Four Seasons

What families say

Families describe a warm atmosphere where staff genuinely care about residents' wellbeing. Some relatives have noticed their loved ones expressing real contentment with their accommodation and showing marked improvements in mood since moving in.

Based on 7 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership45
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-08-15 · Report published 2019-08-15 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The safe domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home manages risk. No specific concerns about safety were recorded in the published summary. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement overall rating suggests previous safety-related issues have been addressed, though the inspection report does not provide granular detail on what was found.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but for a 22-bed dementia home, the detail behind that rating matters as much as the headline. Good Practice research from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review consistently highlights night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip in small residential homes. With only 22 beds, night cover numbers are a key question. Agency staff use is equally important: consistent faces matter enormously to people with dementia, and high agency reliance can undermine the safety that a Good rating implies. The inspection findings do not record specific staffing ratios or agency use figures, so you will need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance as the two most common predictors of safety incidents in small dementia residential homes. A Good overall safety rating does not in itself confirm adequate night cover.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts were covered by agency staff, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty overnight for the 22 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This domain covers training, care plans, healthcare access, nutrition, and whether the home acts on assessments. A Good rating here suggests inspectors found satisfactory evidence across these areas. However, the published summary does not record specific observations about care plan quality, dementia training content, or GP access arrangements.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home specialising in dementia, a Good effectiveness rating covers a wide range of practice that directly affects your parent's day-to-day experience. Care plans should be living documents that reflect how your parent's needs change over time, not paperwork completed on admission and filed away. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that dementia-specific training quality varies enormously between homes, even among those rated Good. Food quality is another marker of genuine care that families in our review data value highly (20.9% weighting), and it is not mentioned in the published findings. You should visit at a mealtime and ask to see the menu.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review found that dementia training content varies significantly between care homes, with generic moving-and-handling or medication courses often counted alongside specialist dementia communication training. Ask what the training specifically covers, not just how many hours staff receive.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed and whether families are invited to contribute. Then ask to see the dementia training log for the past 12 months and check whether it includes communication and behaviour-focused modules, not only health and safety topics."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents are treated as individuals. A Good rating here is the most directly reassuring finding for families, as it reflects inspector observations of how staff actually behave with the people in their care. The published summary does not record specific observations, quotes from residents, or examples of dignity in practice.","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 follow closely at 55.2%. A Good caring rating indicates inspectors saw enough evidence to be satisfied, but without specific observations or resident testimony in the published findings, it is difficult to know exactly what they saw. On your visit, the most reliable signal is the pace of interaction: are staff unhurried, do they use your parent's preferred name, and do they listen when a resident speaks rather than talking across them? These small behaviours are what families remember and what Good Practice research identifies as the observable markers of person-led care.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research from the rapid evidence review identifies non-verbal communication as a critical component of dignified dementia care. Staff who make eye contact, crouch to the resident's level, and respond calmly to distress produce measurably better outcomes for people with dementia than staff who rely primarily on verbal instruction.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens when a resident becomes distressed or confused. Does a staff member move towards them calmly and make eye contact, or does the interaction feel transactional and hurried? This is more informative than any policy document."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This covers activities, how the home responds to individual preferences, and end-of-life care. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the range of provision and the home's ability to tailor care to individuals. The published summary does not detail specific activities, one-to-one provision, or how end-of-life planning is approached.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness accounts for 27.1% of the weighting in our family review data, and activities are a key contributor (21.4%). For people with dementia, the quality of activity provision matters more than the quantity: a daily group singalong is far less beneficial than an activity matched to your parent's own history and interests. Good Practice research consistently highlights the importance of one-to-one engagement for people who can no longer participate in group activities, and of incorporating familiar everyday tasks such as folding laundry or setting a table into daily life. The inspection does not record what the activities programme looks like in practice, so this is an area to explore in detail on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base, drawing on 61 studies, identifies Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches as producing the strongest outcomes for people with dementia, including reduced distress and improved engagement. Homes that rely primarily on group entertainment activities show weaker outcomes for residents in later stages of dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the activity records for the past four weeks, not just the planned schedule. Check whether there is any record of one-to-one sessions for residents who cannot join groups, and ask how they find out what activities a new resident enjoyed before they came into care."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the January 2022 inspection. This is the one domain that did not reach a Good rating and it covers management oversight, governance systems, staff support, and how the home identifies and acts on problems. The published summary does not detail what specific failures led to this rating. Mrs Lynne Chetwynd is registered manager and Mr Philip Day is the nominated individual. The home had previously received a Requires Improvement rating overall, and while most domains improved, leadership governance remained a concern.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in well-led is the finding that should give you the most pause when considering this home. Our review data shows that management and communication with families account for 23.4% and 11.5% of what families value most, and Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability is the strongest single predictor of a home's quality trajectory. It does not mean your parent would be at immediate risk, but it does mean that the systems designed to catch and correct problems were not working well enough at inspection. The good news is that the inspection was in January 2022, and the home may have addressed the issues since then. The most important question is whether a more recent inspection has taken place and what it found.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, visible leadership and functioning governance systems consistently outperform those without them on all quality measures, including safety incidents, staff retention, and family satisfaction. A Requires Improvement in well-led should be treated as a prompt to investigate further, not a reason to rule the home out entirely.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what did the January 2022 inspection identify as the specific governance concerns, and what has changed since then? Ask whether a more recent inspection has taken place and request to see any improvement plan that was produced in response to the Requires Improvement finding."}

  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 residential care for adults over 65, including those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on While the home accepts residents with dementia, specific details about their approach to dementia care would need to be discussed directly with the team. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.