De Lucy House Care Home

What families say

The staff here focus on getting to know each resident as an individual, and families notice how content their relatives seem. There's proper entertainment laid on regularly, and the setup means residents can maintain some independence — popping into the kitchen to make a cup of tea or grab a biscuit when they want.

Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement80
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-07-10 · Report published 2018-07-10 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This rating indicates that inspectors were satisfied with arrangements for safeguarding, medicines management, infection control, and staffing at the time of the inspection. However, the published report text does not reproduce specific inspector observations, staffing numbers, or detail about how incidents are logged and acted on. De Lucy House has 60 beds and specialises in dementia and physical disabilities, making consistent night-time staffing particularly important. The inspection is now over three years old, which means the picture may have changed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good in Safe is a reasonable baseline, but it tells you less than you might hope without the underlying detail. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and agency reliance as a factor that undermines consistency for people living with dementia. Neither of these is addressed in the available published findings. Before choosing this home for your parent, ask specifically how many permanent staff are on the dementia unit after 8pm and what the home's agency usage looked like over the last three months. The answer to those two questions will tell you more than the grade alone.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that inconsistent night staffing and high agency use are among the strongest predictors of safety failures in dementia care settings, often not visible in daytime inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the last two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts versus agency names, and ask what the procedure is if a permanent carer calls in sick at short notice."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well the home uses information to improve outcomes. The published text does not include specific detail about dementia training content, how frequently care plans are reviewed, or how the home supports access to GPs and other health professionals. The home's specialisms include dementia and physical disabilities, both of which require specific staff competencies beyond general care training. No information about food quality or dietary support is available in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents, meaning they should be updated whenever your parent's condition changes, not just reviewed annually. Families in our review data frequently describe the quality of food as a direct indicator of how much a home genuinely cares, with food quality referenced in 20.9% of weighted family satisfaction scores. Neither care plan review frequency nor food quality is described in what has been published here. On your visit, ask to see a sample care plan structure and ask when it was last updated for a current resident. Also ask to visit at lunchtime.","evidence_base":"The 2026 rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, including non-verbal communication and behaviour as communication, significantly improves care outcomes, but only when training is embedded in practice rather than delivered as a one-off module.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training staff complete, how recently the last training session was held, and whether care plans are updated after every significant change in a resident's health or behaviour, or only at fixed intervals."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published text does not reproduce any direct observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives, or specific examples of how dignity is maintained during personal care. Staff warmth is the single largest driver of positive family reviews, referenced in 57.3% of positive reviews across DementiaCareChoices data. The absence of specific detail here is not a red flag, but it does mean the grade cannot be tested against observable evidence from this report alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"When families in our review data describe what matters most, warmth and compassion account for the top two weighted themes at 57.3% and 55.2% respectively. The Good rating suggests inspectors found evidence of this, but without knowing what they observed, you cannot use this report to predict what your mum or dad will experience day to day. Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. Watch how staff approach residents in corridors on your visit, not just in formal interactions. Are they making eye contact? Moving without hurry? Using the resident's preferred name?","evidence_base":"The 2026 rapid evidence review found that person-centred care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style, and that this knowledge is most reliably built through stable, long-term staff relationships rather than through documentation alone.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask a staff member what your parent's preferred name would be, and watch whether they knock before entering a resident's room. These two small details are reliable indicators of whether dignity is habitual or just performed for inspectors."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Outstanding at the January 2021 inspection. This is the home's strongest rating and covers activities, engagement, individuality, how the home responds to complaints, and end-of-life planning. An Outstanding in this domain is awarded to fewer than one in ten care homes and indicates that inspectors found evidence going well beyond standard compliance. The published text does not reproduce the specific evidence that led to this rating, but the grade itself is significant. This rating was not changed at the July 2023 monitoring review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An Outstanding in Responsive care is the most meaningful positive signal in this report for families. Activities and resident happiness together account for 48.5% of weighted family satisfaction in our review data. Good Practice evidence shows that the best homes offer tailored one-to-one activities for people who cannot participate in groups, including Montessori-based approaches and meaningful everyday tasks, not just group entertainment. The Outstanding rating suggests De Lucy House was doing something genuinely different in this area at the time of inspection. However, the inspection was in January 2021, and activity staff can change. Ask the home what specifically earned that rating and whether the same activity staff are still in post.","evidence_base":"The 2026 rapid evidence review found that individualised activity programmes, particularly those incorporating familiar household tasks and one-to-one engagement, produce measurable reductions in distress and withdrawal in people living with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical week looks like for a resident who cannot join group sessions. If the answer is vague or defaulting to television, that is worth noting. Also ask whether the same activities staff who were in post at the 2021 inspection are still working at the home."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Lauren Frances Tubby, is recorded, along with a nominated individual, Miss Julie Clarges. The home is operated by Greensleeves Homes Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that runs multiple care homes. The published text does not include detail about management visibility, staff culture, how concerns are raised, or how the home uses audits and feedback to improve. The July 2023 monitoring review found no new evidence requiring a rating change.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice evidence identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. A stable, visible manager means staff feel supported, which flows directly into the care your parent receives. The registered manager named in the 2021 report may or may not still be in post, as manager turnover in the sector is significant. Communication with families is referenced positively in 11.5% of weighted family review scores, but this is not described in the published findings here. Ask the home directly whether the registered manager named in the inspection is still in post and how long they have been at the home.","evidence_base":"The 2026 rapid evidence review found that homes with long-serving managers who are known by name to residents and families consistently outperform homes with frequent leadership changes, even when other resources are comparable.","watch_out":"Ask to speak briefly with the registered manager on your visit, not a deputy or coordinator. Ask how long they have been in post and what they consider the home's biggest current challenge. The willingness to answer that second question honestly is itself a quality signal."}

  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 De Lucy House welcomes residents with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments, alongside general care for people over 65.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home's four-unit layout helps create calmer, more manageable spaces for residents with dementia, with separate lounges providing quieter areas when needed. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.