Priory Gardens Care Home

What families say

Relatives describe seeing their family members looking healthier and taking pride in their appearance again. The home organises singalongs, celebrations, and pet visits that give residents reasons to join in and connect with others.

Based on 9 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 2019-03-16 · Report published 2019-03-16 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Priory Gardens was rated Good for Safety at its December 2020 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published inspection text does not include specific observations about night staffing ratios, falls logging, or agency staff usage at this home. No safety concerns were recorded as current. The home had previously held an Inadequate rating, so a Good rating in Safety marks a meaningful recovery.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors did not find active risks when they visited, but it tells you little about the specific night-time staffing arrangements that matter most for a 72-bed home with a dementia specialism. The Good Practice evidence review (Leeds Beckett, 2026) identified night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and high agency use as a factor that undermines consistency of care. Neither of those is addressed in the published findings here, so you need to ask directly. The previous Inadequate rating suggests problems existed not long ago. Knowing what specifically changed, and who led that change, will help you judge whether the improvement is stable.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that safety incidents in care homes cluster disproportionately on night shifts, where staffing is thinnest and oversight is lowest. Homes that log and openly review falls and incidents as a matter of routine show fewer repeat incidents over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff appear on night shifts across the dementia unit specifically."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. This domain covers care planning, dementia-specific training, nutrition and hydration, and access to healthcare professionals including GPs. The published text does not include specific detail on training completion rates, care plan content, or how frequently plans are reviewed with families. Dementia is listed as a registered specialism, so inspectors would have considered whether staff training and care approaches reflect that. No concerns were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Dementia care sits squarely in this domain, and a Good rating is encouraging, but the absence of specific published detail makes it hard to know what that looks like day to day for your parent. Our family review data shows that dementia-specific care is mentioned in 12.7% of positive reviews, often in terms of staff understanding the person rather than just the diagnosis. The Good Practice evidence base (61 studies, March 2026) identifies care plans as living documents that should change as a person's needs change, with families actively involved in reviews. Ask whether you would be invited to contribute to your parent's care plan and how often it is formally updated.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that care homes where staff receive structured, dementia-specific training (beyond general awareness) show measurably better outcomes in reducing distressed behaviour and supporting independence in daily tasks. General good-practice certification alone is not sufficient.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia-specific training staff on the unit have completed in the past 12 months, and whether that training covered non-verbal communication and responding to distressed behaviour, not just medication and moving and handling."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Priory Gardens was rated Good for Caring at its December 2020 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether people are supported to remain as independent as possible. The published inspection text does not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they are treated, or specific examples of dignity practice. No concerns in this domain were recorded. A Good rating here, following a previous Inadequate, suggests that inspectors observed a positive change in how staff relate to the people who live here.","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, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are the things families feel most acutely when they visit and, for people with dementia who cannot always report their own experience, observable staff behaviour is one of the clearest indicators of quality. The inspection found no concerns in this domain, but without specific observations published, you need to see it for yourself. Watch how staff speak to residents in corridors when they think no one important is watching. That is the most reliable signal available to you.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication for people with advanced dementia. Staff who make eye contact, move at a calm pace, and use touch appropriately produce measurably lower levels of distressed behaviour than those who do not, regardless of formal training status.","watch_out":"When you visit, sit in a communal area for at least 20 minutes without the manager present. Notice whether staff address residents by their preferred name, whether they crouch to eye level when speaking to someone seated, and whether they move with or without urgency."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the December 2020 inspection. This domain covers activities, engagement, whether care reflects individual preferences and histories, and end-of-life planning. The published text does not describe specific activities programmes, one-to-one engagement for people with advanced dementia, or how the home approaches end-of-life care. No concerns were recorded in this domain. For a 72-bed home with a dementia specialism, responsiveness to individual need is particularly significant, as residents' capacity and preferences can change quickly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities engagement in 21.4%. For people with dementia, the research is clear that generic group activities are not sufficient; what matters is whether there is structured one-to-one engagement for those who cannot join in groups. The Leeds Beckett evidence review highlights Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks as particularly effective for maintaining a sense of purpose. The published findings do not confirm whether Priory Gardens offers this level of individual tailoring. Ask specifically, because a seated exercise class three times a week is not the same as meaningful daily engagement for your parent.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identified that people with moderate to advanced dementia who receive regular, individually tailored one-to-one activity show lower rates of distressed behaviour and greater contentment than those in group-only programmes. Everyday tasks such as folding laundry, watering plants, or sorting items provide both stimulation and a sense of contribution.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (not the manager) to describe what would happen for your parent on a typical Tuesday afternoon if they were unable or unwilling to join a group session. If the honest answer is that they would sit in a chair, that tells you something important."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Priory Gardens was rated Good for Well-led at its December 2020 inspection, having previously held an Inadequate rating. A named registered manager, Miss Imogen Rose Bailey, and a nominated individual, Ms Anna Gretchen Selby, are recorded. The published text does not describe the manager's tenure, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents. The improvement from Inadequate to Good across all domains in a single inspection cycle is notable and suggests significant leadership effort, but the stability of that improvement over time is an open question given the age of the findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is mentioned in 23.4% of positive family reviews, often in terms of responsiveness and communication with families. The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes: homes where managers stay, staff feel empowered to speak up, and governance is treated as a genuine learning tool rather than a paperwork exercise tend to maintain their ratings over time. The published findings confirm a structure is in place but do not tell you how embedded that culture is. Given that the inspection was in December 2020, one important question is whether the same manager is still in post.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that management stability is one of the most consistent predictors of care quality trajectory. Homes that experienced a manager change in the 12 months before or after inspection showed greater variability in subsequent ratings than those with stable leadership.","watch_out":"Ask whether Miss Imogen Rose Bailey is still the registered manager and how long she has been in post. Then ask how many senior care staff have left in the past 12 months. High turnover at senior level often precedes quality decline even when a home holds a Good rating."}

  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 Priory Gardens cares for adults over and under 65, with particular experience supporting people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team understand how dementia affects daily life, structuring activities and routines that help residents feel secure and engaged. Staff work to maintain dignity and offer choices wherever possible. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.