Auburn Mere

What families say

Based on 9 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-02-02 · Report published 2019-02-02

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Auburn Mere received a Good rating for Safe at its December 2018 inspection. No specific findings about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls, or infection control are recorded in the available published text. The home cares for up to 37 people across a range of needs including dementia and physical disabilities. The registration remains active and a 2023 review found no evidence requiring the rating to be changed. Beyond the rating itself, no further detail is available from the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring as a starting point, but it tells you little on its own when the inspection is six years old. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in residential settings, and that reliance on agency staff can undermine the consistency that people with dementia especially need. Because the published report contains no staffing ratios or incident data, you cannot assess safety from the paper alone. You need to ask directly: how many staff are on duty overnight for 37 residents, and how many of those are permanent employees?","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and agency staff reliance are the two factors most strongly associated with avoidable safety incidents in residential dementia care. A Good rating does not confirm current staffing practice.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many overnight shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency workers, and confirm that a senior carer is always present through the night."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Auburn Mere received a Good rating for Effective at its December 2018 inspection. The home lists dementia as a specialism, and a Good rating implies training and care planning met required standards at the time. No specific detail about dementia training content, care plan review frequency, GP access arrangements, or food quality is recorded in the available published text. The 2023 monitoring review found no reason to change the rating. The absence of specific findings makes it difficult to assess the depth of practice behind the rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Families in our review data rate healthcare access and food quality as two of the clearest everyday signals that a home genuinely understands their parent's needs. A Good Effective rating suggests the basics were in place in 2018, but care plans and dementia training should be living, evolving things. Good Practice evidence is clear that a care plan written at admission and rarely updated is far less useful than one reviewed regularly with family input. Because the report gives no detail on either, ask the home directly how often plans are reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans treated as living documents, updated at least quarterly and co-produced with families, are associated with better quality of life outcomes for people with dementia compared with plans that are completed at admission and seldom revisited.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample of how care plans are structured (with personal details removed) and ask when your parent's plan would first be reviewed after admission, and how frequently after that. Ask directly whether families are invited to those reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Auburn Mere received a Good rating for Caring at its December 2018 inspection. A Good Caring rating typically reflects that inspectors found staff treated people with dignity and respect and that residents and relatives gave broadly positive feedback. No specific observations, direct quotes from residents or relatives, or examples of named practice are recorded in the available published text. The rating alone cannot tell you whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they move at a calm pace, or how they respond to someone who is distressed.","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 not abstract values: they show up in observable moments, whether a staff member knocks before entering a room, uses your parent's preferred name without being reminded, or pauses to listen rather than rushing to the next task. The inspection cannot confirm these behaviours are present now. They are best assessed by visiting at an unplanned time, ideally during a personal care handover or a quiet afternoon, and watching how staff move through the building.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base notes that non-verbal communication, including pace, eye contact, and physical proximity, matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia. Person-led care requires staff to know the individual well, not just their care plan.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch a staff member approach your parent's room or a current resident's door. Do they knock and wait? Do they use the person's name? Do they crouch to eye level when speaking? These small actions are the most reliable observable signal of a genuinely caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Auburn Mere received a Good rating for Responsive at its December 2018 inspection. A Good Responsive rating indicates inspectors found the home was meeting individual needs and responding to concerns. The home lists dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment among its specialisms. No detail about specific activities, one-to-one engagement, individual schedules, or end-of-life care arrangements is recorded in the available published text. It is not possible to assess from the report alone whether activities are tailored to individual capacity or whether advanced dementia is well supported.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for a meaningful share of what families value in our review data, with 21.4% of positive reviews mentioning activities and 27.1% mentioning residents appearing content and settled. Good Practice evidence consistently shows that group activities alone are insufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia: one-to-one engagement and everyday household tasks adapted to individual ability produce better wellbeing outcomes. Because the report gives no activity detail, ask the home specifically what happens on a day when your parent does not want to join a group, or when they are having a difficult morning.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar domestic tasks like folding, sorting, and simple cooking, produce measurably better engagement and reduced distress in people with dementia compared with passive or group-only activity provision.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical Tuesday for someone with moderate dementia who prefers to stay in their room. If the answer is vague or defaults to group sessions only, press for what one-to-one support looks like and how often it happens."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Auburn Mere received a Good rating for Well-led at its December 2018 inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Lucy Victoria Raine, was in post at the time, alongside a nominated individual, Mrs Renukavathy Baskaran. Auburn Mere is operated by Trafalgar Healthcare Limited. The 2023 monitoring review found no evidence requiring a change to the rating. No specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles complaints is available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in residential care. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership consistency, where the same manager is known to staff, residents, and families over time, is associated with better outcomes than homes with frequent turnover. Because the inspection is from 2018, you do not know whether Mrs Raine is still in post or how the home has changed under current leadership. Communication with families accounts for 11.5% of what drives positive reviews in our data. Ask directly who is now registered as manager, how long they have been in post, and how they communicate with families day to day.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear are the two governance factors most strongly associated with sustained quality in care homes over time.","watch_out":"Ask the home who is currently the registered manager, how long they have been in that role, and whether there have been any changes in senior leadership or ownership structure since 2019. Then ask how families are kept informed of changes to their parent's care between formal review meetings."}

  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 team at Auburn Mere supports residents with sensory impairments, physical disabilities and dementia care needs. They provide residential care for adults both under and over 65, adapting their approach to each person's requirements.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialised support within their residential care setting. The team works with families to understand each person's unique needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.