Clova House Residential Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds20
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Dementia, Physical disabilities
- Last inspected2019-11-01
- Activities programmeThe home maintains high standards of cleanliness throughout, something families particularly appreciate. Mealtimes offer proper choice, with food that's been thoughtfully prepared. There's even a resident cat who seems to bring comfort and companionship to those who enjoy a feline friend.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
What strikes families visiting Clova House is how approachable everyone seems to be. There's a warmth here that goes beyond professional courtesy — staff genuinely appear to enjoy spending time with residents. The regular activities and entertainment help create a lively atmosphere where people can engage at their own pace.
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 2019-11-01 · Report published 2019-11-01 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2024 assessment. This means inspectors were satisfied with arrangements covering staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and incident logging at the time of their visit. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, agency use, or how the home logs and learns from falls or other incidents. The previous inspection in 2019 resulted in a Requires Improvement overall rating, so the move to Good in 2024 is a meaningful change, but the underlying evidence is not visible in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safety is reassuring, but the detail that matters most to families is not published here. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in small residential homes: a 20-bed home caring for people with dementia needs reliable, trained staff on at all hours, not just during the day. Agency staff used to plug gaps can be unfamiliar with individual residents, which matters enormously for someone who may not be able to communicate distress clearly. Ask specific questions on your visit rather than relying on the headline rating alone.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency reliance and low night staffing ratios are among the most consistent predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care, even in homes that carry a Good overall rating.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff appear on night shifts, and ask what happens when a permanent night carer calls in sick."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2024 assessment. For a home specialising in dementia care, this domain covers how well staff are trained, how care plans are written and updated, whether residents have regular access to GPs and other health professionals, and how well the home supports nutrition and hydration. None of those specifics are described in the published summary. A Good rating implies inspectors were satisfied, but you have no way to judge from the published text whether care plans are genuinely personalised or whether dementia training goes beyond a basic induction.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our Good Practice evidence base, drawn from 61 studies, consistently shows that care plans should function as living documents updated at least monthly and whenever a resident's condition changes. Families who participate in those reviews report significantly higher confidence in the care their parent receives. Staff warmth matters enormously (it drives 57.3% of positive family reviews in our data), but warmth without knowledge is not enough: a carer who knows your mum's history, her triggers, and her preferences is better placed to support her than one who is simply kind. Ask to see a sample care plan structure and confirm how often reviews happen.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that dementia-specific training, particularly training that goes beyond compliance tick-boxes to cover non-verbal communication and behaviour as communication, is one of the strongest predictors of resident wellbeing in small residential settings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training all care staff have completed in the past 12 months, and whether that training covered responding to distress and behaviour as communication. Ask to be shown the training records rather than just being told."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2024 assessment. This domain covers how staff treat the people who live in the home: whether interactions are kind and unhurried, whether privacy and dignity are respected, and whether residents are supported to maintain independence where possible. The published summary does not include any inspector observations of staff-resident interactions, any quotes from residents or relatives, or any specific examples of how dignity is upheld in practice. The rating is positive but the evidence behind it is not visible.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes mention it by name. The observable signals on a visit are straightforward: do staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, do they make eye contact and sit at the same level, and do they appear to have time for the person in front of them rather than rushing to the next task? Those are things you can check yourself in 20 minutes, and they tell you more than any published rating. A home this size, 20 beds, should in principle allow staff to know each resident well.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research shows that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal interaction for people living with dementia: tone of voice, pace of movement, and physical proximity all affect how safe and cared-for a person feels, regardless of what is said.","watch_out":"When you visit, notice what happens when a member of staff passes your parent in a corridor or common room. Do they stop, acknowledge them, and use their name? Or do they walk past? That moment, repeated many times a day, is one of the most reliable indicators of a caring culture."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2024 assessment. This domain covers whether the home responds to individual needs and preferences, whether there is a meaningful activity programme, whether residents who cannot join group activities receive one-to-one engagement, and whether end-of-life wishes are recorded and honoured. For a home specialising in dementia care, individual responsiveness is particularly important because group activities may not be suitable for everyone. None of these specifics are described in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities engagement drives 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness is referenced in 27.1% of positive reviews. For someone living with dementia in a small 20-bed home, the quality of daily life depends heavily on whether staff have time and training to engage individually, not just through group sessions. Good Practice evidence identifies everyday household tasks, such as folding laundry, setting a table, or tending plants, as meaningful occupation that supports identity and calm. Ask what a typical Tuesday afternoon looks like for a resident who does not want to join group activities.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and task-based individual engagement significantly reduces anxiety and distress in people with moderate to advanced dementia, and that homes relying solely on group activities leave a significant proportion of residents without meaningful occupation.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to describe what happened yesterday for a resident who did not join the group activity. What was offered, who provided it, and for how long? If the answer is vague, that is worth noting."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2024 assessment. The registered manager is named as Mrs Bronja Mary Williams and the nominated individual is Mr Rhean Joygopaul. Having named, accountable individuals in these roles is a basic but important marker of stability. The published summary does not describe how the manager is visible to residents and staff day-to-day, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or what governance systems are in place to monitor quality. The home has two inspection records, the first resulting in a Requires Improvement overall rating and the most recent showing improvement across all domains.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time: Good Practice research shows that leadership continuity shapes everything from staff morale to how quickly problems are identified and fixed. Our family review data show that communication with families drives 11.5% of positive reviews, and that families who feel kept informed are significantly more likely to trust the home even when things go wrong. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive signal, but it is worth asking how long the current manager has been in post and whether that improvement happened under her leadership.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review identifies leadership stability and a culture where staff feel safe to speak up as the two factors most strongly associated with sustained quality improvement in small residential care homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in post and what the single biggest change she made after the previous Requires Improvement rating was. A confident, specific answer suggests she owns the improvement. A vague or deflecting answer is worth noting."}
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 caring for adults over 65, including those living with dementia and physical disabilities. This focused approach means staff have developed real expertise in supporting people with these specific needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the personalised care approach at Clova House can make a real difference. Staff work to understand each person's preferences and routines, helping to maintain familiarity and comfort in daily life. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
The home's most recent assessment in January 2024 rated all five domains as Good, which is a positive turnaround from the earlier Requires Improvement rating, but the published report contains very little specific detail to support any individual score above the mid-range. Every score reflects that positive direction while being honest about the thin evidence behind it.
Homes in East Midlands typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
What strikes families visiting Clova House is how approachable everyone seems to be. There's a warmth here that goes beyond professional courtesy — staff genuinely appear to enjoy spending time with residents. The regular activities and entertainment help create a lively atmosphere where people can engage at their own pace.
What inspectors have recorded
The management team at Clova House makes themselves available to families, which really helps when you need to discuss your loved one's care. Staff take an individualised approach rather than following rigid routines, adapting to what works best for each person.
How it sits against good practice
If you're considering care options in Derby, visiting Clova House could help you get a feel for their approach to individualised care.
Worth a visit
Clova House Residential Care Home on Chellaston Road in Derby was assessed in January 2024 and rated Good across all five domains, including Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. This is encouraging because the home carries a headline Requires Improvement rating that dates from its previous inspection in November 2019, meaning the 2024 assessment represents a clear improvement in performance. The home is a small 20-bed service registered for adults over 65, people living with dementia, and people with physical disabilities. The named registered manager and nominated individual are on record, which is a basic but important sign that the home has stable leadership in place. The honest difficulty here is that the published report is a brief summary with no supporting detail: no inspector observations, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific findings about staffing, food, activities, or dementia care. Every Good rating may well be deserved, but you cannot verify it from the published text alone. Before you visit, prepare a list of questions covering night staffing numbers, how often care plans are reviewed, what dementia-specific training staff have completed, how much agency staff are used, and what a typical day looks like for your parent. Then observe for yourself: do staff make eye contact, use your parent's preferred name, and move without appearing rushed? Those are the things the inspection summary cannot tell you.
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In Their Own Words
How Clova House Residential Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where personalised care meets genuine warmth in Derby
Compassionate Care in Derby at Clova House Residential Care Home
When you're looking for the right care in Derby, you want somewhere that treats your loved one as an individual, not just another resident. Clova House Residential Care Home has built its reputation on exactly this approach. Families talk about staff who take time to understand each person's unique needs and preferences, creating a genuinely welcoming environment for those living with dementia, physical disabilities, or simply needing support in later life.
Who they care for
The home specialises in caring for adults over 65, including those living with dementia and physical disabilities. This focused approach means staff have developed real expertise in supporting people with these specific needs.
For those living with dementia, the personalised care approach at Clova House can make a real difference. Staff work to understand each person's preferences and routines, helping to maintain familiarity and comfort in daily life.
Management & ethos
The management team at Clova House makes themselves available to families, which really helps when you need to discuss your loved one's care. Staff take an individualised approach rather than following rigid routines, adapting to what works best for each person.
The home & environment
The home maintains high standards of cleanliness throughout, something families particularly appreciate. Mealtimes offer proper choice, with food that's been thoughtfully prepared. There's even a resident cat who seems to bring comfort and companionship to those who enjoy a feline friend.
“If you're considering care options in Derby, visiting Clova House could help you get a feel for their approach to individualised care.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
