Longwood Grange Care Home

What families say

Visitors describe walking into a friendly environment where residents are chatting with staff and joining in activities. There's a sense that people are content here, with the manager and team making time to engage with everyone throughout the day.

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
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-12-20 · Report published 2023-12-20 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The October 2025 inspection rated Safe as Good. This is an improvement on the previous Requires Improvement overall rating, though individual domain scores were not previously published. The published report does not include specific detail on staffing levels, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. The home is registered for 34 beds and covers a complex mix of needs including dementia and physical disability.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the published findings give no specific detail about what inspectors actually saw. Good Practice research consistently finds that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in small residential homes: a 34-bed home with a dementia specialism needs at least two carers and one senior on overnight, and that number should not drop at weekends. Agency staff usage is also worth probing directly. Our family review data shows that safe environment and staff attentiveness together account for around 26% of the themes families mention in positive reviews, which means families notice safety through everyday interactions, not just formal systems. On your visit, watch whether call bells are answered promptly and whether staff seem calm rather than rushed.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety incidents in care homes, because unfamiliar staff are less likely to notice subtle changes in a person's condition or behaviour.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual night-shift rota for the dementia unit, not a template. Count the number of permanent staff names versus agency names, and confirm the ratio of carers to residents after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The October 2025 inspection rated Effective as Good. The home is registered to deliver care for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, all of which require specialist knowledge and individually tailored care planning. The published report does not include specific detail on care plan quality, dementia training content, GP access arrangements, or food and nutrition practices.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home means that staff know your parent as an individual, not just as a set of needs. Our family review data shows that food quality (20.9% weighting) and dementia-specific care (12.7%) both feature prominently in what families say makes a home feel genuinely good. Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans should function as living documents, updated after any significant change in health, and that families should be invited to contribute to them. The inspection does not confirm whether this happens at Longwood Grange, so it is worth asking directly. Healthcare access, particularly reliable GP contact for a home with complex physical and cognitive needs, is another area the published findings do not address.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia training which goes beyond basic awareness, covering communication, behaviour that challenges, and sensory needs, produces measurably better outcomes for residents, including fewer distressed episodes and lower use of sedating medication.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training all staff complete before working unsupervised with residents, and when the training was last updated. Then ask whether any staff member holds a specialist dementia qualification such as a BTEC or City and Guilds award in dementia care."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The October 2025 inspection rated Caring as Good. This is one of the most significant domains for families, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how staff treat your parent as an individual. The published report does not include inspector observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they feel treated, or examples of dignity being upheld in practice.","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%. A Good rating in Caring is therefore an important signal, but without the specific observations to back it up, you cannot rely on it alone. Good Practice evidence shows that non-verbal communication matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia: whether a carer makes eye contact, moves at the person's pace, and uses gentle touch tells you more about the culture of a home than any policy document. On your visit, watch how staff interact with residents who cannot easily communicate verbally. Do they slow down, make eye contact, and use the person's name?","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style, and that homes where this knowledge is embedded in daily practice, not just recorded in files, show consistently higher ratings for dignity and wellbeing.","watch_out":"During your visit, listen for whether staff use your parent's preferred name and title, not just their first name or a generic term. Ask a member of staff what they know about your parent's life before they came into care, to test whether personal history is genuinely used in day-to-day interactions."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The October 2025 inspection rated Responsive as Good. The home specialises in dementia and physical disability, which means responsiveness should include tailored activities, one-to-one engagement for people who cannot join groups, and care that adapts to changing needs. The published report does not include specific detail on the activity programme, how individual preferences are incorporated, or end-of-life planning arrangements.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of our family review weighting, and resident happiness accounts for a further 27.1%. For people living with dementia, meaningful activity is not optional: Good Practice research shows that tailored individual engagement, including everyday household tasks and sensory activities, reduces distressed behaviour and improves wellbeing more reliably than group programmes alone. The inspection does not confirm what the activity programme at Longwood Grange looks like in practice, or whether one-to-one sessions are available for residents who cannot join groups. This is particularly important if your parent has moderate or advanced dementia. Responsiveness also covers how the home adapts when your parent's needs change, so ask about the process for updating care and communicating that to you.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found strong evidence for Montessori-based and occupation-focused approaches in dementia care, specifically that activities which draw on a person's lifelong skills and routines produce greater engagement and less distress than generic group entertainment.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for the past two weeks, not the planned timetable but the actual log of what took place. Check whether any one-to-one sessions are recorded and how often they happened for residents who do not attend group activities."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The October 2025 inspection rated Well-led as Good. The home is run by Longwood Care Home Limited with Mr Stephen Baker named as the nominated individual. The previous overall Requires Improvement rating has been resolved, which indicates that leadership has addressed earlier concerns. The published report does not include detail on manager tenure, staff culture, how complaints are handled, or how the home engages families in governance.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership account for 23.4% of our family review weighting, and communication with families a further 11.5%. Good Practice evidence is consistent that leadership stability, specifically having a manager who has been in post long enough to know the staff and residents, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality. The fact that this home improved from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive signal about leadership, but the published findings do not tell you whether the manager is long-serving or newly appointed, or whether staff feel confident to raise concerns. Our family review data shows that families notice good leadership through small things: whether the manager knows residents by name, whether staff seem settled and not stretched, and whether calls and emails are returned promptly. Test this before and after your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that bottom-up empowerment, where frontline staff feel able to raise concerns without fear and see those concerns acted on, is a stronger predictor of sustained Good and Outstanding ratings than top-down governance systems alone.","watch_out":"Before your visit, email the manager with a question about your parent's potential care needs and note how quickly and how specifically they respond. On the visit itself, ask a care worker (not a manager) what they would do if they were worried about a resident's safety. Their answer will tell you more about the culture than any policy document."}

  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 Longwood Grange provides specialist support for sensory impairments and physical disabilities, alongside dementia care for residents over 65.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home welcomes residents living with dementia, with staff trained to provide the understanding and engagement that makes such a difference to daily life. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.