New Fairholme

What families say

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-02-15 · Report published 2019-02-15 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"New Fairholme was rated Good for Safe at its February 2019 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to safeguarding concerns. The published report summary does not include specific inspector observations, staffing ratios, or examples of how safety incidents were handled. No concerns were flagged that would have triggered a lower rating. A data review in July 2023 found no new evidence requiring a change to this rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe means inspectors did not identify significant risks at the time of the visit, which is reassuring as a baseline. However, for an 88-bed nursing home specialising in dementia, the detail that matters most, night staffing ratios, agency use, and how falls or incidents are logged and acted on, is simply not available in the published summary. Good Practice research consistently identifies night shifts as the point where safety is most likely to slip in larger homes, particularly where agency staff are used to fill gaps. Because this inspection is over six years old, the current picture may look quite different. Visiting unannounced, or at least at an unusual time such as early evening, will give you a much better sense of how many staff are present and how calm the environment feels.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and agency staff reliance are two of the strongest predictors of safety failures in care homes. A Good rating at inspection does not guarantee these risks have been eliminated, only that they were not at a critical level on the day.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template. Count permanent versus agency names on night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for the dementia unit specifically."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effective, which covers the quality of care planning, dementia training, healthcare access, and nutrition. The published summary does not describe specific training content, care plan detail, GP access arrangements, or food and hydration practices. Dementia is a listed specialism, which implies the home has made a formal commitment to specialist provision, but the inspection text does not confirm what that looks like in practice. No concerns were raised in this domain at the 2019 inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone with dementia depends on staff who know the person well and have the skills to respond to changed behaviour without defaulting to medication or restriction. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights care plans as living documents: they should describe your parent's life history, preferences, and triggers, not just their medical needs, and they should be reviewed at least every three months or after any significant change. The inspection gives no detail on whether care plans here meet that standard. Food quality is another marker that families consistently flag, appearing in 20.9% of positive reviews in our data. Ask to see a sample menu and, more importantly, ask how staff support someone who has difficulty eating or has lost their appetite.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training covering non-verbal communication, behaviour as communication, and person-centred approaches significantly improves both resident wellbeing and family confidence. Training content matters as much as training completion rates.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training staff complete, when it was last updated, and whether it covers recognising pain in people who cannot express it verbally. Ask to see an example care plan (anonymised) to judge whether it reads as a description of a real person or a clinical document."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"New Fairholme was rated Good for Caring at the February 2019 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect for privacy, and how well the home supports residents' independence. The published summary contains no direct inspector observations of staff interactions, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific examples of how dignity was upheld. The Good rating indicates no significant concerns were identified at the time of the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities; they are visible in small, everyday moments. Does a carer knock before entering a room? Do they use your parent's preferred name rather than a generic term of endearment? Do they sit at eye level when speaking to someone seated? The inspection rating tells you these things were not badly wrong in 2019, but it cannot tell you whether the current team, which may have changed considerably over six years, brings the same approach. Good Practice research emphasises that non-verbal communication is as important as spoken words for people with advanced dementia, and that knowing someone's personal history is the foundation of respectful care.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know and use an individual's life history, preferences, and communication style, produces measurably better outcomes for people with dementia than task-focused care delivered by staff who rotate frequently.","watch_out":"On your visit, walk through a communal area and observe whether staff make eye contact and speak directly to residents, or whether they speak over residents to colleagues. Ask a carer what your parent's preferred name is and how they would know the answer."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Responsive, which covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home adapts to each person's preferences and changing needs. The published summary does not describe specific activities, the activities programme, or examples of individual engagement. The home's specialisms include dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which implies a need for tailored approaches across a diverse group of residents. No concerns were raised in this domain at the 2019 inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness, which our review data captures in 27.1% of positive reviews, is closely tied to whether people feel occupied, purposeful, and connected rather than simply safe. For someone with dementia, group activities like singalongs or quizzes may not be accessible or meaningful, particularly in the later stages of the condition. Good Practice research consistently identifies one-to-one engagement and activities rooted in a person's past roles and routines, cooking, gardening, sorting, folding, as far more effective than a scheduled group programme. The inspection does not tell you whether New Fairholme provides this level of individual engagement. With 88 beds and a wide range of needs, the quality of the activities provision likely varies considerably across different parts of the home.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and activities drawing on a person's occupational history significantly reduce agitation and improve engagement in people with dementia, but these require individual knowledge of each resident and dedicated staff time.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical day looks like for a resident with moderate to advanced dementia who cannot join a group session. Ask how often staff sit one-to-one with someone who is withdrawn or distressed, and whether this is recorded in the care plan."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"New Fairholme was rated Good for Well-led at the February 2019 inspection. The home is operated by Coverage Care Services Limited, with Mrs Imelda Roque Briones as registered manager and Mrs Deborah Jane Price as nominated individual. The published summary does not describe management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home handles complaints or learning from incidents. The formal leadership structure is confirmed by the registration details, but no qualitative picture of the management culture is available from the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is the strongest predictor of a home's trajectory over time. Our review data shows management and leadership appearing in 23.4% of positive reviews, and Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as the single best indicator of sustained quality. What the inspection cannot tell you, especially six years on, is whether the current manager is the same person, how long they have been in post, and whether the staff culture has remained positive. Coverage Care Services Limited operates multiple homes in the region, which can mean either strong central support or stretched oversight, depending on how the organisation is run. A good manager is visible on the floor, known to residents by name, and able to speak without a script about the people who live there.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, visible leadership and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear consistently outperform those with high management turnover or a top-down culture, regardless of the inspection rating.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether they are present across different shifts. Ask one member of care staff (not a manager) what they would do if they were worried about a resident's care and felt their concern was not being taken seriously."}

  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 cares for adults under and over 65 with physical disabilities, sensory impairments and dementia. They offer both long-term residential care and short-term respite stays.. Gaps or open questions remain on New Fairholme accepts residents with dementia as part of their service provision. Some families have suggested the home may be better suited to those with advanced dementia care needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.