New Lodge Care Home

What families say

Visitors describe being greeted warmly by staff, and residents speak of a calm atmosphere throughout the home. The communal areas feel light and airy, and people mention forming friendships with other residents through shared activities and social time together.

Based on 20 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-08-18 · Report published 2021-08-18 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Rowntree Lodge received a Good rating for Safe at its June 2021 inspection. The home supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, all of which require careful risk management and consistent staffing. The published summary does not record specific observations about medicines management, falls prevention, or night staffing ratios. A data review in July 2023 found no information requiring the rating to be changed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors were satisfied at the time of inspection, but the published text gives you almost nothing to work with in terms of specifics. Good Practice research from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes. With 45 beds and a mixed specialism profile that includes dementia, you need to know exactly how many staff are on duty after 10pm and what proportion of those are permanent rather than agency. Our family review data shows that 14% of positive reviews specifically mention staff attentiveness as a reason for confidence, which tells you this is something families notice and value.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of inconsistent safety outcomes, particularly on night shifts, because continuity of relationship is central to recognising when something is wrong with a person you know.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the last two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts compared with agency or bank workers."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Rowntree Lodge received a Good rating for Effective at its June 2021 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, access to healthcare professionals, and food quality. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies staff should hold relevant training. The published summary does not include specific observations about dementia training content, care plan review processes, GP access arrangements, or mealtimes.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating is a positive signal, but without specific detail it is difficult to know whether the training your parent's key worker has received is genuinely dementia-focused or more general. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans need to function as living documents, updated with family input after significant changes, not filed and forgotten. Food quality accounts for 20.9% of what drives positive family reviews, making it one of the eight themes that matter most to families. You cannot assess any of this from the published summary alone, so a mealtime visit is essential.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that regular, meaningful review of care plans, particularly with family involvement, is one of the strongest markers of genuinely person-led care rather than task-focused care.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and check whether it records the person's life history, preferred routines, and communication style, or whether it reads primarily as a medical checklist."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Rowntree Lodge received a Good rating for Caring at its June 2021 inspection. This domain reflects how staff interact with the people in their care, including warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published summary records no specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative feedback about staff interactions. The rating itself indicates inspectors did not identify concerns, but the evidence behind it is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews. Compassion and dignity together account for a further 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities; they show up in specific moments: whether staff knock before entering a room, whether they use your parent's preferred name, whether they sit at eye level when speaking to someone who uses a wheelchair. The Good Caring rating tells you inspectors were satisfied, but you need to observe these moments yourself. A visit at a busy time of day, such as mid-morning or after lunch, will tell you more than any published rating.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication in dementia care. Staff who approach calmly, make eye contact, and use gentle touch convey safety to someone who may not process spoken words reliably.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff greet your parent or any resident they pass in a corridor. Are they addressed by name? Does the interaction feel unhurried? A member of staff who walks past without acknowledgement is a meaningful signal."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Rowntree Lodge received a Good rating for Responsive at its June 2021 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors its provision to individual needs, including activities, engagement, and end-of-life care. The home supports people with a wide range of needs including dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, which means activity provision needs to be genuinely varied and individually adapted. The published summary contains no detail about the activities programme, one-to-one engagement, or end-of-life planning.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of what drives positive family reviews, and resident happiness accounts for a further 27.1%. Our family review data shows that what families remember most is whether their parent seemed settled and occupied, not just physically safe. The Good Practice evidence base is particularly clear on one point: group activities alone are not sufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia. One-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, is what maintains wellbeing when someone can no longer follow a group session. The published report gives you no information about whether Rowntree Lodge provides this. Ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-based individual activities, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking tasks, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing for people with dementia who can no longer engage with formal group programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator what happens on a typical Tuesday afternoon for someone who cannot follow group sessions due to advanced dementia. A specific, confident answer with examples suggests genuine individual planning. A vague answer suggests group activities are the default and little else is on offer."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Rowntree Lodge received a Good rating for Well-led at its June 2021 inspection. The home is run by Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, a well-established housing and care provider. A named registered manager, Mrs Lucy Emma Atkinson, and a nominated individual, Mr Phillip James William Hopkins, are both recorded. The published summary does not include detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home responds to concerns and complaints.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes. Good Practice research consistently shows that homes where the manager is known personally to staff and residents, and where staff feel they can raise concerns without fear, outperform those where leadership is distant or frequently changing. Our family review data shows that 23.4% of positive reviews mention management or leadership as a specific reason for confidence. The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust has a long-standing reputation in York, but organisational reputation does not replace the need to meet the actual manager and assess whether they know the people in their care by name.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability, specifically a manager who has been in post for more than 12 months and is visibly present on the floor, is one of the most consistent predictors of good outcomes across all care domains.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether they are on site most days. Then notice whether staff mention the manager by first name when you ask questions. If they do, it usually means leadership is genuinely visible rather than office-based."}

  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 New Lodge cares for both younger and older adults with various needs, including dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home's secure perimeter and door access systems provide safety while the structured activities help maintain social connections. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.