Fairby Grange

What families say

Families talk about the genuine connections they see between staff and residents here. Rather than rushing through tasks, carers take time to chat and build real relationships. Some relatives mention being surprised to find their loved ones choosing to stay in the lounge with friends rather than spending time with visiting family.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-10-26 · Report published 2022-10-26 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Fairby Grange was rated Good for Safe at its April 2025 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. No specific observational detail, staffing ratios, or examples of incident learning are recorded in the published summary. The previous inspection had resulted in a Requires Improvement overall rating, so the improvement to Good in this domain is notable. However, the absence of published detail means it is not possible to verify what specifically improved.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe means inspectors were satisfied that the fundamentals of safe care were in place on the day of inspection. Good Practice research consistently highlights that safety risks tend to increase at night, when staffing is thinner and permanent staff are less likely to be on duty. Our review data also shows that families rate staff attentiveness highly (cited in 14% of positive reviews), and that consistency of staff matters enormously for people with dementia. Because the published report gives no detail on night staffing or agency use, you will need to ask these questions directly before you can feel confident about safety after dark.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) finds that agency staff reliance is one of the clearest predictors of safety incidents in dementia care settings, because unfamiliar faces can increase agitation and errors in routine.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template rota. Count how many night shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for 27 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Fairby Grange was rated Good for Effective at its April 2025 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well staff understand the needs of people with dementia and mental health conditions. No specific examples of care plan content, training programmes, GP access arrangements, or food quality are included in the published summary. Dementia and mental health conditions are listed as specialisms, which means the home is expected to demonstrate relevant staff competence, but the inspection report does not describe what this looks like in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective is reassuring, but without specific detail it is hard to know whether your parent's individual needs would be genuinely understood and reflected in their care. Our review data shows that food quality is mentioned in 20.9% of positive family reviews, and healthcare access in 20.2%, making these two of the most noticed aspects of daily care. The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that care plans should be living documents, updated with the person's changing preferences, not filed and forgotten. Because no care plan detail is published here, asking about review frequency and family involvement in care planning is essential.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (2026) found that dementia-specific training content, particularly around non-verbal communication and behaviour as communication, varied widely between homes rated Good, meaning a Good rating alone does not guarantee staff understand your parent's dementia in depth.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, who is invited to those reviews, and what dementia-specific training permanent staff have completed in the last 12 months. Ask to see a sample training record if possible."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Fairby Grange was rated Good for Caring at its April 2025 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how well the home supports residents' independence and emotional wellbeing. No direct observations of staff interactions, no quotes from residents or relatives, and no specific examples of dignity-promoting practice are included in the published summary. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with what they saw, but the absence of detail makes it impossible to illustrate what that looked like.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity are mentioned in 55.2%. These are the things families notice most, and they are also the things that matter most to people living with dementia, who may not be able to articulate how they are being treated but who respond clearly to kindness and patience. Because the published report contains no observations or quotes on this domain, you cannot rely on the rating alone. The clearest signal you will get is what you observe yourself when you visit unannounced or at an unexpected time.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (2026) highlights that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication in dementia care, and that staff who know a person's history, preferred name, and life story are better able to provide genuinely person-led care rather than task-led care.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand in a corridor or communal area for ten minutes and watch how staff greet residents passing by. Note whether they use preferred names, whether they crouch to eye level, and whether their pace feels unhurried. This is more revealing than any conversation with the manager."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Fairby Grange was rated Good for Responsive at its April 2025 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors care to individual preferences, what activities are available, how complaints are handled, and how the home supports residents approaching the end of life. No specific activity programmes, individual engagement examples, or complaints data are included in the published summary. The home is registered for 27 beds, which is a relatively small size and can support more individualised daily routines if staffing allows.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our review data shows that activities and engagement are mentioned in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. For people with dementia, meaningful activity is not a luxury; it is a clinical need. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that group activities alone are insufficient for people with more advanced dementia, who need regular one-to-one engagement to reduce distress and maintain a sense of self. Because the report gives no detail on what activities are actually offered, or whether one-to-one time is built into the daily routine, this is a critical area to investigate directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (2026) found that Montessori-based and household task approaches, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking activities, were among the most effective for people with moderate to advanced dementia, providing purpose and familiarity without requiring intact memory.","watch_out":"Ask to see last week's activity record for the dementia unit, not the planned schedule but the record of what actually happened. Ask specifically what a resident who cannot or will not join a group activity would do on a typical afternoon, and who would be with them."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Fairby Grange was rated Good for Well-led at its April 2025 inspection. The home is run by Mrs G L Reeve and Miss D M Reeve as the registered providers, with Mrs Melanie Jayne Martin as the registered manager. This family-run ownership structure can support a stable culture, but it depends heavily on consistent leadership. The home's overall rating had previously declined to Requires Improvement, making the return to Good an improvement that deserves acknowledgement. No specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles complaints is included in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality in care homes. Our review data shows that management and leadership are cited in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families in 11.5%. The fact that the home previously declined to Requires Improvement and has now returned to Good is an encouraging trajectory, but it also raises the question of what changed and whether those changes are embedded or fragile. The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear tend to sustain quality over time, and that visible, known managers are a reliable marker of a healthy culture.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (2026) found that leadership stability, specifically the tenure and accessibility of the registered manager, was one of the most consistent predictors of sustained quality ratings across care home inspections.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Martin directly how long she has been in post as registered manager, and ask what specifically changed between the Requires Improvement inspection and this Good rating. The clarity and specificity of her answer will tell you a great deal about whether the improvement is genuinely embedded."}

  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 people aged over 65, with particular experience supporting those with dementia and mental health conditions. They work to match activities and outings to different mobility levels and individual interests.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the structured activities programme helps maintain engagement and social connections. The team adapts their approach to meet varying needs as conditions progress. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.