Erith House Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds21
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia, Learning disabilities, Physical disabilities, Sensory impairment
- Last inspected2019-06-05
- Activities programmeThe physical environment draws consistent praise — visitors talk about the beauty of the building itself, which provides an uplifting backdrop for daily life.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Families describe finding real compassion here, with staff who show emotional understanding alongside their professional skills. People mention how the team's kindness comes through in daily interactions, creating an atmosphere where residents feel valued.
Based on 8 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 & leadership70
- Resident happiness68
What inspectors found
Inspected 2019-06-05 · Report published 2019-06-05 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at its May 2019 inspection. No specific findings about medicines management, falls prevention, infection control, or staffing ratios are recorded in the published report. The July 2023 monitoring review found no new concerns. The home accommodates 21 residents across a range of needs, including people living with dementia and physical disabilities. No detail about agency staff use or night staffing is available from the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Safety is the foundation of everything, and a Good rating here is reassuring as a starting point. However, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that safety most often slips at night, when staffing is thinnest and oversight is reduced. With 21 residents across varied and complex needs, the overnight staffing ratio matters enormously. The published inspection gives no detail on this, so you will need to ask directly. Our review data also shows that families who later raised concerns often said they had not asked about agency staff use early enough.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are two of the strongest predictors of safety risk in care homes, particularly for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how many staff, including at least one senior, are on duty overnight for the 21 residents, and ask what proportion of shifts in the last four weeks were covered by agency rather than permanent staff. Request to see last week's actual rota, not the planned template."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness at its May 2019 inspection. No specific details about care plan quality, GP access, dementia training content, or nutrition and hydration are recorded in the published report. The home lists dementia, learning disabilities, and physical and sensory disabilities among its specialisms, which suggests a degree of specialist knowledge is expected. Whether that knowledge is embedded in day-to-day practice is not confirmed by the available evidence.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for effectiveness tells you that inspectors found the home broadly competent at meeting people's needs, but without specific findings it is hard to know what that means for your parent's day. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should function as living documents, updated regularly and shaped by the person's own history, preferences, and routines, not just their medical needs. Food quality is also a reliable marker of genuine care: a kitchen that understands texture modification, cultural preferences, and individual dislikes signals a home that pays attention. Neither of these is confirmed or contradicted by the available report.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training, when it goes beyond basic awareness to include communication techniques and behaviour understanding, is one of the strongest predictors of person-centred care quality.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia-specific training staff have completed in the last 12 months, and ask to see an example of how a resident's personal history and preferences are recorded and used in their daily care. Ask whether families are invited to contribute to care plan reviews."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for caring at its May 2019 inspection. No direct inspector observations of staff interactions, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific findings about dignity, preferred names, or unhurried care are included in the published report. A Good rating in this domain suggests inspectors were satisfied that care was delivered respectfully, but the absence of specific evidence makes it impossible to describe what that looks like in practice here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews by name, and compassion and dignity account for 55.2%. These are not soft extras; they are the things families notice first and remember longest. The Good Practice evidence base is equally clear: non-verbal communication, how staff move, whether they make eye contact, whether they pause and listen, matters as much as what they say, particularly for people with advanced dementia who may not be able to tell you how they feel. Without specific inspector observations here, you will need to gather this evidence yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know and use individual histories and preferences, is significantly associated with reduced distress in people living with dementia and higher family satisfaction scores.","watch_out":"On your first visit, spend time in a communal area and notice whether staff use residents' preferred names, whether they crouch down to make eye contact with people who are seated, and whether interactions feel unhurried. These are the most reliable signals of a genuinely caring culture."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness at its May 2019 inspection. No specific details about the activities programme, individual engagement for people who cannot join groups, complaint handling, or end-of-life planning are included in the published report. The home lists dementia and learning disabilities among its specialisms, which suggests it is expected to tailor care and engagement to individual needs, but no evidence of how this is achieved in practice is available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness accounts for a further 27.1%. For people living with dementia, the Good Practice evidence base is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient: one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks like folding, sorting, or tending plants, can provide continuity, purpose, and calm in ways that formal group sessions cannot. Whether this home offers that kind of individual engagement is not confirmed by the published report. Resident happiness is the third most commonly mentioned theme in positive family reviews, and it is something you can observe directly on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-based individual activities, rather than group entertainment alone, are associated with reduced anxiety and improved wellbeing in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you what happened last Tuesday, not what is planned for next week. Ask specifically how the home supports people who are unable to join group activities, and whether staff have time within their rotas to sit with residents one to one."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for leadership at its May 2019 inspection. A named registered manager, Sam Vincent, is recorded as responsible for the home, and a nominated individual, Georgina Dawn Patch, is also listed. The home is run by Keychange Charity. No specific findings about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home responds to complaints and incidents are included in the published report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and communication with families accounts for a further 11.5%. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory: homes where the registered manager has been in post consistently tend to perform better over time and respond more effectively to problems when they arise. The inspection was conducted in May 2019, more than five years ago. Whether the registered manager listed at that time is still in post is an important question, because a change in leadership can significantly shift a home's culture and performance.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear are among the most consistent predictors of sustained care quality in residential settings.","watch_out":"Ask whether the registered manager listed at the 2019 inspection is still in post, and how long the current manager has been in the role. Ask how families are kept informed about changes in their parent's condition or care, and how quickly the manager typically responds to family concerns."}
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 supports people with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments and learning disabilities. They care for adults both under and over 65, making this a diverse community with varied support needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the team brings together professional knowledge with emotional understanding. The home's experience caring for people with different conditions means they're used to adapting their approach to individual needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
Keychange Charity Erith House Care Home was rated Good across all five inspection domains in May 2019, which is a positive baseline. However, the published report contains very limited specific detail, so most scores reflect a general Good rating rather than confirmed, observed strengths.
Homes in South West typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
Families describe finding real compassion here, with staff who show emotional understanding alongside their professional skills. People mention how the team's kindness comes through in daily interactions, creating an atmosphere where residents feel valued.
What inspectors have recorded
Staff professionalism stands out in what families share, with the team earning positive regard for how they approach their work. There's mention of residents developing new skills, suggesting an environment that encourages growth.
How it sits against good practice
While morning traffic around the property exit needs careful navigation, the overall picture is of skilled, compassionate care in pleasant surroundings.
Worth a visit
Keychange Charity Erith House Care Home, on Lower Erith Road in Torquay, was rated Good across all five inspection domains at its last inspection in May 2019. A subsequent review of available information in July 2023 found no evidence requiring the rating to be changed. The home is a small, 21-bed residential service run by Keychange Charity, with a named registered manager in post. It supports people living with dementia, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, as well as older and younger adults. The main limitation of this report is that the published inspection text contains very little specific detail about what inspectors actually observed, heard from residents, or reviewed in records. A Good rating is meaningful, but without knowing what it is based on, it is difficult to tell you what everyday life here looks and feels like for your parent. The inspection was conducted more than five years ago, which adds further uncertainty. Before making a decision, visit the home, ask to see the actual staffing rota from last week, observe how staff interact with people in corridors and communal areas, and ask the manager how the home has changed since 2019.
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In Their Own Words
How Erith House Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where compassion meets capability for complex care needs
Compassionate Care in Torquay at Keychange Charity Erith House Care Home
When you're looking for specialist care that goes beyond the basics, Erith House Care Home in Torquay brings together skilled support with genuine warmth. This Keychange Charity home works with people facing various challenges — from dementia to physical disabilities, sensory impairments to learning disabilities. Set in a beautiful building, the home welcomes both younger adults and those over 65.
Who they care for
The home supports people with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments and learning disabilities. They care for adults both under and over 65, making this a diverse community with varied support needs.
For those living with dementia, the team brings together professional knowledge with emotional understanding. The home's experience caring for people with different conditions means they're used to adapting their approach to individual needs.
Management & ethos
Staff professionalism stands out in what families share, with the team earning positive regard for how they approach their work. There's mention of residents developing new skills, suggesting an environment that encourages growth.
The home & environment
The physical environment draws consistent praise — visitors talk about the beauty of the building itself, which provides an uplifting backdrop for daily life.
“While morning traffic around the property exit needs careful navigation, the overall picture is of skilled, compassionate care in pleasant surroundings.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
