Autumn Gardens

What families say

Families talk about walking in to find their relatives looking comfortable and happy, often chatting with staff or joining in activities. The home welcomes visitors warmly and families feel included in the community here. Many mention how staff seem to know their relatives well, picking up on small changes and responding quickly when care needs shift.

Based on 36 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness50
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-11-27 · Report published 2018-11-27 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"Safety was rated Requires Improvement at the August 2020 inspection. The published report does not detail the specific reasons for this rating, which is an unusual gap. The home is a nursing home with 85 beds, covering complex needs including dementia and mental health conditions, which places high demands on safe staffing and clinical oversight. No specific inspector observations, incident data, or staffing ratios are recorded in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in Safety is the finding that should concern you most when considering this home for your parent, particularly if your parent has dementia or complex health needs. Good Practice research consistently shows that safety risks are highest at night, when staffing is thinnest, and in homes with high agency staff turnover, because unfamiliar faces increase distress and reduce the chance of early deterioration being spotted. The fact that this rating has not been re-inspected in over four years means you cannot know from the public record whether the issues identified have been resolved. You need to ask the manager directly what the Requires Improvement rating related to and what was done to fix it.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and agency staff reliance are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, with consistent staffing by familiar faces reducing both falls and avoidable hospital admissions.","watch_out":"Ask the manager specifically: what did the Requires Improvement in Safety relate to in the 2020 inspection, what actions were taken, and how many of last week's night shifts were covered by permanent staff rather than agency workers? Request to see the evidence, not just the answer."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effectiveness was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. The home is registered as a nursing home, indicating that qualified nursing staff are expected to be present around the clock to oversee clinical care. The home lists dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities among its specialisms, suggesting structured approaches to complex care needs. However, the inspection text provides no specific detail about care plan quality, GP access, medication management, or dementia training content.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective means inspectors were broadly satisfied that the home knew what it was doing clinically and in its care planning, but without specific detail in the published report, you cannot tell whether care plans are genuinely personalised or whether they are generic documents that are rarely updated. Good Practice evidence identifies care plan quality as one of the clearest markers of person-led care: a plan that records your parent's preferred name, daily routines, food likes and dislikes, and communication style is very different from one that simply lists diagnoses. Dementia-specific training is also critical. Ask to see a sample care plan structure and ask how often plans are reviewed when a resident's condition changes.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans used as active, regularly updated documents, rather than static admission paperwork, were strongly associated with reduced distress in residents with dementia and greater family confidence in the home.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how often are care plans formally reviewed, who is involved in that review, and can a family member attend? Then ask to see the training log for dementia care, specifically how many hours of specialist training permanent staff received in the last 12 months."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents are treated as individuals. The published report does not include inspector observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives, or specific examples of dignified care in practice. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied, but the absence of detail means families cannot draw on specific evidence to judge what day-to-day kindness looks like here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned positively in 57.3% of reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely, at 55.2%. These are not soft extras; they are the things families remember and the things that most directly affect your parent's quality of life day to day. Because the inspection report contains no specific observations of staff behaviour, you will need to form your own judgement on a visit. Watch whether staff make eye contact, use your parent's preferred name, and sit at the same level when speaking to residents. Notice whether people are left alone for long periods in communal areas or whether staff regularly check in.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication, including pace, eye contact, and physical proximity, is as important as spoken words for people with advanced dementia, and that these behaviours are observable by families on a single visit.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit quietly in a communal area for at least 15 minutes and count how many times a member of staff initiates a conversation with a resident without being asked. If the answer is rarely or never, that tells you something the inspection report cannot."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsiveness was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and whether the home responds to the personal preferences and changing needs of residents. The home offers care across a wide range of conditions including dementia, mental health conditions, and sensory impairment, which each require tailored rather than one-size-fits-all activities. The published report does not describe the activities programme, individual engagement approaches, or how the home responds to residents who cannot participate in group activities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness features in 27.1% of positive family reviews in our data, and meaningful activity is one of the most consistent factors that determines whether your parent is settled or distressed. Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are insufficient, particularly for people with moderate or advanced dementia, who often need one-to-one engagement, familiar domestic tasks, or sensory activities to maintain a sense of purpose and calm. The inspection tells you responsiveness was Good, but you need to see the evidence yourself. Ask the activities coordinator to show you records from last month, not the planned schedule, and ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot leave their room.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that Montessori-based approaches and meaningful individual activities, including everyday tasks such as folding laundry, sorting objects, and gardening, significantly reduced agitation and improved wellbeing in people with dementia compared to group-only activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity records for any three days last month, not the scheduled programme. Check whether individual residents are named in the records and whether any one-to-one engagement is documented for people who cannot join group sessions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Leadership was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. A registered manager, Mrs Martina De Vizia, was in post, and a nominated individual, Mr Melis Antonis Ourris, is named for the provider organisation, Ourris Properties Limited. The inspection text does not describe management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home learns from complaints and incidents. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with leadership arrangements, but no specific supporting evidence is recorded in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time: homes with a consistent, visible manager who staff can approach tend to maintain quality even under pressure, while homes with frequent manager turnover often show deterioration that does not show up immediately in inspection ratings. Communication with families, cited positively in 11.5% of our review data, is also a leadership responsibility. You need to know whether the registered manager named in the 2020 report is still in post, and how long they have been there. A manager who has been in place for several years and who staff and residents can name without hesitation is a positive sign.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that empowered, stable leadership, where managers are visible on the floor and staff feel safe raising concerns, was consistently associated with better outcomes for residents and higher staff retention.","watch_out":"Ask directly: is Mrs Martina De Vizia still the registered manager, and how long has she been in post? If there has been a management change since 2020, ask how many managers the home has had in the past four years and what drove those changes."}

  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 provides specialist support for people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They care for adults both under and over 65, with staff trained to handle complex care needs. The home also offers respite stays.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the team focuses on maintaining dignity while providing the right level of support. Staff seem particularly good at recognising when someone's needs are changing and adjusting their approach accordingly. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.