Oaklands Nursing Home

What families say

Families describe finding staff who truly engage with residents rather than just ticking boxes. There's a sense that care here comes from the heart, with activities chosen specifically to bring joy and stimulation to those living with dementia.

Based on 4 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 & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-06-11 · Report published 2019-06-11 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the May 2019 inspection, representing an improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and the safety of the physical environment. The available report text does not include specific narrative detail about how safety is maintained, what staffing ratios are in place, or how medicines are managed. No concerns or breaches are recorded. The improvement trajectory is a positive indicator, but families cannot verify from the published text alone what safety looks like in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating tells you that inspectors were satisfied with safety arrangements at the time of the visit, and the step up from Requires Improvement is encouraging. However, the detail that matters most to families, including how many staff are with your parent overnight and how the home manages falls or sudden changes in health, is not described in the published report. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the period where safety is most likely to slip in nursing homes, particularly for people living with dementia who may be unsettled or at risk of falling after dark. You should ask directly about overnight staffing numbers before making a decision.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University evidence found that night staffing ratios are a key predictor of safety outcomes in dementia care settings, and that homes with high agency staff turnover show less consistent responses to resident deterioration.","watch_out":"Ask the home: how many registered nurses and care staff are on duty between 10pm and 7am, and is that number consistent seven nights a week or does it vary?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good, covering training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and the use of evidence-based approaches. Dementia care is a registered specialism, implying the home has committed to training and practice in this area. No detail about training content, GP access frequency, care plan review cycles, or mealtime practice is included in the available text. No concerns are recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad, the Effective domain is where the practical quality of daily care is tested. A Good rating suggests inspectors found that care plans, healthcare access, and training were broadly satisfactory, but the absence of specific detail means you cannot assess from this report how personalised care actually is. Family review data from DementiaCareChoices shows that healthcare responsiveness, including fast GP access and proactive health monitoring, is a priority for 20.2% of reviewing families. Good Practice evidence emphasises that care plans should be living documents updated with the person's changing needs, not filed once and left. Ask to see an example of how care plans are reviewed and whether families are invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews as one of the strongest markers of effective personalised dementia care, with care plans treated as working tools rather than administrative documents.","watch_out":"Ask: how often is my parent's care plan formally reviewed, who attends that review, and can I be part of it?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. This is the domain that most directly captures how staff interact with residents day to day. The published report contains no specific observations of interactions, no direct quotes from residents or relatives, and no named examples of practice. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied, but no narrative confirms what that satisfaction was based on.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in DementiaCareChoices family reviews, cited positively in 57.3% of all reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating is encouraging, but without specific observations or testimony in the report, you are relying on the inspector's overall judgement rather than documented moments of care. For your parent, especially if they are living with dementia and may not be able to tell you how they feel, observing how staff greet them and respond when they are unsettled is essential. Good Practice research shows that non-verbal communication, tone, and pace matter as much as words for people with advanced dementia.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that person-centred care in dementia settings depends on staff knowing individual histories, preferred names, and communication styles, and that this knowledge is consistently linked to better emotional wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"On your visit, notice whether staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, whether they make eye contact and speak at a calm pace, and whether interactions feel unhurried or task-focused."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good, covering activities, individual engagement, responsiveness to changing needs, and end-of-life care. No detail about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home supports people who cannot join group activities is provided in the available text. No concerns are recorded. The home's registered specialisms in dementia and sensory impairment imply a commitment to tailored care, but this is not confirmed by specific inspection evidence.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your mum or dad, a meaningful daily life matters as much as physical safety. Family review data shows that activities and engagement are a priority for 21.4% of families, and resident happiness is referenced positively or negatively in 27.1% of all reviews. Good Practice evidence consistently shows that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia; individual, one-to-one engagement tailored to a person's history and interests is what makes the difference. The inspection does not tell you whether Oaklands offers this level of individualised support, so this is a question to ask and to observe directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review found that Montessori-based and household-task approaches, where people engage in familiar, purposeful activities rather than passive entertainment, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes in dementia care.","watch_out":"Ask: if my parent cannot join group activities because of their dementia, what does a typical Tuesday afternoon look like for them, and who is responsible for one-to-one time?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good, and the home has improved from a previous Requires Improvement rating across all domains, which is a meaningful sign of responsive leadership. A named Registered Manager (Ms Beti Koder) is confirmed in post, and a Nominated Individual (Mr Oshi Alan Weissbrun) is also named. The published text does not describe management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles complaints and feedback. The rating was reviewed in July 2023 with no change recommended, suggesting no significant concerns emerged in the intervening period.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. The fact that Oaklands moved from Requires Improvement to Good across every domain indicates that the management team identified problems and acted on them, which is exactly what you want to see. Communication with families is rated as important by 11.5% of DementiaCareChoices reviewers, and good leadership creates the culture in which staff feel confident to raise concerns and families feel welcomed and informed. What is not known from this report is how long the current manager has been in post, whether staff feel supported and able to speak up, or how the home handles complaints. These are worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability and a culture where staff can raise concerns without fear as the two factors most consistently linked to improving and sustaining care quality in older adult nursing homes.","watch_out":"Ask: how long has the current Registered Manager been in post, and what changes were made when the previous inspection found areas for improvement?"}

  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 team supports residents with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They welcome adults over 65 who need that extra level of understanding care.. Gaps or open questions remain on The structured activities and purposefully upbeat environment show real thought about what helps people with dementia thrive. Families particularly value how the higher staffing levels translate into more patient, responsive dementia care. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.