Benoni Nursing Home Ltd

What families say

Families describe a place where residents appear content and settled. Staff take time to really know each person, and that genuine friendliness seems to help people feel at ease. The atmosphere feels calm rather than clinical.

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-10-15 · Report published 2019-10-15 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The safe domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. No specific observations about staffing levels, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control are included in the published text. A July 2023 review found nothing to suggest this rating should be reconsidered. The home is registered to provide nursing care, which means a qualified nurse must be on duty at all times, but the inspection text does not confirm night staffing numbers or agency use.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, particularly given the home previously held a Requires Improvement rating. However, safety is the domain where the gap between a rating and lived experience can be widest. Good Practice research from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review (2026) identifies night staffing as the period where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and agency reliance as a factor that undermines consistency of care. Neither of these is addressed in the published findings. Cleanliness accounts for 24.3% of positive family reviews in our data, yet nothing specific is recorded about the premises here. You will need to observe this yourself.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, 2026) found that incidents of avoidable harm were disproportionately concentrated on night shifts and in homes with high agency staff turnover, making night staffing ratios a key question for any family considering a care home.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many care staff and how many nursing staff are on duty overnight for 25 residents? Then ask what proportion of those night shifts in the last month were covered by permanent staff rather than agency or bank workers. Ask to see the actual rota, not an estimated average."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. The published text does not include specific observations about care plan quality, dementia training, GP access, food, or how the home monitors residents' health. The home's registration covers nursing care, personal care, and treatment of disease and disorder, suggesting clinical capacity is expected. Beyond that, the inspection text provides no further detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in dementia care rests on care plans that are genuinely personalised, staff who understand dementia-specific communication, and reliable access to healthcare when your parent needs it. Food quality is mentioned positively in 20.9% of the family reviews in our data, making it a reliable indicator of how well a home attends to individual needs. Dementia-specific care knowledge is referenced in 12.7% of positive reviews. The inspection findings here cannot confirm the presence or quality of any of these things, so direct questions on your visit are essential.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that care plans treated as living documents, updated after every significant health change and reviewed with family involvement at least quarterly, were associated with better quality of life outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see the structure of a care plan (a blank template is fine if you cannot see a real one) and check whether it includes sections for preferred name, daily routine, food preferences, communication needs, and life history. Then ask how often plans are formally reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. No inspector observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, response to distress, or pace of care are recorded in the published text. No quotes from residents or relatives are included. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied, but the evidence base visible to families is minimal.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews by name. Compassion and dignity follow closely, mentioned in 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in small, observable moments, whether a staff member knocks before entering a room, uses your parent's preferred name, or sits down rather than standing over someone to talk. Because the inspection text records none of these moments, your visit is the only way to assess this domain for yourself. Plan to spend at least 30 minutes in a communal area at a busy time such as mid-morning or just before lunch.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review found that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, physical positioning, and unhurried pace, was as significant as verbal interaction in determining whether a person with dementia felt safe and valued. This is something you can observe directly on a visit.","watch_out":"Sit in a communal area and watch three interactions between staff and residents. Note whether staff crouch or sit to be at eye level, whether they use the resident's name, and whether they appear rushed. These behaviours are more reliable than anything a manager tells you in a meeting room."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. The published text includes no information about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, individual preferences, or end-of-life care. The home's specialisms include dementia, which suggests some tailoring of care is intended, but no specific practices are described. Outdoor access, meaningful occupation, and individual routines are not mentioned.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness for 27.1%. For someone with dementia, meaningful occupation matters as much as physical safety: purposeful activity can reduce anxiety, support sleep, and maintain function. Good Practice research highlights that group activities alone are insufficient, particularly for people with more advanced dementia who may not be able to participate. One-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, or tending to plants, has strong evidence behind it. This inspection tells you none of that is in place or absent at Benoni. You need to ask.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities, tailored to a person's previous work and home routines, produced measurable reductions in agitation and improvements in wellbeing for people with moderate to severe dementia, compared with group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask for last month's activity schedule and look for any entries that describe individual, one-to-one engagement rather than group sessions. Ask what activity support is available for someone who finds it difficult to sit in a group. Then ask whether your parent's hobbies and former routines would be recorded and used to shape what is offered to them."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. A nominated individual is named at provider level. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating across all domains suggests that management took corrective action and it was effective. The July 2023 review found no evidence of deterioration. Beyond these structural facts, the published text offers no description of management culture, staff support, family communication, or governance processes.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. A home that improved from Requires Improvement to Good has demonstrated that it can identify problems and act on them, which is a meaningful signal. Communication with families is mentioned positively in 11.5% of our review data, and it is one of the areas families find most frustrating when it goes wrong. The inspection does not describe how this home keeps families informed, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how long the current manager has been in post. These are all questions worth asking before you decide.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review found that leadership stability, defined as consistent registered manager tenure of two years or more, was one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes that had previously received lower ratings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post at this home? Then ask what the biggest improvement made in the last two years has been and how it was identified. A confident, specific answer suggests a leader who knows the home well. A vague or deflecting answer is a signal to probe further."}

  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 cares for adults of all ages, including those under 65 with physical disabilities. They have experience supporting people living with dementia alongside their general nursing care.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the staff's patient and friendly approach helps create a sense of familiarity and calm. The team understands how to support people with dignity through the changes dementia brings. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.