Ashefields Residential Care Home

What families say

What stands out is how residents seem to truly relax here. Families talk about seeing their loved ones happy and settled in ways they hadn't achieved in other homes. There's something about the atmosphere that helps people feel genuinely at ease.

Based on 3 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality62
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-12-28 · Report published 2019-12-28 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Safe is rated Good, meaning inspectors were satisfied with safety arrangements at the time of the January 2022 inspection. For a 20-bed dementia-specialist home, this covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and risk management. No specific concerns or incidents are highlighted in the published report. The previous Requires Improvement rating means earlier safety issues were identified, though the nature of those concerns is not detailed in the available summary. The July 2023 review found no evidence to change the Good rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is a baseline you need, not a ceiling to aim for. What it tells you is that inspectors did not find unsafe staffing, dangerous medicines errors, or serious infection control failures on the day they visited. What it cannot tell you is how the home performs at 2am on a Tuesday, or how quickly staff respond when your dad becomes distressed and confused overnight. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in small homes u2014 with 20 beds and a dementia specialism, knowing exactly how many permanent staff are on at night is one of the most important questions you can ask. The improvement from Requires Improvement suggests the home took earlier concerns seriously, which is itself a positive sign.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night-time staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in dementia care settings u2014 consistency of face matters most when your parent can no longer tell you something went wrong.","watch_out":"Ask directly: 'How many permanent, named members of staff are on duty in the dementia unit after 8pm, and what is your policy on agency cover when someone calls in sick overnight?'"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effective is rated Good, covering training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutritional care. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means inspectors would have considered whether staff are appropriately trained to support people with dementia. No specific training content, care plan detail, or healthcare access information is included in the published summary. Food quality and dietary management are not described. The improvement from the previous rating suggests care planning and effective practice were areas that needed work and have since been addressed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad living with dementia, effectiveness is about whether staff understand dementia well enough to respond to what it looks like on the ground u2014 not just in a care plan, but when she won't eat, or he is frightened and can't say why. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied, but the 20.9% of families in DCC review data who mention food quality as a reason they chose a home tell us that mealtimes are about much more than nutrition u2014 they are a focal point of daily life and dignity. Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised) and ask how often your parent's plan would be reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as 'living documents' that should be updated after every significant change in health or behaviour u2014 homes that treat them as one-off admission paperwork consistently underperform on personalisation and dignity outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How often is my parent's care plan formally reviewed, and would I be contacted and invited to contribute to that review u2014 or just informed afterwards?'"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring is rated Good, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. This is the domain that most directly reflects the day-to-day experience of your parent in the home. No direct quotes from residents or relatives, and no specific inspector observations about staff interactions, are included in the available report text. The Good rating implies inspectors did not witness concerning or undignified care. In a 20-bed home, the culture of caring is closely tied to the stability and character of a small, consistent staff team.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single highest-weighted theme in DCC family reviews u2014 57.3% of the positive reviews we analysed mention it specifically. In a home this small, the personality and consistency of the care team matters enormously. When you visit, pay attention to the small moments: does a member of staff greet your dad by his preferred name without being reminded? Do they crouch to his level rather than speaking down? Do they knock before entering a room? Good Practice research is clear that non-verbal communication u2014 touch, eye contact, unhurried presence u2014 matters as much as words for people with advanced dementia. The absence of specific evidence here is not a red flag, but it does mean you need to observe this for yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"Person-led dementia care research consistently shows that residents' wellbeing is most strongly predicted not by physical environment or activities programmes, but by whether staff know them as individuals u2014 their history, preferences, and what comforts them when they are distressed.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch how staff interact with residents they pass in a corridor when no one is asking them to u2014 do they stop, make eye contact, and speak by name, or walk past? That unrehearsed moment tells you more than any planned introduction."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsive is rated Good, covering activities, engagement, individuality, and end-of-life planning. No specific activities, programmes, or examples of tailored engagement are described in the available report text. In a small 20-bed home with a dementia specialism, the quality of responsiveness often comes down to whether staff have both the time and the knowledge to engage individuals u2014 not just run a group session. End-of-life planning is not specifically addressed in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The 21.4% of families in DCC data who mention activities as a key reason for choosing a home are telling us something important: a meaningful day is not a luxury u2014 it is part of what makes dementia care humane. For someone with more advanced dementia who cannot join a group activity, one-to-one engagement u2014 a conversation over a familiar task, a piece of music from their past, a walk in the garden u2014 becomes even more important. Good Practice evidence supports Montessori-based and household-continuity approaches where your parent participates in meaningful everyday tasks rather than sitting through entertainment. Ask specifically what the home offers for residents who are not able to join group activities.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that individual, tailored activities u2014 including everyday household tasks u2014 produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than group-only activity programmes, particularly for those in later stages.","watch_out":"Ask: 'What would a typical Tuesday afternoon look like for my mum if she wasn't able to join the group activity u2014 who would spend time with her, doing what, and how is that recorded?'"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led is rated Good, and the home is led by Mrs Lesley Jane Rowan, who holds both the registered manager and nominated individual roles. In a 20-bed home, this level of personal accountability is meaningful u2014 it means the same person who is legally responsible for the service is also the day-to-day manager. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating across all five domains suggests genuine leadership-driven change. No specific governance detail, staff survey data, or examples of learning from incidents are included in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The 23.4% weighting families place on management and leadership in DCC review data reflects a real truth: in a small home, the manager sets the tone for everything. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is the single strongest predictor of quality trajectory u2014 homes where the manager has been in post for more than two years and is visible on the floor consistently outperform those with high management turnover. Mrs Rowan's dual role suggests she is deeply invested in this home. The fact that the home has moved from Requires Improvement to Good across all five domains is a meaningful achievement. Your key question is whether that progress has been maintained and how the home has continued to develop since the January 2022 inspection.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies a culture where staff feel empowered to raise concerns u2014 'bottom-up' empowerment u2014 as a key marker of sustainable quality, particularly in small homes where informal practices can go unchallenged if management is not genuinely open.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Rowan directly: 'How long have you been managing this home, and what was the most significant change you made after the previous inspection that you're most proud of?' Her answer u2014 and her willingness to be specific u2014 will tell you a great deal about leadership culture."}

  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 specialises in dementia care for adults over 65, with staff who understand the complexities this brings.. Gaps or open questions remain on Families particularly value how staff understand the ups and downs of dementia. They've noticed staff can often lift a resident's spirits during difficult moments — sometimes more effectively than family members themselves. When health concerns arise, they arrange same-day GP visits, which brings real reassurance. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.