Housteads Residential Home

What families say

Families describe feeling properly welcomed here, not just tolerated during visits. The atmosphere stays relaxed and inclusive, with relatives noting they feel part of the home's rhythms rather than outsiders looking in.

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth65
• Compassion & dignity65
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement55
• Food quality55
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness60

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-02-05 · Report published 2020-02-05 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Housteads was rated Good for safety at its January 2020 inspection. This domain covers how the home manages risk, staffing levels, medicines, and infection control. The available published report does not include specific observations, staffing ratios, or detail about how the home handles falls or safeguarding concerns. No concerns were recorded at the time. A monitoring review in July 2023 did not prompt a reassessment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the absence of specific published detail means you cannot verify exactly what inspectors observed. Good Practice research highlights that night staffing is where safety is most likely to slip in residential homes, and that consistent permanent staff rather than agency cover is a key protective factor for people living with dementia. With 40 beds and a dementia specialism, it is reasonable to expect clear answers on overnight ratios. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness is mentioned in around 14% of positive reviews, suggesting families notice and value visible, present care staff.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance undermines consistency of care and increases risk for people with dementia, who depend on familiar faces and predictable routines.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota, not the template. Count how many permanent staff were on overnight and how many shifts were covered by agency workers."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good in January 2020. This covers care planning, staff training, access to healthcare professionals, and nutrition. Housteads lists dementia as a specialism, which implies training and care planning for this group should be in place. The published report does not include specific examples of care plans, training records, or GP access arrangements. No concerns were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating means inspectors were satisfied that the home met the required standard for knowing how to care for your parent, but the lack of published detail means you cannot see the evidence behind that judgement. For people living with dementia, care plans should be living documents updated as needs change, not fixed paperwork completed on admission. Food quality is often an underrated indicator of genuine care: a home that takes time to understand your parent's preferences and adapt texture or presentation is showing person-centred practice in a very practical way. Our family review data shows food quality appears in around 20.9% of positive reviews.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base found that dementia training which goes beyond basic awareness, covering communication, behaviour as communication, and sensory approaches, makes a measurable difference to the quality of daily interactions.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan and ask specifically how it would be updated if your parent's needs changed significantly. Ask also what dementia training staff have completed and when they last did a refresher."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Housteads was rated Good for Caring in January 2020. This domain reflects whether staff treat people with warmth, dignity, and respect, and whether people have choice and independence in their daily lives. The available published report includes no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific observations of staff interactions. No concerns were recorded in this domain.","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 account for a further 55.2%. These are the things families notice most and remember longest. Because the published report gives no specific examples here, you will need to form your own judgement on a visit. Watch how staff speak to residents in corridors, not just in formal care settings. Are they using your parent's preferred name? Do they stop and make eye contact, or keep moving? Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and physical proximity, matters as much as what is actually said for people with advanced dementia.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that person-led care requires staff to know the individual, including their history, preferences, and communication style, not just their clinical needs.","watch_out":"During your visit, pay attention to how staff interact with residents who are not in activities or in conversation. Ask whether your parent would be addressed by their preferred name and how staff would find out what that is."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2020 inspection. This covers whether the home tailors its care and activities to individual needs, responds to complaints, and supports people at the end of life. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which implies an expectation of individual and adapted activity provision. The published report contains no detail on activity programmes, complaint handling, or end-of-life care arrangements.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness appears in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities and engagement in 21.4%. For people living with dementia, group activities alone are rarely enough: a person who cannot follow a group session still benefits from individual engagement, such as folding laundry, looking through photographs, or listening to familiar music. The absence of published detail here means you cannot assess how well Housteads delivers on this in practice. Good Practice research supports Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches as being particularly effective for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Ask specifically what would happen for your parent on a day when they could not join a group activity.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that one-to-one engagement and the use of familiar everyday tasks, rather than group activity programmes alone, significantly improves wellbeing for people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity records for the past two weeks, not just the printed schedule. Ask specifically what one-to-one engagement is offered to residents who cannot participate in group sessions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Housteads was rated Good for Well-led in January 2020. The home is operated by SheffCare Limited, with Ms Claire Rintoul named as the nominated individual. This domain covers the quality of leadership, governance, and culture. The published report does not describe the manager's visibility, staff culture, or how the home uses feedback and incident data to improve. No concerns were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a care home's quality trajectory: homes with a consistent, visible manager tend to maintain standards more reliably than those with frequent management changes. Our family review data shows management and leadership appear in 23.4% of positive reviews, and communication with families in 11.5%. Because this inspection was carried out in January 2020, it is worth asking directly whether the manager has been in post throughout that period and what has changed in terms of staffing since then. A manager who can speak confidently about recent challenges and how they were resolved is a good sign.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns and where leadership is stable and visible consistently deliver better outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current manager has been in post and whether there have been significant changes to the senior team since 2020. Ask also how the home communicates with families when there is a change in a resident's health or care needs."}

  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 welcomes adults across different age groups, supporting both younger adults under 65 and older residents. They provide specialist dementia care alongside their general residential services.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the focus stays firmly on creating a secure, settled environment. The team works to maintain familiar routines that help residents feel comfortable. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.