Springbank Nursing Home

What families say

People talk about feeling genuinely included in their loved one's care here. Relatives mention being able to visit whenever they want, including evenings and weekends, and say they're kept informed about changes or concerns. Several families have shared how supported they felt during difficult end-of-life journeys.

Based on 13 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 2019-11-22 · Report published 2019-11-22 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at its last inspection. The published text does not include specific detail about staffing levels, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. The home is registered to provide nursing care, which means registered nurses should be available around the clock, but shift ratios are not stated in the available report. No safety concerns or improvement notices are recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find evidence of unsafe practice at the time of their visit. However, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most often slips in nursing homes, and the published findings say nothing about how many staff are on duty after 8pm. Agency staff reliance is another risk factor the evidence identifies, because unfamiliar staff are less likely to notice subtle changes in your parent's condition. You cannot assess these risks from the published report alone, so a direct conversation with the manager is essential.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are two of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A home that uses a consistent permanent team, even a small one, tends to catch health changes earlier.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template rota. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and specifically ask how many carers and nurses are on duty on the dementia unit between 10pm and 6am."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness at its last inspection. Dementia is listed as a specialism and the home also treats disease and disorder beyond basic personal care, indicating a clinical function. The published inspection text does not describe training programmes, care plan quality, GP access arrangements, or how dietary needs are managed. No concerns about effectiveness were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good effectiveness rating covers a wide range of things: whether staff know how to care for someone with dementia, whether care plans are updated when your parent's needs change, whether a GP can be called quickly, and whether the kitchen can accommodate your parent's preferences or swallowing difficulties. Our Good Practice evidence highlights care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly and co-produced with families. None of this detail is visible in the published report, so you should ask specifically about dementia training content and how frequently care plans are reviewed.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that dementia training which goes beyond basic awareness, covering non-verbal communication, behavioural responses, and person-centred approaches, is associated with measurably better outcomes for people living with dementia in care homes.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (with personal details removed) and ask how recently it was reviewed. Then ask what dementia training staff have completed in the past 12 months and whether it covers responding to distress without using restraint."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for caring at its last inspection. No inspector observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, response to distress, or pace of care are included in the published text. There are no quotes from residents or relatives in the available report. The Good rating indicates inspectors did not observe poor practice, but the published findings do not describe what good practice looked like in this home specifically.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are the things families notice most and care about most. The inspection found no concerns here, which matters, but a Good rating without accompanying observations means you cannot know from the report alone whether staff greet your parent by their preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, or whether they move at your parent's pace. These are things you need to observe yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies non-verbal communication as equally important to verbal communication for people with advanced dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, use gentle touch, and allow silence are demonstrably more effective at reducing distress than those who rely on words alone.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit in a communal area for 20 minutes without announcing your purpose. Watch whether staff initiate conversation with residents, whether they use names, and whether any resident is sitting alone without acknowledgement for a prolonged period."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness at its last inspection. Activities, individual engagement, and end-of-life care planning are not described in the published text. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies some tailoring of care to individual need, but no specific examples are provided. No concerns about responsiveness were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities and meaningful engagement account for 21.4%. Our Good Practice evidence consistently finds that group activities alone are insufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia, and that one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks like folding, gardening, or simple cooking, produces better outcomes. The published report gives no indication of what Springbank does in this area. If your parent has advanced dementia and cannot easily join group sessions, this is the most important question to ask.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-led individual activities, where a person with dementia is given a purposeful role rather than passive entertainment, are associated with reduced agitation and improved mood, even in the later stages of the condition.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to describe what happened yesterday for a resident with moderate dementia who did not join the group activity. If the answer is that they sat in the lounge, ask what one-to-one engagement that person received and who provided it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for leadership at its last inspection. Mrs Lyn Mataranyika is named as the registered manager and Mr Hassan Tharani as the nominated individual, indicating an identifiable leadership structure. The home improved from Requires Improvement to Good, which suggests the management team was able to identify problems and address them. The published text does not describe the manager's tenure, visibility, or how the home involves staff and families in quality improvement.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and communication with families together account for around 35% of what drives positive family reviews in our data. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good is a meaningful signal: it shows the manager can recognise problems and act on them. Our Good Practice evidence highlights leadership stability as a predictor of quality over time. A home that has recently improved can go in either direction depending on whether the manager stays, so it is worth asking directly how long the current manager has been in post and whether they plan to remain.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Homes that experience frequent management turnover tend to regress on quality measures, even after achieving Good ratings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post and whether there have been any significant staff changes in the past 12 months. Also ask how the home collects feedback from families and what it has changed as a result of that feedback."}

  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 with dementia, physical disabilities and complex nursing needs. Their dual registration means residents can move between residential and nursing care without having to relocate.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home's manager holds specialist dementia qualifications, bringing particular expertise to supporting residents with memory loss. This specialist knowledge shapes the approach to care throughout the home. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.