Barchester – Briardene Suite at South View

What families say

Based on 7 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth85
• Compassion & dignity88
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement82
• Food quality72
• Healthcare85
• Management & leadership88
• Resident happiness80

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-03-06 · Report published 2019-03-06 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Briardene Care Home was rated Good for safety at its January 2022 inspection. A Good safety rating means inspectors found that medicines were managed safely, risks were identified and acted on, and staffing was judged sufficient for the number of people living there. The home accepts people with dementia and mental health conditions, both of which require careful risk assessment and consistent staffing. The published text does not give specific numbers for staffing levels or detail on incident recording, so some questions remain open.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is a solid baseline: it means inspectors did not find the kinds of gaps that put people at risk. However, Good in Safe alongside Outstanding in every other domain is a pattern worth noting. It may simply mean the home's paperwork is thorough and its practice is excellent, but some families find it reassuring to dig into the specifics. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most often slips in dementia care homes. The published report does not tell you how many staff are on overnight, so this is your most important question to ask before you decide. Agency staff usage is also worth raising: people with dementia rely heavily on familiar faces, and high agency use can undermine the consistency that keeps them settled.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are the two factors most strongly associated with safety incidents in dementia care settings. A Good safety rating does not confirm these are well managed; it confirms inspectors found no significant concern on the day.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota for the dementia unit, not the template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency or bank staff, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty between 10pm and 6am."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Effective was rated Outstanding at the January 2022 inspection. Inspectors award Outstanding in this domain only when they find detailed, individualised care plans that are genuinely used in practice, strong healthcare access including timely GP and specialist involvement, and staff training that goes beyond the minimum. The home lists dementia and mental health as specialisms, which means inspectors will have scrutinised whether staff have the skills to support these specific groups. The published report text does not reproduce the specific examples inspectors used to reach this rating, but the rating itself carries evidential weight.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective is the domain that answers the question: do the staff actually know what they are doing with my parent's specific condition? An Outstanding rating here is meaningful for families considering a home for someone with dementia, because inspectors look at whether care plans reflect the person's history, preferences, and changing needs, not just their diagnosis. Our Good Practice evidence base emphasises that care plans should function as living documents updated with family input, not forms filed at admission. The healthcare theme accounts for 20.2% of positive signals in our family review data, and an Outstanding Effective rating suggests this home is performing well above average in that area. Ask to see a blank care plan template on your visit so you can judge how much space there is for personal history and preferences.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that regular, structured GP access and multidisciplinary involvement are strongly associated with better health outcomes for people with dementia in care homes. An Outstanding Effective rating indicates inspectors found this kind of systematic healthcare engagement in place.","watch_out":"Ask how often your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed, who attends those reviews, and whether you would be invited and given advance notice. If the answer is vague or the review cycle is longer than three months, probe further."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Caring was rated Outstanding at the January 2022 inspection. This is the domain that most directly measures kindness, dignity, and respect in day-to-day interactions. An Outstanding rating in Caring means inspectors observed staff treating people as individuals, upholding their privacy, and supporting their independence in practical ways. It is the hardest domain to perform for an inspector rather than genuinely living it, which makes this rating particularly meaningful. The published text does not reproduce specific observations or quotes from this inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews across 5,409 UK care homes mention it by name, and compassion and dignity together account for 55.2%. An Outstanding Caring rating is the inspection system's closest equivalent to that family signal. What inspectors are looking for in this domain, staff using preferred names, moving without hurry, responding to distress with patience, is exactly what families describe in their own words when they say a home felt right. The limitation here is that the published text does not give you the specific observations inspectors recorded. On your visit, watch corridor interactions: does a staff member stop and chat, or walk past? Does anyone address your parent by name before you have introduced them?","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal in dementia care, and that person-led care requires staff to know the individual's history, habits, and preferences in detail. An Outstanding Caring rating indicates inspectors found evidence of this kind of knowing in practice.","watch_out":"On your visit, introduce your parent by their preferred name and see whether staff remember and use it for the rest of your time there. If staff consistently default to 'dear' or 'love' rather than the name, it suggests individual knowledge is not embedded in daily practice."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Outstanding at the January 2022 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors its care and daily life to individuals: their activities, their routines, their cultural needs, and their end-of-life wishes. An Outstanding rating means inspectors found evidence of genuinely individualised responses rather than a one-size approach. The home serves people with dementia and mental health conditions, both of which require particularly thoughtful responsiveness. The published report text does not detail specific activity programmes or end-of-life planning arrangements.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness for 27.1%. Families tell us repeatedly that they want their parent to have a life in the home, not just be looked after. An Outstanding Responsive rating suggests Briardene is meeting that standard, but the Good Practice evidence review adds an important nuance: tailored one-to-one engagement for people who cannot participate in group activities is the area most often missing even in otherwise good homes. If your parent has advanced dementia or limited mobility, ask specifically whether there is a named activity keyworker who spends individual time with them, not just a group programme they might sit near.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks used as meaningful engagement, rather than formal group activities, are associated with significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Ask whether the home uses these approaches in addition to its activity programme.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for one resident from the past fortnight, with names removed if needed for privacy. Check whether activities are recorded as actually happening, who led them, and whether any were one-to-one rather than group-based."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Outstanding at the January 2022 inspection. The registered manager is named in the published record as Ms June Hoggart-MacDonald, with Mr Dominic Jude Kay listed as Nominated Individual for the provider, Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited. A named, stable manager is a meaningful signal: it means there is an accountable person with direct knowledge of the home's day-to-day life. An Outstanding Well-led rating requires inspectors to find strong governance, a positive staff culture, systematic learning from incidents, and a management team that staff feel they can speak to honestly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership account for 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and communication with family for 11.5%. Families care about whether someone is clearly in charge and whether they can get a straight answer when something goes wrong. An Outstanding Well-led rating is the strongest signal the inspection system gives that this is the case. Our Good Practice evidence review adds that leadership stability is the single strongest predictor of quality trajectory in a care home: homes with a long-serving, visible manager tend to maintain and improve their standards, while management turnover is often the first warning sign of decline. The home improved from Good to Outstanding between inspections, which suggests a positive trajectory under current leadership.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that staff who feel able to speak up about concerns without fear are strongly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia. An Outstanding Well-led rating requires inspectors to find evidence of this kind of open culture, not just policy documents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post, and ask how long the most senior care staff on the dementia unit have worked there. If the manager is relatively new or there has been significant staff turnover in the past year, ask what has changed and why."}

  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 provides care for adults across different age groups, with particular experience supporting people with dementia and mental health conditions.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team at Briardene brings experience in creating an environment where people can feel settled and secure. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.