Penn House

What families say

Some families have found staff here work hard to help residents settle in, particularly those who've had difficult experiences elsewhere. There are accounts of staff taking time to understand residents' emotional needs and helping them adjust to their new surroundings.

Based on 8 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement55
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership45
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2024-02-23 · Report published 2024-02-23 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Safe was rated Good at the January 2024 inspection. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement overall, so this Good rating in Safe represents a positive change. The published summary does not include specific detail about staffing numbers, medicines management, falls, or how incidents are reviewed. Penn House is registered for 30 beds and cares for people living with dementia, a group whose safety needs particular attention at night and during quieter periods.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe means inspectors did not identify current safety failures, which is reassuring after a previous Requires Improvement rating. However, the Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing as the point at which safety most commonly slips in smaller residential homes. The published findings do not tell you how many staff are on overnight for 30 residents, or how often agency staff cover shifts. Agency reliance is particularly significant if your parent has dementia, because unfamiliar faces can increase distress and mean important changes in behaviour go unnoticed. You will need to ask these questions directly on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that safety incidents in care homes are disproportionately concentrated on night shifts and weekends, and that homes with high agency use show weaker incident-learning cultures. Neither night staffing ratios nor agency use are covered in the published findings for Penn House.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the last two weeks, not a blank template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear on night shifts. For a 30-bed home with dementia residents, you would expect at least two staff on at night; ask what happens if someone calls in sick."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effective was rated Good at the January 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans reflect each person as an individual, and whether health needs are well managed. The published summary does not include specific detail about dementia training content, GP access, medication review processes, or how often care plans are updated. The home is registered as a dementia specialism, which means it should be able to demonstrate specific competence in this area.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective means inspectors were broadly satisfied that the home knows what it is doing. For families considering Penn House for a parent with dementia, the 2026 Good Practice evidence highlights that care plans functioning as living documents, updated regularly with family input, are one of the strongest predictors of good outcomes. Our review data shows healthcare is cited positively in 20.2% of family reviews, often linked to how quickly the home responds to a change in a parent's condition. The published findings do not give you enough detail to assess this confidently. Ask about care plan review schedules and how the home communicates health changes to families.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans written at admission and rarely revisited are a consistent marker of poorer personalised care for people living with dementia. Regular, family-inclusive reviews are associated with better wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask to see a blank copy of the care plan template and ask how often it is reviewed. Then ask whether families are invited to review meetings or only informed after the fact. A home that invites you to contribute regularly is a stronger signal of genuinely person-led practice than one that simply sends you a copy."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring was rated Good at the January 2024 inspection. This is the domain most directly about how staff treat the people who live at Penn House, covering warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations, resident testimony, or examples of caring interactions. Good in this domain means inspectors were satisfied, but without specific evidence it is not possible to describe what that looked like in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of satisfaction in our family review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: families describe them through concrete details such as staff using a parent's preferred name, never speaking across someone as if they are not there, and moving at the resident's pace rather than the shift's pace. A Good rating here is encouraging, but the published findings do not provide those specific details for Penn House. The only reliable way to assess this is to visit unannounced or at a quieter time such as mid-morning, when you can watch ordinary interactions rather than a prepared tour.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review highlights that non-verbal communication, tone, touch, and eye contact, matters as much as words for people living with dementia, particularly those with limited verbal communication. Staff who know a resident's life history are better placed to interpret behaviour and respond with genuine care.","watch_out":"When you visit, pay attention to how staff address your parent by name: do they use the name your parent prefers, or the name on the file? Watch whether staff make eye contact and crouch to a resident's level if they are seated. These small behaviours are the most reliable observable signal of a genuinely caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Good at the January 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether care is tailored to individuals, whether there are meaningful activities, and whether end-of-life care is planned. The published summary does not include detail about the activity programme, individual engagement, or how complaints are handled. Penn House cares for up to 30 people across a range of needs, including dementia, and a Good Responsive rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that individual needs were being met.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear positively in 21.4% of family reviews, and resident happiness in 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 familiar household tasks, music, and sensory activities tailored to the individual's history, produces significantly better wellbeing outcomes. A Good rating for Responsive is a reasonable foundation, but the published findings do not tell you whether Penn House offers individual engagement for residents who cannot join groups, or how activities are adapted as dementia progresses. This is one of the most important questions to ask on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that Montessori-based and life-history-led individual activities, rather than group entertainment, produce the strongest improvements in wellbeing for people living with dementia. Homes that rely primarily on group sessions may underserve residents with more advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical day for a resident who is not able to join group sessions. Can they give you a specific example from the past week? If the answer focuses only on group activities or is vague, that is a gap worth exploring further before you decide."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Requires Improvement at the January 2024 inspection. This is the one domain where Penn House did not achieve a Good rating, and it is a significant finding. Well-led covers management culture, staff support, governance systems, and how the home handles accountability. The published summary names Mr Fayed Hussain as the registered manager and Mr Lee David Smith as the nominated individual, but does not detail what specific concerns led to the Requires Improvement rating or what action has been taken since. Four of the home's five domains are now rated Good, which suggests the care being delivered has improved, but the leadership and governance foundations still needed work at the time of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership quality is cited positively in 23.4% of family reviews, and the Good Practice evidence identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of whether a home's quality trajectory continues upward or reverses. A Requires Improvement in Well-led, even alongside Good ratings elsewhere, is a flag worth taking seriously. It can mean governance systems are not robust enough to catch problems early, that staff are not fully supported or empowered to raise concerns, or that quality assurance processes are not embedded. Communication with families, which appears positively in 11.5% of our review data, often suffers when management oversight is weak. Ask the manager directly what the specific findings were and what has changed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes with unstable or less visible leadership show higher rates of care quality decline over time, and that staff who feel they cannot raise concerns without repercussion are less likely to report early warning signs of deteriorating care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what did the inspection find that led to Requires Improvement in Well-led, and what specific changes have been made since January 2024? A confident, specific answer is a good sign. A vague or defensive response suggests the underlying issues may not yet be resolved. Also ask whether there has been any change in registered manager or senior staff since the inspection."}

  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 over 65 as well as younger adults who need residential support. They also provide specialist dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on Penn House includes dementia care among its specialisms, supporting residents at various stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.