114 Douglas Road Respite

What families say

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth62
• Compassion & dignity62
• Cleanliness62
• Activities & engagement58
• Food quality58
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness60

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-01-04 · Report published 2019-01-04 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Safety at its January 2019 inspection. This domain covers how the home manages risk, staffing levels, medicines, infection control, and safeguarding. No specific inspection observations are available to describe what this looked like in practice. A Good rating in this domain indicates that at the time of inspection no significant safety concerns were identified. The inspection is now over six years old, so current safety practices should be explored directly with the home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but for a 13-bed home with a dementia specialism, the detail behind the rating matters as much as the rating itself. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety can slip u2014 particularly in smaller homes where one staff member may be sole cover. Family review data shows cleanliness and staff attentiveness are among the things families notice and report on most. Because no specific inspection text is available, you cannot know from this report alone how medicines were managed, how falls were recorded, or how many staff were on duty at night. These are questions worth asking directly before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is a consistent marker of safety risk in dementia care settings, as unfamiliar faces increase agitation and reduce the likelihood that subtle changes in a person's condition are noticed in time.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask: how many staff are on duty overnight, and is that ever just one person? Also ask when they last had an unplanned safeguarding referral and what happened as a result u2014 a home that can answer this openly is one that learns from incidents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Effectiveness at its January 2019 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, health monitoring, GP access, nutrition, and whether staff have the skills to meet individual needs. The home lists dementia as a registered specialism, which means it should have relevant expertise in place. Without the full inspection text, no specific evidence about training content, care plan quality, or food provision can be confirmed. Families should treat this as a starting point rather than a detailed assurance.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that supports people with dementia alongside other complex needs, effectiveness is particularly important. Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated whenever your parent's needs change u2014 not just reviewed annually. Family review data shows food quality is one of the eight themes families mention most in positive reviews, often as a proxy for how much the home genuinely cares about the people living there. Because the inspection is from 2019, it is worth asking what dementia training staff have completed recently, and whether care plans are written in your parent's own words and preferences rather than in clinical language.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies regular, meaningful GP access and proactive health monitoring as distinguishing features of high-quality dementia care homes u2014 homes that wait for families to raise concerns rather than monitoring proactively tend to have poorer health outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is structured u2014 does it describe what your parent enjoys, their life history, how they communicate when distressed, and their food preferences? If it reads like a medical form rather than a portrait of a person, ask how that is addressed."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Caring at its January 2019 inspection. This domain captures whether staff treat people with kindness, respect their dignity, and support their independence. A small 13-bed home can offer a more personal, home-like environment than larger settings, but this depends entirely on the individual staff who work there. No specific quotes from residents or relatives, and no direct inspector observations, are available from this inspection. The rating tells us inspectors were satisfied u2014 it does not tell us what they saw.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth and compassion together account for over 112 percentage points of weighting in DCC family review data u2014 they are by far the most important things families notice and describe when recommending a care home. In small homes like this one, the culture is often set by a small number of key individuals, which means consistency depends heavily on low staff turnover. Good Practice research emphasises that for people with dementia, non-verbal communication u2014 tone of voice, unhurried body language, a familiar face u2014 matters as much as what is said. A visit at a busy time of day, such as around lunch or during a personal care period, will tell you more about genuine warmth than any inspection rating can.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care u2014 where staff know a resident's life history, preferred name, and communication style u2014 significantly reduces incidents of distress and agitation in people with dementia, and is a stronger predictor of wellbeing than physical environment alone.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff speak to residents in passing u2014 do they use their preferred name, make eye contact, and stop rather than walk past? An unhurried corridor interaction tells you more about genuine warmth than anything you will be told in a formal tour."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsiveness at its January 2019 inspection. This domain assesses whether the home meets individual needs, offers meaningful activities, responds to complaints, and plans for end-of-life care. A home registered to support people across multiple conditions u2014 dementia, learning disabilities, mental health, physical and sensory impairment u2014 needs to be genuinely flexible in how it responds to diverse needs. No specific detail about the activity programme, individual engagement, or complaint handling is available from the inspection data.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Family review data shows resident happiness and activities engagement are both significant positive drivers when families recommend a care home. For people with dementia, the Good Practice evidence base is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient u2014 one-to-one engagement, particularly for people in more advanced stages who cannot join group settings, is essential for wellbeing. In a 13-bed home, there is both an opportunity and a risk: the small size could mean highly personalised daily life, or it could mean limited resources for varied programming. Ask specifically what happens on a day when the activities coordinator is absent.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks u2014 such as folding laundry, watering plants, or helping to lay the table u2014 provide meaningful activity and continuity of identity for people with dementia, and are more effective for wellbeing than structured entertainment-based programmes.","watch_out":"Ask what one-to-one activities are available for someone who cannot join group sessions u2014 and ask to see the last month's activity log to check whether planned activities actually happened, and whether your parent's specific interests would be reflected in what is offered."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Well-Led at its January 2019 inspection. This domain assesses whether management is visible and accountable, whether staff feel supported to raise concerns, and whether the home uses audits and feedback to improve. Good leadership is particularly important in a small home, where the registered manager often directly shapes the daily culture. Without the full inspection text, no information is available about manager tenure, staff satisfaction, or specific governance arrangements. The rating indicates no significant leadership concerns were found in 2019.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of care quality trajectory u2014 homes where the registered manager has been in post for several years and is known to staff and families tend to sustain quality more reliably than those with frequent management changes. Family review data shows that communication with families is a meaningful driver of confidence in a home. Given this inspection is now over six years old, the current management team may be entirely different from the one assessed. Asking directly how long the current manager has been in post, and how they typically communicate with families, will give you a much more current picture than the inspection rating alone.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear u2014 sometimes called a 'bottom-up' culture u2014 consistently demonstrate better outcomes for residents with dementia than those where governance is top-down and complaint averse.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post, and what is the biggest change you have made since joining? A manager who can answer this specifically and confidently, and who speaks about staff and residents by name, is a stronger signal of good leadership than any formal inspection 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 The service specialises in supporting people with sensory impairments, learning disabilities, and mental health conditions. They're equipped to care for adults with physical disabilities and offer specialist dementia support.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the service provides specialist care tailored to individual needs. The team understands the importance of creating a supportive environment that helps maintain independence and dignity. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.