Ashwood Care Centre

What families say

Families describe profound changes here. Relatives who'd stopped eating at home are now enjoying meals again. Those who'd refused personal care arrive looking refreshed and well-groomed. The structured days include live music and singing sessions that draw even reluctant residents into the community atmosphere.

Based on 13 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-07-22 · Report published 2021-07-22 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the June 2021 inspection, representing an improvement on the previous rating. The published report does not include specific observations about staffing levels, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices at this home. The home is registered for 70 beds and provides nursing care, which means a registered nurse should be on duty at all times. No concerns about safety were flagged in the July 2023 desk-based review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety means inspectors did not find significant gaps in how the home protects the people living there. However, because the published text contains no specific detail, it is not possible to tell you, for example, how many staff are on at night or how often agency workers are used. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety is most likely to slip in care homes, and that reliance on unfamiliar agency staff can undermine consistency for people with dementia. With 70 beds and a mixed nursing population, night staffing numbers are a particularly important question for your parent's safety.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are two of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, including falls and medication errors.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff worked nights, and ask what the minimum number of staff on duty is overnight for 70 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the June 2021 inspection. The published text does not describe specific findings about care planning, GP access, dementia training, or food quality at Ashwood Care Centre. The home is registered to care for people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, which means staff should have training relevant to each of these needs. No concerns about effectiveness were raised in the 2023 review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality features in 20.9% of the positive family reviews in our data, and dementia-specific training appears in 12.7% of reviews as something families actively comment on. Neither is described in the published findings here. Good Practice research shows that care plans work best when they are treated as living documents, updated with family input after every significant change in your parent's condition, not filed once and forgotten. Before placing your parent here, ask to read a sample care plan (with names removed) to see whether it captures the kind of personal detail that makes care feel individual rather than generic.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that regular, structured GP access and dementia-specific staff training are independently associated with better health outcomes and fewer avoidable hospital admissions for people living with dementia in care homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed and whether a family member can attend that review. Then ask what dementia training staff complete and when the most recent training took place for the team on the unit where your parent would live."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the June 2021 inspection. The published text does not include direct observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they are treated, or specific descriptions of how dignity and privacy are maintained. For a home caring for people with dementia and mental health conditions, the quality of moment-to-moment staff interactions is particularly important. No concerns about caring were raised in the 2023 review.","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%. These are the things families notice most and care about most, yet they are the hardest to verify from a published report alone. For people with dementia, non-verbal communication matters as much as words: whether a staff member makes eye contact, speaks calmly, and does not rush are things you can observe yourself during a visit. A Good rating here is encouraging, but there is no substitute for spending an hour in a communal area and watching how staff move through the space.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that for people with advanced dementia, consistent, unhurried, and personalised staff interactions are the most significant factor in reducing distress and maintaining a sense of identity and wellbeing.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit in the main lounge for at least 30 minutes without announcing why you are there. Note whether staff address residents by their preferred names, whether they crouch to eye level when speaking to someone seated, and whether anyone appears to be left without interaction for a prolonged period."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the June 2021 inspection. The published text does not describe the activities programme, how individual preferences are captured, or how the home meets the needs of people with dementia, mental health conditions, or physical disabilities in a personalised way. End-of-life planning is not referenced in the available text. No concerns about responsiveness were flagged in the 2023 review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness features in 27.1% of the positive family reviews in our data, and activities and engagement appear in 21.4%. A home that is genuinely responsive to your parent's individual needs will offer more than a weekly bingo session: Good Practice research points to tailored one-to-one engagement, everyday household tasks used as meaningful activity, and Montessori-based approaches as the most effective ways of supporting wellbeing for people with dementia. For a home with 70 beds and a range of specialisms, the key question is whether the activities on offer are genuinely adapted to each person or whether the programme is designed around what works for the most able residents.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that one-to-one activities, particularly those drawing on a person's lifelong routines and interests, are significantly more effective at reducing agitation and improving mood in people with dementia than group activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see last month's actual activity records, not just the planned schedule. Ask specifically what happens for a resident who cannot join a group session due to advanced dementia or physical disability, and who is responsible for providing individual engagement on each shift."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the June 2021 inspection, improving from the previous Requires Improvement rating. Mrs Roxana Nistor Brinza is the registered manager and Mr Alan Goldstein is the nominated individual. The published text does not describe how the manager is visible to staff and residents, how governance systems work in practice, or how the home has responded to the issues that led to the previous Requires Improvement rating. The 2023 desk-based review found nothing to require reassessment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality features in 23.4% of family reviews, and communication with families appears in 11.5% of positive reviews in our data. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains is a genuinely positive sign and suggests meaningful leadership effort. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a home's quality over time: a manager who is known by name to residents and staff, and who is present on the floor rather than behind a desk, creates a culture where concerns are raised and addressed. The length of time the current manager has been in post is worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, empowering leadership where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear show consistently better outcomes across safety and caring domains than those with high management turnover.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long they have been in post at Ashwood and what the main changes were that led to the improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. Then ask how families are kept informed if a concern about their parent's care is raised by a member of staff."}

  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 alongside support for mental health conditions and physical disabilities, welcoming both younger adults and those over 65.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the structured routine here seems particularly beneficial. Families report their relatives engaging with activities they'd withdrawn from at home, from personal care to social gatherings. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.