Grove Lodge and Courtyard

What families say

People describe staff who really tune in to what each resident needs emotionally. When someone's having a tough time, the team picks up on it quickly and provides the right kind of support. There's a balance here between encouraging independence and being available when residents need that extra help.

Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-05-20 · Report published 2021-05-20 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This indicates that concerns identified at the earlier inspection were resolved. The home covers dementia and mental health conditions, both of which require specific risk management approaches. No specific detail about medicines management, falls prevention, or infection control practices is reproduced in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe means inspectors were satisfied that basic safety standards were in place at the time of the visit. However, the Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing as the area where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and the published report gives no information about overnight ratios for 57 residents. Our family review data shows that families consistently rate safe environments and staff attentiveness highly, and the only way to get a current picture is to ask directly. The improvement from Requires Improvement is a positive sign, but given that the inspection is now several years old, it is worth asking the manager what has changed since then.","evidence_base":"Research from the Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 61 studies, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff as the two most common factors underlying safety incidents in care homes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from the last two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff were on duty overnight, and ask what the ratio is per resident after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers care planning, staff training, healthcare access, nutrition, and hydration. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which requires specific training and assessment approaches. No specific information about dementia training content, care plan review frequency, GP access arrangements, or nutrition monitoring is reproduced in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective is a reasonable baseline, but the Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans need to function as living documents updated with each change in your parent's condition, not filed away after admission. Our family review data shows that healthcare access (20.2%) and food quality (20.9%) are both significant drivers of family satisfaction. Neither is described in specific terms in this report, so these are important areas to probe on a visit. Ask to see a (anonymised) example of how a care plan is structured and how often it is reviewed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence review found that dementia training which goes beyond basic awareness, covering communication, behaviour as communication, and person-centred approaches, is associated with measurably better outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training all care staff must complete before working unsupervised on the floor, and when the last training update took place. Ask whether families are invited to contribute to care plan reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, privacy, and whether people are treated as individuals. The home specialises in dementia care, which requires staff to be skilled in non-verbal communication and reading distress signals. No specific inspector observations, resident accounts, or family quotes are reproduced in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good rating in Caring is encouraging, but without specific observations from the inspection report, you cannot know what that looked like on the ground. The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal for people with dementia, and that knowing individual histories (preferred names, past jobs, family relationships) is essential. On a visit, watch whether staff stop what they are doing to make eye contact and speak at the pace of the person in front of them.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence review found that person-centred care, where staff know the individual's history and preferences, is associated with reduced distress and greater settled behaviour in people with dementia.","watch_out":"When you visit, spend at least 20 minutes in a communal area and watch how staff interact with residents who are not asking for attention. Do staff make eye contact, use names, and sit down to talk, or do they move through the room without stopping?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, response to changing needs, and complaints handling. The home supports people with dementia and mental health conditions alongside general older adult care, which requires a range of engagement approaches. No specific activity examples, schedules, or descriptions of one-to-one support are reproduced in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. A Good rating suggests the inspection found that people were supported to have a life in the home, not just to receive personal care. The Good Practice evidence base is particularly strong on the importance of tailored, individual activities for people with advanced dementia who cannot participate in group sessions, including everyday household tasks and sensory activities. This is one of the areas least visible in a short inspection visit, so ask specifically how your parent's day would be structured if they were unable to join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activities, including familiar household tasks and one-to-one engagement, reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia more effectively than group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (not the manager) to describe a typical Tuesday for a resident who cannot reliably join group sessions. Ask how many hours of planned one-to-one engagement that person would receive in a week."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. A named registered manager and nominated individual are recorded. The improvement across all five domains from the previous inspection suggests that leadership took the earlier concerns seriously and made measurable changes. No specific information about management visibility, staff culture, quality monitoring systems, or family involvement in governance is reproduced in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led is one of the most meaningful signals in this report, because the Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality. Our family review data shows that visible, communicative management accounts for 23.4% of positive reviews, and that families value a manager who knows their parent by name. The published text does not tell you how long the current manager has been in post, which matters: a home that achieved Good under one manager and then changed leadership could look quite different now. Ask directly how long the registered manager has been in their current role.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear are among the strongest predictors of sustained quality in dementia care settings.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long they have been in their current role at Grove Lodge and Courtyard, and whether there have been significant changes in the senior care team since the 2021 inspection. Ask how staff can raise concerns and give a recent example of something that changed as a result."}

  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 care for people with dementia and mental health conditions, alongside general support for adults over 65. Their recovery-focused approach helps residents work toward personal goals, whether that's regaining daily living skills or preparing for a return to community living.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the team combines their mental health expertise with dementia-specific support. This integrated approach recognises that many people face both challenges together. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.