Hambleton Grange Care Home

What families say

Several families have noticed how staff take time to chat with residents throughout the day, helping new arrivals feel at ease. The atmosphere stays cheerful, with organised activities giving structure to the days and plenty of chances for residents to join in when they feel like it.

Based on 15 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth75
• Compassion & dignity75
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership45
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-04-16 · Report published 2019-04-16 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection. This indicates inspectors were satisfied with arrangements around staffing, medicines management, infection control, and risk management. No specific concerns about safety were recorded in the published summary. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement overall, so some safety-related improvements may have been made in the intervening period. Detailed evidence about specific safe practices, such as falls logging or night staffing ratios, is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is the baseline you need before considering any other factor. Good Practice research, drawing on 61 studies, consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and agency staff reliance as a factor that undermines the consistency your parent needs. Because the published inspection summary does not include specific staffing detail, you will need to ask those questions directly. Safety is also connected to cleanliness (24.3% of positive family reviews mention it), so look carefully at corridors, bathrooms, and communal spaces when you visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that safety incidents are disproportionately likely to occur on night shifts and during periods of high agency staff use, making permanent staffing continuity a key safety indicator families should probe directly.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight for 50 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans are detailed and kept up to date, whether residents have regular access to GPs and other health professionals, and whether food meets individual dietary needs. The published summary does not provide specific detail on any of these areas. The named registered manager and nominated individual suggest a formal structure for overseeing effective care, though the Well-Led rating of Requires Improvement introduces some uncertainty about how consistently that oversight functions.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating suggests that care planning, health access, and staff training broadly met inspection standards. For families of people living with dementia, the Good Practice evidence base highlights that care plans need to function as living documents, updated as needs change, not filed after the initial assessment. Food quality is also a meaningful signal: 20.9% of positive family reviews mention it specifically. Because no specific evidence about dementia training content, GP access frequency, or food choice is available in the published findings, these are worth asking about directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that dementia-specific training, particularly around non-verbal communication and person-centred approaches, is a strong predictor of effective care quality, but training content varies considerably between homes even when a Good rating has been awarded.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia-specific training all staff, including night staff, kitchen staff, and any agency workers, have completed in the past 12 months, and ask to see an example of a care plan to understand how detailed and individualised it is in practice."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection. This domain assesses whether staff treat residents with kindness, dignity, and respect, whether residents are supported to maintain independence, and whether privacy is protected. No specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimony appear in the published summary. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with caring practice overall, but the absence of specific evidence means the rating cannot be further contextualised from this report alone.","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 together appear in 55.2%. These are not soft extras; they are what families remember and what predicts how settled your parent will feel. Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and touch, matters as much as spoken words for people living with dementia. Because the published findings do not record specific observations of caring interactions, you will need to observe these yourself. Watch how staff speak to residents in corridors and common rooms, not just when they are being observed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style, and that this knowledge, rather than task completion, is what distinguishes genuinely caring practice from compliant practice.","watch_out":"When you visit, sit quietly in a communal area for 15 to 20 minutes and watch how staff interact with residents who are not asking for anything. Are staff initiating conversation? Are residents addressed by the name they prefer? Is the pace unhurried?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether care is tailored to individual needs, whether activities are meaningful and varied, whether the home responds to complaints, and whether end-of-life care is planned. No specific detail about activities provision, individual engagement, or complaints handling appears in the published summary. The Good rating suggests inspectors were satisfied with responsiveness overall, but without specific evidence it is not possible to say how the home performs on individual areas such as one-to-one engagement for people with advanced dementia.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities engagement is valued in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness appears in 27.1%. For people living with dementia, Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are insufficient: tailored one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, or reminiscence, is essential for people who can no longer participate in group settings. Because the published findings do not describe the activity programme in any detail, you should ask to see what was actually delivered in the past two weeks, not just what is planned.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities produce measurable improvements in wellbeing for people with moderate to advanced dementia, and that homes rated Good in Responsive do not always provide this level of individual engagement in practice.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the record of what activities took place last week, including one-to-one sessions, and ask specifically how residents who cannot join group activities are engaged during the morning and after lunch."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Well-Led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the February 2021 inspection, meaning inspectors found specific concerns about management, governance, or accountability that had not been fully resolved. This was the only domain not rated Good. The home has two named leaders: a registered manager and a nominated individual. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a reassessment of the rating, but this does not confirm the issues have been resolved, only that no new concerns triggered a re-inspection. The specific nature of the Well-Led concerns is not described in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of consistent care quality, and a Requires Improvement in Well-Led is the most important flag in this report. Our family review data shows that 23.4% of positive reviews mention management positively, and Good Practice research consistently links effective governance to better outcomes across all care domains. The fact that this rating has not been reassessed since February 2021 means you are making a decision on information that is over three years old. You have a right to ask the manager directly what the Requires Improvement finding related to, what was done about it, and whether a new inspection has been requested or scheduled.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff can raise concerns without fear are the strongest organisational predictors of care quality, and that homes with unresolved Well-Led concerns are at higher risk of deterioration in other domains over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager three specific questions: what did the Requires Improvement finding in Well-Led relate to specifically, what has changed since February 2021 to address it, and how long the current registered manager has been in post. If the manager is relatively new or cannot answer the first question clearly, that itself is important information."}

  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 Hambleton Grange looks after people over 65, including those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home welcomes residents with dementia, providing structured days with activities and consistent staff who get to know each person's preferences and routines. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.