Fairmount Care Home

What families say

Based on 3 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity71
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-12 · Report published 2023-04-12 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Safe domain as Good, representing an improvement from the previous inspection. A Good Safe rating requires inspectors to be satisfied with staffing levels, medicines management, risk assessment and infection control. No specific concerns were recorded in the published summary. The home supports people with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments u2014 all of which have specific safety implications that inspectors will have considered. The absence of any noted shortfalls is reassuring, though the level of detail available is limited.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors found the essential building blocks of safety to be in place when they visited. For your parent living with dementia, safety is not just about physical risk u2014 it includes whether staff notice changes in behaviour that might signal pain or distress. Our family review data shows that perceived attentiveness of staff is one of the factors families mention most when describing a home as safe. Good Practice research is clear that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, and this inspection gives no specific data on overnight cover. On your visit, ask directly how many staff are on each night and what their dementia training involves.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research / Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes supporting people with dementia u2014 and these are rarely captured in headline ratings.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How many permanent, named staff are on duty overnight, and what is your policy if someone goes missing or has a fall at 3am?' Then observe whether the home can answer without hesitation."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at this inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition and how well the home coordinates with GPs and other health professionals. Dementia is a stated specialism, which means inspectors will have looked specifically at dementia-related care competencies. No shortfalls were noted in the published summary. The absence of specific detail about training content, GP access frequency or care plan quality means this rating confirms compliance but does not tell you much about how care is delivered day to day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating means the home was meeting the standard the inspection required for training and care planning. For your parent, the questions that matter most go a step further: does their care plan read like it was written by someone who actually knows them, or does it look like a template? Our family review data shows that families value dementia-specific knowledge highly u2014 not just a tick for training completion, but whether staff understand what dementia looks like for this particular person. Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans should be living documents reviewed with families at least quarterly. Ask when the last review was and whether you would be invited to the next one.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care homes rated Good or Outstanding for Effective tended to have robust, individually tailored care plans reviewed regularly with family input u2014 distinguishing genuine person-centred practice from box-ticking compliance.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample (anonymised) care plan and check whether it contains specific personal detail u2014 favourite music, preferred name, morning routine preferences u2014 or whether it reads as generic. Then ask: 'How often would we as a family be invited to review my parent's care plan?'"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at this inspection. This domain assesses whether staff treat people with kindness, dignity and respect, whether residents' independence is supported, and whether families are made to feel involved. No concerns were noted in the published summary. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating suggests the home has addressed any deficiencies in this area. Without direct inspector observations, resident quotes or family testimony in the published summary, it is not possible to say more than that the standard was met.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth and compassion are the two most heavily weighted themes in our family review data, together accounting for over 112 percentage points of what families tell us matters most when choosing a home. A Good Caring rating is encouraging, but it is a threshold, not a guarantee of warmth. For your parent with dementia, kindness in the small moments u2014 using their preferred name, not rushing them, noticing when they seem unsettled u2014 matters as much as any formal care process. Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication and unhurried interaction are particularly important for people who can no longer express distress verbally. Watch how staff speak to residents when they do not know you are watching.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies consistent, personalised interaction u2014 using preferred names, responding to non-verbal cues, allowing residents to set the pace u2014 as the strongest day-to-day marker of genuine caring culture in dementia care settings.","watch_out":"When you visit, pay attention to how staff address your parent or other residents in passing in a corridor or lounge u2014 not in a formal meeting. Are they using first names or preferred names? Do they stop, make eye contact, and give people time to respond?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at this inspection. This domain covers whether the home responds to individual needs, provides meaningful activities, supports people's preferences and has good end-of-life care in place. Dementia, learning disabilities and physical disabilities are all listed as specialisms, each requiring tailored responsive practice. No concerns were noted in the published summary. Specific detail about activity programmes, one-to-one engagement or end-of-life planning is not available from the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, 'responsive' means whether the home treats them as an individual u2014 not just a resident in a room. Our family review data shows that activities and visible resident happiness together carry significant weight in how families assess a home. Good Practice evidence is particularly clear on one point: for people with advanced dementia who cannot join group activities, one-to-one engagement and meaningful everyday tasks are what determine quality of life. A Good Responsive rating confirms the home met the bar, but the specific question to ask is what happens for your parent on a Tuesday afternoon if they do not want to join the group session.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review highlights Montessori-based and occupation-focused approaches u2014 including everyday household tasks and sensory engagement u2014 as having strong evidence for improving wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia, particularly for those who do not engage with traditional group activities.","watch_out":"Ask: 'If my parent doesn't want to join group activities, or can't, what would a typical afternoon look like for them? Who would spend one-to-one time with them, and for how long?' Then ask to see the activity records for the last four weeks."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at this inspection, and this is the domain that most directly reflects the improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. Mrs Violeta Sullivan is the named Registered Manager and Ms Amanda Finn is the Nominated Individual, providing identifiable leadership accountability. A Good Well-led rating requires evidence of clear governance, a positive culture, and mechanisms for learning and improvement. The published summary does not detail the specific governance structures, staff survey results or quality monitoring tools in use.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The improvement from Requires Improvement to a full Good in Well-led is the most significant single finding in this report. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time u2014 homes with consistent, visible managers tend to maintain and improve their ratings. For your family, leadership quality means: will someone be accountable if something goes wrong, and will the home tell you about it? Our family review data shows communication with families is a key factor in trust. Ask how long the current manager has been in post and what changed after the previous inspection.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that leadership tenure and bottom-up staff empowerment u2014 where care staff can raise concerns without fear u2014 are among the most reliable predictors of sustained quality in care homes, more so than any single inspection domain score.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: 'What did the previous inspection find that needed to improve, and can you show me what you changed?' A good leader will answer this clearly and with specific examples. Hesitation or vagueness should prompt further questions."}

  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 specialist support for adults over 65 with a range of needs including dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments and learning disabilities. This breadth of expertise means residents with complex or changing needs can receive appropriate care as their requirements evolve.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia or degenerative conditions, the team here understands the importance of consistent, patient care. Staff are experienced in supporting residents through the challenges these conditions bring. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.