Aster Care Home

What families say

Residents describe a community where everyone gets along, despite different backgrounds and needs. The atmosphere feels accepting, with people supporting each other through their individual journeys.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-12-21 · Report published 2021-12-21 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the November 2024 inspection. This is an improvement on the previous assessment period when the home held a Requires Improvement rating overall. The published report does not include specific observations about medicines management, falls prevention, safeguarding, infection control, or staffing ratios. The home is a 102-bed nursing home serving a wide range of needs including dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, which makes staffing adequacy a particularly important question for families to explore directly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safety is reassuring, especially given the previous Requires Improvement rating, but the absence of published detail means you cannot see what inspectors actually observed. Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review highlights that night staffing is consistently where safety risks emerge in care homes, and that homes with high agency staff reliance often struggle to maintain consistent, safe care. With 102 beds and a complex mix of residents, ask specifically about overnight nurse cover before making your decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night-time staffing ratios and continuity of staff are among the strongest predictors of safety outcomes in care homes, particularly for residents with dementia or complex needs.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many registered nurses and care staff are on duty overnight, and what proportion of last month's night shifts were covered by permanent staff rather than agency workers? Request to see an actual rota, not a template."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the November 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the training and knowledge to meet residents' needs, whether care plans are detailed and regularly reviewed, and whether residents have timely access to healthcare professionals including GPs and specialists. The published report does not describe specific training records, care plan content, or examples of healthcare coordination. Given the home's specialisms, including dementia, learning disabilities, and mental health conditions, the depth of staff training is a particularly important area for families to probe.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our review data shows that families rate healthcare access (20.2% weighting in positive reviews) and food quality (20.9% weighting) as important markers of whether a home genuinely knows what it is doing. Neither is specifically described in the published findings for this home. The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after any change in health, and families should be actively involved in reviewing them. Ask to see how care plans are structured and whether family input is formally recorded.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that care plans functioning as genuine, regularly updated records of individual preferences and health status, rather than static admission documents, are a strong predictor of person-centred outcomes in dementia care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you a care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask when it was last reviewed and whether a family member contributed. Also ask what dementia-specific training all care staff have completed in the last 12 months."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the November 2024 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents' independence is supported. No direct inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative testimonies are included in the published report. This absence makes it impossible to describe specific interactions that families could recognise and look for. The home serves a wide and complex resident group, and the quality of day-to-day caring interactions is the dimension families consistently rate as most important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single largest 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 things you can observe directly on a visit. Watch whether staff knock before entering rooms, whether they use your parent's preferred name, and whether they sit at eye level when speaking to residents. The Good Practice research identifies non-verbal communication as particularly important for people living with dementia, where tone and body language often matter more than words.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that for people living with dementia, staff who demonstrate unhurried, calm, and physically present interactions produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes than those focused primarily on task completion.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit quietly in a communal area for ten minutes and watch how staff move through the space. Do they stop to speak with residents, or do they move from task to task? This is the most reliable signal of daily caring culture you will find."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the November 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether the home provides activities and engagement tailored to individual residents, whether complaints are handled well, and whether end-of-life care is planned and compassionate. The published report does not describe the activities programme, individual engagement for residents who cannot join groups, or end-of-life arrangements. For a home serving residents with dementia, learning disabilities, and mental health conditions, the range and adaptability of the activities offer is a significant quality indicator.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of the weighting in positive family reviews, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. These are strongly connected: residents who are meaningfully occupied during the day are consistently observed to be more settled and content. The Good Practice evidence highlights that Montessori-based and everyday household task approaches work particularly well for people with advanced dementia, and that group activities alone are not sufficient. Ask specifically what happens for your parent on a day when they cannot or do not want to join a group.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, and reminiscence with familiar objects, produces significantly better mood and behavioural outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia than group activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities timetable for the current week and ask the activities coordinator what happened yesterday for a resident who stayed in their room. The answer will tell you whether individual engagement is genuine or theoretical."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the November 2024 inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Julie Cattermole, is recorded as in post. The provider, Atlas Care Homes Limited, has a nominated individual, Mr Mohammad Afzal Ahmad, responsible for oversight. The home previously held a Requires Improvement rating, and the current Good rating across all domains suggests that leadership has driven meaningful change. The published report does not include specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, complaint handling, or how the home monitors and improves quality.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership account for 23.4% of the weighting in positive family reviews, and our review data shows that families notice when a manager knows residents by name and is visible on the floor rather than office-based. The Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as a predictor of quality trajectory: homes where the registered manager has been in post for a sustained period tend to maintain and build on improvements, while frequent manager turnover often signals instability. Ask how long Mrs Cattermole has been in post and what the main changes were that led to the improved rating.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that registered manager tenure is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes, with homes experiencing frequent manager turnover significantly more likely to decline in their inspection ratings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in this role, and what were the two or three most important changes you made after the previous inspection? The specificity and confidence of that answer will tell you a great deal about how well the improvement is embedded."}

  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 supports adults of all ages with complex needs including dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and substance misuse challenges.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the staff show patience and understanding in their daily interactions. The home's experience with various conditions means they're equipped to handle the changing needs that dementia can bring. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.