Fairwinds Care Home in Rotherham – Exemplar Health Care

What families say

Family members talk about the calming atmosphere at Fairwinds, where residents express real happiness with their care. People notice how staff create an environment that feels settled and homely, helping residents feel at ease.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth82
• Compassion & dignity85
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement80
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness80

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-03-12 · Report published 2020-03-12 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Safety at Fairwinds was rated Good at the most recent inspection. This means inspectors found adequate staffing levels, appropriate medicines management, and functioning systems for recording and learning from incidents. The home cares for people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities across 24 beds u2014 a relatively small home where staff should know each resident well. No specific concerns were raised in the Safe domain. The Good rating indicates safe practice was evidenced but did not reach the bar of exceptional or innovative.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means your parent is unlikely to be at significant risk from the basic building blocks of safety u2014 staffing, medicines, and incident management. However, our family review data shows that 14% of families specifically mention staff attentiveness as a concern, and night staffing is where inspectors most commonly find gaps even in otherwise good homes. At 24 beds, Fairwinds is small enough that your parent should be known as an individual rather than a room number. The Good Practice evidence base from Leeds Beckett University identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance as the two most common ways safety standards erode between inspections. Neither is detailed in the available inspection text for Fairwinds, so these are worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that safety incidents in care homes most commonly occur at night, when staffing ratios are lowest and the least experienced staff are often on duty. A Good Safe rating does not guarantee adequate night cover u2014 it should be verified directly.","watch_out":"Ask the home: how many staff are on duty on the dementia unit between 10pm and 7am, and is a qualified nurse always on site overnight? Then check whether that answer matches the staffing rota u2014 ask to see it."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effective was rated Good, covering the areas families most associate with professional competence: dementia training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The home holds Dementia as a registered specialism, meaning it has declared particular competency in this area. A Good Effective rating indicates that inspectors found care plans, staff training, and healthcare coordination to be functioning adequately. Specific detail about training content, GP visit frequency, or how care plans are personalised is not available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, a Good Effective rating means the home has the foundations of skilled, informed care in place. In our family review data, 20.2% of positive reviews specifically mention good healthcare management, and 12.7% mention dementia-specific knowledge as a reason families feel confident. What this rating cannot tell you is whether your parent's care plan will be written with them and with you u2014 or filled in from a template. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans are only valuable when treated as living documents that change as the person changes. Ask how often reviews happen and whether you will be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that care plans described as 'person-centred' by providers often defaulted to task-based documentation in practice. The meaningful test is whether the plan contains specific, personal information u2014 preferred name, life history, food preferences, triggers for distress u2014 that could only have come from knowing that individual.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample anonymised care plan and check whether it contains specific personal details u2014 preferred name, daily routine preferences, known triggers for anxiety u2014 or whether it reads like a generic document that could describe anyone."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Caring was rated Outstanding u2014 the highest possible rating, and the domain families consistently tell us matters most. Inspectors award Outstanding in Caring only when they directly observe warm, unhurried, respectful interactions; when residents and families describe staff in consistently positive terms; and when the home demonstrates genuine understanding of each person as an individual. This is not a paperwork assessment. At 24 beds, the scale of Fairwinds supports the kind of close, consistent relationships that underpin genuinely caring environments. Dignity, privacy, and respect for independence are all assessed within this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"In our analysis of 3,602 positive family reviews across UK care homes, staff warmth (57.3%) and compassion and dignity (55.2%) are by far the most mentioned reasons families feel good about a home. Fairwinds's Outstanding Caring rating is therefore the single most reassuring finding in this report. It means inspectors did not just find paperwork that said the right things u2014 they observed the right things happening. For your parent, this suggests the staff who interact with them day to day are genuinely kind and treat them as a person, not a task. The Good Practice evidence base reinforces that for people with dementia, non-verbal communication u2014 tone of voice, unhurried pace, eye contact u2014 matters as much as words, and Outstanding Caring ratings require inspectors to see this in practice.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University evidence review found that for people living with dementia, the quality of moment-to-moment interaction with staff u2014 particularly emotional warmth, patience, and the use of the person's preferred name and life history u2014 has a direct measurable impact on wellbeing, agitation levels, and quality of life.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff interact with residents in the corridor or communal areas u2014 not just when they know they are being observed. Notice whether staff use residents' preferred names, make eye contact at the same level, and allow people time to respond. This is where Outstanding Caring either lives or doesn't."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Responsive was also rated Outstanding, meaning inspectors found strong evidence that Fairwinds tailors its care and activities to individual people rather than delivering a standard programme. Outstanding in Responsive requires evidence of meaningful, varied activities including provision for those who cannot join groups; robust end-of-life planning; and responsiveness to individual cultural, religious, and personal preferences. The home's combination of Outstanding Caring and Outstanding Responsive is particularly significant u2014 together they describe a home where your parent would be known, engaged, and genuinely catered for as an individual.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our family review data shows that resident happiness (27.1%) and activities and engagement (21.4%) are among the top reasons families recommend a home. An Outstanding Responsive rating means Fairwinds has demonstrated both. For someone with dementia especially, meaningful occupation u2014 not just organised entertainment, but activities connected to who they were and what they valued u2014 is one of the most important factors in quality of life. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that one-to-one engagement for people with advanced dementia is often the first thing to be cut when homes are under pressure. On your visit, ask directly what would happen on a day when your parent didn't feel up to joining a group.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and life-history-informed activity approaches u2014 where activities connect to a person's past roles, skills, and interests u2014 produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes than generic group programmes. Outstanding Responsive homes are more likely to have invested in this kind of tailored approach.","watch_out":"Ask the activity coordinator: if my parent had advanced dementia and couldn't join a group session, what would happen that day? A strong answer will describe specific one-to-one activities connected to that person's individual history u2014 not just sitting with the TV on."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Good, with Mrs Amber Jane Lea named as Registered Manager and Ms Selina Wall as Nominated Individual. A Good Well-led rating indicates that leadership is visible, governance systems are functioning, and the home has a positive culture that supports staff to do their jobs well. It does not indicate exceptional innovation or outstanding quality improvement u2014 but it does mean the home is not coasting. The combination of Good Well-led and Outstanding in two other domains suggests a management team that enables staff to deliver excellent care without necessarily being the most formally rigorous in documentation.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our family review data shows that management and communication with family account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive review themes respectively. A Good Well-led rating gives reasonable confidence that someone is in charge and accountable. However, the Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory u2014 homes led by stable, experienced managers sustain good outcomes; homes with frequent management changes often decline. The inspection report is now nearly four years old, and confirming whether Mrs Lea is still in post is one of the most important questions you can ask before choosing Fairwinds.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that manager tenure is one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. Homes where the registered manager had been in post for more than three years consistently outperformed those with recent leadership changes, regardless of the previous inspection rating.","watch_out":"Ask directly: is Mrs Amber Jane Lea still the registered manager, and how long has she been in post? If there has been a management change since 2021, ask what the transition involved and how the team was supported through it. A confident, specific answer is reassuring; vagueness is a red flag."}

  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 Fairwinds provides specialist care for adults with dementia, mental health conditions, brain injuries and physical disabilities. They welcome both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team here understands the complexities of dementia care, working alongside families to provide knowledgeable support. Their experience with various forms of cognitive impairment helps residents feel understood and well-cared for. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.