Springwood

What families say

Reviewers describe the staff as consistently kind and friendly in their daily interactions. There's a real focus on making both residents and visiting families feel comfortable and included in the life of the home.

Based on 11 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 quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-07-05 · Report published 2018-07-05 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Springwood was rated Good for safety at its April 2025 inspection. The published report does not include specific inspector observations on staffing ratios, falls management, medicines administration, or infection control. The Good rating indicates inspectors found no significant safety concerns at the time of the visit, but the evidence base available to families is thin.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the absence of specific published detail means you cannot yet confirm what safe looks like day to day at Springwood. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes, yet there is no published information here about overnight staffing numbers across the 40 beds. Agency staff use is another key risk marker: homes with high agency reliance tend to have less consistent, less familiar care. You will need to ask these questions directly on your visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are two of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care. Neither is covered in the published findings for Springwood.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from last week, not the planned template. Count how many permanent carers versus agency staff were on duty overnight, and ask what the minimum staffing level is after 10pm across the whole home."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Springwood was rated Good for effectiveness at its April 2025 inspection. The published report does not contain specific findings on care plan quality, dementia training content, GP access arrangements, or how food quality and dietary needs are managed. The Good rating confirms inspectors were satisfied with practice in this domain, but no supporting detail is available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home covers the things that shape your parent's daily wellbeing: whether their care plan reflects who they actually are, whether staff know enough about dementia to support them well, and whether food is genuinely good rather than just nutritionally adequate. Food quality appears in 20.9% of positive family reviews in DCC data, making it one of the clearer everyday markers of how well a home is run. The published findings for Springwood give no detail on any of these areas, so they remain open questions for your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly with family input, not filed and forgotten. Dementia-specific training content, not just completion, is a key differentiator between homes that manage behaviour with patience and those that rely on routine.","watch_out":"Ask to see an anonymised example of a care plan and ask how often it is reviewed. Then ask what specific dementia training all care staff have completed in the last 12 months and whether it covered non-verbal communication and distress recognition."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Springwood was rated Good for caring at its April 2025 inspection. No specific inspector observations of staff interactions, no resident quotes, and no relative feedback are included in the published report text available. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that care was delivered with appropriate warmth and respect, but families cannot yet see the evidence behind that conclusion.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in DCC review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity together account for 55.2%. These are the qualities families most want to see confirmed. The published findings for Springwood confirm a Good rating in this domain but offer no observations of preferred name use, unhurried pace, or response to distress. This is the area where your own visit matters most. Watch how staff greet your parent when you arrive, whether they make eye contact, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether anyone seems rushed.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction in dementia care. Staff who crouch to eye level, use gentle touch appropriately, and respond calmly to distress produce measurably better outcomes for people living with dementia, regardless of the physical environment.","watch_out":"Arrive unannounced if possible, or at a time the home is not expecting a formal tour. Watch how staff greet your parent and whether they use their preferred name. Notice whether any staff seem to be in a hurry when moving between residents."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Springwood was rated Good for responsiveness at its April 2025 inspection. The published report does not include specific findings on the activity programme, one-to-one engagement for people with advanced dementia, how individual preferences are incorporated into daily life, or how end-of-life care is planned. The Good rating confirms inspectors were satisfied but the detail is not publicly available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness appears in 27.1% of positive family reviews in DCC data, and activities and engagement in 21.4%. These figures reflect how much families care about their parent having a life, not just receiving care. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with advanced dementia: tailored one-to-one engagement, including familiar everyday tasks like folding, sorting, or simple cooking, produces better outcomes. You cannot tell from the published findings whether Springwood offers this. Ask specifically about one-to-one time for residents who cannot join group sessions.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities (folding laundry, handling familiar objects, simple gardening) reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia more reliably than group entertainment-style programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule from the last two weeks, not just the planned template on the wall. Then ask what happens for a resident who is having a difficult day and cannot join the group. How many hours of one-to-one time does the home aim to provide each week for residents with advanced dementia?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Springwood was rated Good for well-led at its April 2025 inspection. The home is operated by SheffCare Limited, with Ms Claire Rintoul named as the Nominated Individual, indicating a formal governance structure is in place. The published report does not include specific findings on management visibility, staff culture, how incidents are learned from, or how families are kept informed. No detail on manager tenure or recent staffing changes is available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality appears in 23.4% of positive family reviews in DCC data, and communication with families in 11.5%. Good Practice research finds that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality over time: homes where the registered manager has been in post for two or more years consistently outperform those with frequent leadership changes. The published findings confirm a named governance structure at Springwood but give no indication of how long the current manager has been in post or what the staff turnover looks like. Ask these questions directly, as they will tell you whether the Good rating reflects a stable, settled home or a snapshot during a period of change.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies bottom-up empowerment as a marker of well-led homes: staff who feel able to raise concerns without fear, and managers who act on those concerns visibly, produce safer and more consistent care than homes where accountability flows only downward.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post at Springwood. Then ask what the staff turnover rate was in the last 12 months and whether there have been any changes to senior leadership since the April 2025 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 Springwood provides care for adults under 65, which can be particularly valuable for families seeking support for younger people with care needs. They also care for older adults and have experience supporting people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home's dementia care approach includes structured daily activities and special events. Staff work to ensure residents living with dementia can participate in meaningful activities alongside their visiting family members. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.