Ancliffe Care Home – Minster Care Group

What families say

Families describe watching staff go about their work with real attention to individual residents. There's a sense that the team makes genuine effort in their daily care interactions, which gives relatives confidence in the care their loved ones receive.

Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-08-29 · Report published 2018-08-29 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the March 2021 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published inspection text does not include specific observations about any of these areas. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied at the time, but the report provides no detail about night staffing ratios, agency staff usage, or how falls or other incidents are recorded and reviewed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Safety is the foundation of everything else. Our Good Practice evidence highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in residential care homes, and agency staff reliance can undermine the consistency your parent with dementia depends on. The inspection gives a positive headline, but without specific data on staffing ratios or incident logs, you cannot assess this from the published report alone. Cleanliness, which 24.3% of families mention in positive reviews, is also not described in any specific detail here. You will need to ask directly and observe on your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (2026) found that night-time staffing ratios are one of the strongest predictors of safety in residential dementia care, and that homes relying heavily on agency staff show less consistent person-centred practice.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count the permanent staff names versus agency names, paying particular attention to night shifts. Ask what the minimum number of staff on duty overnight is for the current occupancy."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the March 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans are detailed and regularly reviewed, whether residents have good access to GPs and other health professionals, and whether food is nutritious and meets individual needs. The published inspection text provides no specific information about any of these areas for Ancliffe. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which implies a commitment to relevant training, but no training content, qualification levels, or GP access arrangements are described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone with dementia means staff knowing not just what your parent needs medically, but who they are as a person. Care plans should be living documents updated as your parent's condition changes, not paperwork filed away after admission. Food quality is mentioned in 20.9% of positive family reviews and matters enormously for both health and wellbeing, particularly for someone with dementia who may not be able to clearly express preferences. The inspection gives no detail on any of these, so these are questions to ask the manager directly before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice evidence review found that care plans function as genuine tools for personalised care only when families are actively involved in their creation and regular review, and when staff on every shift have read and understood them.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask how often care plans are reviewed and whether families are invited to take part. Also ask specifically what dementia training staff have completed and when the most recent training took place."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the March 2021 inspection. This is the domain most directly concerned with how staff treat your parent: whether they are warm, whether they respect privacy and dignity, whether they use preferred names, and whether they move at the resident's pace rather than the home's pace. The published inspection text includes no specific observations, no resident quotes, and no relative feedback about staff interactions at Ancliffe. The Good rating is encouraging, but provides no concrete evidence to share with you here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews mention it, and compassionate treatment is cited in 55.2%. What families describe in those reviews are small, observable things: a staff member remembering a resident's preferred name, sitting down to talk rather than talking while walking past, or responding calmly when a resident with dementia becomes distressed. You cannot assess any of this from the published report. The evidence on non-verbal communication in dementia care is clear: the manner of staff interactions matters as much as the content, particularly for people who have lost much of their verbal communication.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including tone of voice, physical proximity, and unhurried body language, is the primary channel through which people with advanced dementia experience care quality, making observable staff behaviour the most reliable indicator for families visiting a home.","watch_out":"On your visit, find a moment to observe a staff member interacting with a resident who was not expecting a visitor. Does the staff member make eye contact, use the resident's name, and take their time? Or does the interaction feel task-focused and brisk? This is the single most telling thing you can observe."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the March 2021 inspection. Responsive covers whether the home offers meaningful, varied activities, whether it responds to individual preferences and complaints, whether it makes reasonable adjustments for people with different needs, and whether end-of-life care is planned in advance. The published inspection text contains no specific information about activities at Ancliffe, no mention of how complaints are handled, and no reference to end-of-life planning. The Good rating is a positive baseline, but the absence of detail is notable.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement matter beyond simply keeping your parent occupied. For someone living with dementia, meaningful activity reduces agitation, supports a sense of identity, and contributes to physical health. Our review data shows that activities are mentioned in 21.4% of positive family reviews, but what families describe most positively are individual, personalised interactions rather than group sessions. The Good Practice evidence is particularly clear that one-to-one engagement is essential for people with advanced dementia who cannot participate in group activities. The inspection gives no information about whether Ancliffe provides this, so it is a direct question to ask.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice review found that Montessori-based and household-task approaches to activity, where residents participate in familiar, purposeful tasks rather than passive entertainment, produced the strongest outcomes for wellbeing and reduced distress in people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator) what happens on a typical afternoon for a resident with advanced dementia who finds group sessions overwhelming. Ask to see the activities record for the past month and check whether one-to-one sessions are logged alongside group activities."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the March 2021 inspection. The inspection records that the home is managed by a named registered manager, Mrs Joy Hogarth, with Mr Paul Nicholls listed as the nominated individual for the provider, Croftwood Care UK Limited. This indicates a clear accountability structure was in place. Beyond this, the published inspection text provides no specific information about management visibility, staff culture, how the home handles complaints, or how it acts on feedback from residents and families.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our Good Practice evidence shows that homes where the manager is well known to staff and residents, and where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, consistently deliver better care. The registered manager being named in the inspection record is a good sign, but you should ask directly how long Mrs Hogarth has been in post and whether there have been significant staffing changes recently. Management and communication with families is mentioned in 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews respectively, and what families value most is a manager they can actually speak to, not one who is only reachable through a receptionist.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice evidence review found that manager tenure and stability is one of the most reliable structural predictors of consistent care quality, and that homes where frontline staff feel empowered to make decisions show better outcomes for residents with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether the same manager was in place at the time of the 2021 inspection. Ask how families typically raise a concern and how quickly they receive a response. If you can, observe whether the manager is visible on the floor during your visit or remains office-based."}

  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 Ancliffe provides residential care for adults across different age groups, supporting both younger adults under 65 and older residents. The home also cares for people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on While dementia care is provided at Ancliffe, families considering the home for someone with dementia might want to ask about specific activities and approaches during their visit. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.