Crowstone House Care Home | Runwood Homes Senior Living

What families say

Families visiting here often comment on how clean and fresh everything feels — proper attention to hygiene that makes a real difference to daily comfort. Several people have shared stories of their relatives gaining weight, getting stronger, and finding their appetite again after difficult times in hospital.

Based on 17 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-03-01 · Report published 2023-03-01 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Crowstone House was rated Good for Safe at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to safeguarding concerns. The home supports residents with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, all of which place specific demands on safe practice. No specific findings, observations, or incident data are reproduced in the published report summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors did not identify failings in the areas they checked. However, the published text gives no detail about night staffing numbers, agency staff reliance, or how incidents such as falls are logged and reviewed. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in residential care, and agency staff unfamiliar with your parent's routines can miss subtle changes in behaviour or health. Because no specific data is available here, treat this rating as a floor rather than a ceiling, and verify the specifics yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are the two most consistent predictors of safety risk in residential dementia care. A Good domain rating does not, on its own, confirm either is adequate.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for night shifts last week, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff names appear versus agency names, and ask what the minimum staffing level is for the dementia unit after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Crowstone House was rated Good for Effective at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers care planning, staff training, nutrition, and access to healthcare professionals including GPs. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors will have expected to see dementia-specific training and care approaches evidenced. No specific examples of training content, care plan quality, or food provision are included in the published report text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating means inspectors were satisfied that the home broadly knows what it is doing in terms of training and care planning. For a home that lists dementia as a specialism, you should expect to see this evidenced concretely, not just recorded on paper. Our Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents that should reflect your parent's life history, communication preferences, and what a good day looks like for them. Food quality is also a significant marker: 20.9% of positive family reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes specifically mention meals. Because the published text gives no detail on any of these areas, ask to see a sample care plan structure and find out how the home involves families in care plan reviews.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews and clearly documented dementia training as two of the strongest markers of effective care for people living with dementia in residential settings.","watch_out":"Ask to see a blank version of the home's care plan template and ask when your parent's plan would first be reviewed after admission. Find out whether families are invited to those reviews and whether you can contribute to them in writing if you cannot attend in person."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Crowstone House was rated Good for Caring at the January 2025 inspection. This domain is the most directly relevant to what families experience day to day: whether staff are warm, whether your parent is addressed by the name they prefer, whether care is given without hurry, and whether dignity is protected. No inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimony are reproduced in the available report text for this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most cited theme in our family review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating tells you inspectors were broadly satisfied, but the signals families actually look for, whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they sit at eye level to speak, whether they move without rushing, are things you can only confirm by observing them yourself on a visit. Our Good Practice evidence highlights that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia. Because no specific detail is available in the published text, plan an unannounced or short-notice visit at a time other than the scheduled tour.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, communication style, and preferred routines. Homes rated Good for Caring in inspection findings tend to demonstrate this through staff behaviour rather than documentation alone.","watch_out":"When you visit, observe how staff address your parent by name during your tour, and watch a corridor interaction that is not directed at you. Notice whether staff pause and engage or move through without acknowledgement. Ask the manager what name your parent would be known by and how that preference is recorded."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Crowstone House was rated Good for Responsive at the January 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether the home adapts to each person's individual needs, whether activities are meaningful and available to people who cannot join groups, whether families are kept informed, and whether end-of-life care is planned thoughtfully. No specific examples of activities, individual engagement, or family communication practices are described in the published report text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for a significant share of what drives family satisfaction in our review data. Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive reviews and activities in 21.4%. For people living with dementia who cannot reliably join group sessions, one-to-one engagement, whether that is folding laundry, looking through photographs, or simply a staff member sitting alongside them, matters enormously. Our Good Practice evidence identifies Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches as particularly effective for people in later stages of dementia. The published report gives no detail on whether Crowstone House offers this kind of individual engagement. Ask specifically about provision for residents who cannot participate in group activities.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that tailored individual activities, rather than group-only programmes, produce the strongest outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Homes that rely solely on scheduled group activities often leave the most vulnerable residents without meaningful engagement for long periods.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what happened last Tuesday afternoon for a resident who does not join group sessions. A specific, confident answer suggests genuine individual engagement. A vague or deflecting answer suggests it may not happen consistently."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Crowstone House was rated Good for Well-led at the January 2025 inspection. The home is run by Runwood Homes Limited, with Mr Flomar Amor Febre as registered manager and Dr Gavin O'Hare-Connolly as nominated individual. This domain covers visible, stable leadership, staff empowerment, and governance. The home's rating history, moving from Outstanding down to Requires Improvement and now recovering to Good, is an important piece of context when reading this rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data. The recovery from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive sign, and having a named, registered manager in post matters. However, the rating history tells you this home has experienced a period of decline, and the Good Practice evidence is clear that leadership stability is the strongest predictor of whether a home maintains or improves its quality over time. The published text does not tell you how long the current manager has been in post, whether the staff team is settled, or what caused the earlier decline. These are questions worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as the most consistent predictor of sustained quality in care homes. Homes that have experienced rapid management change or a period of regulatory decline require close monitoring even after a rating recovery.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post at Crowstone House and what specifically changed between the Requires Improvement inspection and this Good rating. A confident, specific answer suggests genuine improvement. Vague responses about general progress warrant further scrutiny."}

  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 here works with people living with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They're set up to support both younger adults under 65 and older residents, which means they understand the different approaches needed across age groups.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialised support within their broader care approach. The team understands how dementia affects each person differently, particularly when combined with physical disabilities or sensory challenges. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.