Fylde & Wyre Short Break Services

What families say

Families describe the staff here as both professional and friendly. There's a sense that the team understands the importance of making short stays as comfortable as possible.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement85
• Food quality55
• Healthcare62
• Management & leadership68
• Resident happiness75

What inspectors found

Inspected 2017-12-19 · Report published 2017-12-19 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the November 2017 inspection. This indicates that inspectors were satisfied with risk management, staffing levels, medicines handling, and infection control at the time. The home is small, with only six beds, which can support close staff attention. No specific observations, ratios, or incident examples are included in the published summary. The inspection is now more than seven years old.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating is a baseline you want to see, but in a home this small it matters enormously who is on shift and whether staff know your parent well. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips, and that agency staff who do not know an individual can miss early signs of distress. Because the published report gives no staffing numbers, you cannot rely on the 2017 finding alone. On your visit, ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight and how many of them have worked in this home for more than six months.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that continuity of staff is one of the strongest predictors of safety for people with dementia and learning disabilities. Unfamiliar faces can increase agitation and mean that subtle changes in a person's condition go unnoticed.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many overnight shifts were covered by the same permanent staff members, and ask what happens when a regular carer is off sick."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the November 2017 inspection. This covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and how well staff understand the needs of people with dementia, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities. The published summary does not describe specific training programmes, care plan formats, or GP access arrangements. The home supports several specialist groups, which requires a broad range of staff competence. No detail is available on food quality or dietary management.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies dementia-specific training as one of the most important factors in the quality of day-to-day care, particularly for people who cannot easily express their own needs. A Good Effective rating suggests the basics were in place in 2017, but you need to know what has changed since. Our family review data shows that food quality features in over one in five positive reviews (20.9%), so it is worth asking the manager what a typical day's meals look like and how dietary preferences or swallowing needs would be managed for your parent specifically.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans function best as living documents that are updated after every significant change and that families who contribute to care plans report higher confidence in the care their parent receives.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: what dementia training have staff completed in the past 12 months, who delivered it, and how is it refreshed? Then ask to see a blank version of the care plan template so you can judge whether it has space for your parent's personal history, preferences, and communication style."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the November 2017 inspection. Inspectors are required to observe actual staff interactions, listen to resident and family feedback, and review records before awarding this rating. No specific observations, quotes from residents, or family feedback are reproduced in the published summary. The home supports people under 65 with a range of conditions including dementia, learning disabilities, and sensory impairment, which places particular demands on staff communication skills.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity account for a further 55.2%. A Good Caring rating tells you inspectors were satisfied, but the absence of specific detail in this report means you cannot picture what that warmth actually looked like. Non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people who cannot easily express their needs, and this is something you can assess for yourself on a visit by watching how staff approach your parent, whether they make eye contact, whether they move without hurry.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that person-led care requires staff to know the individual's history, preferences, and triggers. In short breaks settings, this knowledge has to be transferred quickly and accurately from families and usual carers, which makes the quality of information-sharing at the point of admission critical.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch a routine interaction between a staff member and one of the people staying there. Does the staff member use the person's preferred name, move at the person's pace, and check for a response before moving on? If you see hurried or task-focused interactions, note them and raise them with the manager."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Outstanding at the November 2017 inspection, making this the home's standout strength. An Outstanding rating requires strong, specific evidence that care is tailored to individual needs, that activities are meaningful rather than generic, and that the home responds effectively when things need to change. The published summary does not reproduce the specific examples inspectors used to justify this rating, but the rating itself is not awarded lightly. This is the only inspection this home has published.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Outstanding for responsiveness is genuinely rare. In our review data, activities and engagement feature in 21.4% of positive reviews and resident happiness in 27.1%, and families consistently describe meaningful activity as the difference between a parent who is settled and one who is distressed. Good Practice research points to the importance of one-to-one engagement and everyday household tasks as anchors for people with dementia, not just organised group sessions. Because this is a short breaks service, ask specifically how the team finds out what your parent enjoys before the stay begins, and whether that information travels back to you afterwards.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches produce measurably better outcomes for people with dementia than group-only programmes. Continuity of familiar objects, routines, and roles from home life is particularly important during short stays in an unfamiliar environment.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: if my parent cannot join a group activity or becomes withdrawn during their stay, what does a member of staff do with them one to one? Ask for a specific example from a recent stay."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the November 2017 inspection. A named registered manager and a nominated individual from Lancashire County Council were both identified in the registration records. Good Practice research consistently finds that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. The published summary contains no specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how complaints are handled. This is the only inspection on record, now more than seven years ago.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families accounts for a further 11.5%. The concern here is not with the 2017 rating itself but with what has changed in the years since. Leadership turnover in care homes is high across the sector, and a home's quality can shift significantly when a registered manager changes. Our family review data shows that families who feel informed and heard are far more likely to trust the care their parent is receiving, so communication style is worth probing directly before you commit to a placement.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that bottom-up staff empowerment, where carers feel they can raise concerns without fear, is a stronger predictor of sustained quality than top-down governance processes alone. Ask whether staff feel listened to, not just whether the manager has a governance board.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in this post, and who was the manager before you? Then ask: if a family member has a concern during their parent's short break stay, what is the process for raising it and how quickly will someone call them back?"}

  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 This specialist service supports people with sensory impairments, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. They also care for younger adults under 65 and provide dementia support.. Gaps or open questions remain on The service includes dementia within its specialisms, supporting families who need respite while caring for someone living with dementia. As a short break service, they offer temporary stays rather than permanent residence. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.