson. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a formal reassessment, but the Requires Improvement rating has not been formally rescinded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement in Well-led is the rating that matters most for families thinking about the long term, because leadership quality predicts how quickly problems are identified and fixed. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a care home's quality trajectory. Eleven percent of family reviews in our data mention communication with management as a concern. The July 2023 monitoring review suggests no serious deterioration was found, but it was a desk-based review rather than a physical inspection. You should ask the manager directly what specific improvements were made following the 2020 inspection and what evidence exists that those improvements have been sustained.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies stable, visible leadership and a culture where staff can raise concerns without fear as two of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. Homes where the manager is known by name to residents and families, and where frontline staff feel empowered to speak up, consistently outperform those where governance is paper-based only.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what specific concerns were identified in the 2020 Well-led inspection and what has changed since. Then ask two or three members of frontline staff separately whether they feel comfortable raising a concern about care quality. Their answers will tell you more than any formal 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 adults over 65 and also welcomes younger adults who need residential support. They have specific expertise in dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the lakeside setting and garden spaces offer calming environments to enjoy. Staff show the kind of patient, engaged approach that helps residents feel secure and valued. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.