Dementia Care Home

St Winifreds Care Home

236 London Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 9PP

Nursing homes, Residential homes

At a Glance

The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.

DCC Family Score
68/ 100
Weighted from family reviews
Dementia SpecialismConfirmed

Nursing homes, Residential homes

Families Rate The Staff72 / 100

Staff warmth score

“Well Looked After”65%

of reviewers answered yes

Good to know

  • Registered beds59
  • SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia, Physical disabilities
  • Last inspected2021-01-14

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The Evidence

What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.

Section 01

What families say

Families often comment on the friendly atmosphere when they visit. Staff are described as warm and approachable, making an effort to chat with both residents and their visitors. The home runs regular activities and encourages families to get involved through dedicated family days.

The eight family priority themes

  • Staff warmth72
  • Compassion & dignity72
  • Cleanliness68
  • Activities & engagement42
  • Food quality55
  • Healthcare68
  • Management & leadership72
  • Resident happiness65
Section 02

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-01-14

  • Is this home safe?

    Good
    St Winifreds Care Centre was rated Good for safety at its December 2020 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published summary does not include specific detail on staffing ratios, night cover, or agency staff use. No safety concerns or enforcement actions are recorded in the published findings. The home had improved from a previous Requires Improvement rating, which suggests the risks identified earlier had been addressed.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is the care effective?

    Good
    The home was rated Good for Effective at its December 2020 inspection. This domain covers how well staff know and plan for each resident's individual needs, including dementia care, healthcare access, nutrition, and training. St Winifreds lists dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors would have scrutinised whether staff have the knowledge to support people living with dementia. The published summary does not include specific examples of care plan content, GP visit frequency, or the detail of dementia training provided. No concerns in this domain are recorded.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is this home caring?

    Good
    St Winifreds received a Good rating for Caring at its December 2020 inspection. This domain covers how staff treat the people who live there, including dignity, respect, privacy, and whether care feels genuinely person-centred rather than task-focused. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations of staff interactions, named quotes from residents or relatives, or examples of how the home supports independence. No concerns in this domain are recorded, and the improvement from Requires Improvement overall suggests the previous inspection's issues have been resolved.
    Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded
  • Is the home responsive?

    Requires improvement
    The Responsive domain was rated Requires Improvement at the December 2020 inspection. This is the domain that covers how well the home tailors care and daily life to the individual needs of the people who live there, including activities, engagement, and how complaints are handled. This rating means inspectors found specific shortfalls in this area that had not yet been resolved. The published summary does not detail what those shortfalls were, which is a significant gap for families. No detail on activity provision, individual engagement, or complaint handling is included in the published text.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is the home well-led?

    Good
    St Winifreds was rated Good for Well-led at its December 2020 inspection. The home is operated by Nellsar Limited, with Mrs Tracy Ann Wright as registered manager and Mr Martin Barrett as nominated individual. A named leadership structure being in place is a basic but important indicator. The Good rating for Well-led suggests inspectors found the governance, accountability, and culture of the home to be satisfactory. The published summary does not include specific observations on management visibility, staff culture, or how the home learns from incidents. The overall improvement from Requires Improvement is itself a meaningful signal that leadership is functioning.
    Verified by inspector
  • Source: CQC inspection report →

    Section 03

    What the evidence base says

    The home cares for adults of all ages, including younger people under 65 with physical disabilities. They also provide specialist dementia support. For those living with dementia, the home offers dedicated support as part of their specialist services. The team works with residents at different stages of their dementia journey. All areas worth probing directly during a visit.

The DCC Verdict

Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.

68/ 100

DCC Family Score

St Winifreds Care Centre scores 68 out of 100, reflecting a genuine improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating, with solid evidence across safety, care, and leadership, but a significant gap in how well it keeps your parent meaningfully engaged day to day.

Homes in South East typically score 68–82.

The three-lens summary

Lens 01

What families tell us

Families often comment on the friendly atmosphere when they visit. Staff are described as warm and approachable, making an effort to chat with both residents and their visitors. The home runs regular activities and encourages families to get involved through dedicated family days.

Lens 02

What inspectors have recorded

Communication with management seems to vary depending on individual experiences. While some families have found managers supportive during their relative's stay, others have encountered challenges getting their concerns addressed. The responsiveness to care needs, particularly during busy periods, has been inconsistent.

Lens 03

How it sits against good practice

If you're considering St Winifreds, it's worth asking specific questions about their care routines and how they handle different situations throughout the day and night.

DCC Recommendation

Worth a visit

St Winifreds Care Centre, at 236 London Road, Deal, was rated Good overall at its inspection in December 2020, an improvement on its previous Requires Improvement rating. Inspectors found the home met the Good standard across safety, effectiveness, caring, and leadership. The home supports a broad range of needs, including dementia and physical disabilities, across 59 beds, and is run by Nellsar Limited with a named registered manager in post. The one area that needs careful scrutiny is the Responsive domain, which was rated Requires Improvement. This means inspectors were not satisfied with how well the home was meeting people's individual needs, day-to-day engagement, and activity provision. This is the domain most directly linked to your parent's quality of life, not just their safety. On your visit, ask to see four weeks of actual activity records (not the planned schedule), ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot join group activities, and observe whether staff are stopping to talk and engage or moving at pace through tasks. The published summary is brief, so many areas in this report are based on domain ratings rather than specific inspection observations. Use the checklist above to fill the gaps before making your decision.

The three questions to ask when you visit

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In Their Own Words

How St Winifreds Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.

What St Winifreds Care Home says about itself

Finding the right balance between warmth and clinical care

St Winifreds – Expert Care in Deal

When you're looking for care that combines friendliness with proper support, St Winifreds Care Centre in Deal offers a mixed picture worth understanding. The home specialises in supporting people of all ages with physical disabilities and dementia, alongside general care for those over 65. Some families have found real warmth here, while others have raised concerns about consistency.

Care & specialisms

Who they care for

    The home cares for adults of all ages, including younger people under 65 with physical disabilities. They also provide specialist dementia support.

    How they describe their dementia care

    For those living with dementia, the home offers dedicated support as part of their specialist services. The team works with residents at different stages of their dementia journey.

    “If you're considering St Winifreds, it's worth asking specific questions about their care routines and how they handle different situations throughout the day and night.”

    DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.

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