The Coach House Care Home

What families say

Based on 8 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare72
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-14 · Report published 2023-04-14 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. No specific concerns were raised. The home's specialisms in dementia and mental health mean safety systems need to be particularly robust, but the published summary does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, falls management, or medicine administration processes.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, but it does not tell you everything Sarah needs to know before placing a parent with dementia here. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, and that agency reliance can undermine the consistency that people with dementia depend on. The published findings do not record night staffing numbers or agency usage rates for The Coach House, so these are questions you need to ask directly. Cleanliness matters to 24.3% of families in our review data, and while no concerns were raised here, you should look at communal areas and bedrooms on your visit rather than relying on the rating alone.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University review highlights that learning from incidents, including falls and near-misses, is one of the clearest markers of a genuinely safe care home. Ask the manager how many falls occurred in the last three months and what changes were made as a result.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how many staff are on duty on the dementia unit after 8pm on a typical weekday, and how many of those are permanent employees rather than agency staff. If they cannot tell you quickly and specifically, that is itself informative."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans reflect each person's individual needs, and whether the home manages healthcare well, including GP access and medicines. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies a commitment to dementia-specific training, but the published summary does not record what that training consists of or how recently staff completed it.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality is mentioned positively in 20.9% of our family review data, and care planning in 12.7% of dementia-specific reviews. Neither is described in specific terms in the published findings for The Coach House. A Good rating for Effective means inspectors were broadly satisfied, but the detail that matters to you, whether your dad's particular dietary needs would be understood, whether his care plan would be reviewed with you regularly, and whether staff on the night shift have dementia training, is not recorded here. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans function as living documents only when families are involved in reviewing them. Ask when you visit whether you would be invited to those reviews.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that regular GP access and proactive health monitoring, rather than reactive responses to deterioration, are key markers of effective care for people with dementia. Ask how the home flags changes in health to the GP and to you as a family member.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is updated when a resident's needs change. Specifically, ask whether families are contacted before a review or only afterwards, and how much notice you would receive."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This is the domain that most directly captures whether staff are kind, whether your parent would be treated with dignity, and whether their independence would be supported. No concerns were raised. However, the published summary contains no specific inspector observations, no quotes from people who live here, and no examples of caring interactions being recorded.","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 appear in 55.2%. A Good rating in Caring is the domain result families most want to see, and The Coach House achieved it. But without recorded observations or quotes, you cannot tell from the published findings alone whether staff use your dad's preferred name, whether they knock before entering his room, or whether they move at his pace rather than their own. Good Practice research is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as what is said, especially for people with advanced dementia. These things are observable on a visit in ways that no rating can fully convey.","evidence_base":"Person-led care, as described in the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review, requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. For people with dementia who cannot easily advocate for themselves, this knowledge is what prevents indignity.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas when they think no one is evaluating them. Do they make eye contact, use names, and pause? Or do tasks come first and people second? This is more revealing than any formal meeting with the manager."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This covers whether your parent would have a meaningful life at the home, including activities tailored to their interests, whether the home responds to individual preferences and complaints, and whether end-of-life planning is in place. No specific activities, engagement examples, or complaint response processes are described in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of our family review data, and resident happiness and contentment in 27.1%. A Good rating in Responsive is encouraging, but the published findings do not tell you whether activities at The Coach House would be meaningful for your mum specifically, whether there is one-to-one engagement for people who cannot join group sessions, or whether the home has a Montessori-based or structured daily routine approach. The Good Practice evidence base is particularly strong on this point: group activities alone are not sufficient for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Individual, purposeful engagement, including familiar domestic tasks, sensory activities, or life-history work, makes a measurable difference to wellbeing.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found consistent evidence that individualised, one-to-one activity is more effective than group activities alone for people with dementia, particularly those who are no longer able to participate in structured group settings.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you what happened last Tuesday specifically, not a general programme on a noticeboard. Ask how a resident who stays in their room or becomes distressed in groups is supported to have meaningful engagement during the day."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. A named registered manager, Miss Laura Elizabeth Holland, is recorded, as is a nominated individual, Mr Brett Roy Bernard, from the provider organisation Choicecare 2000 Limited. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with oversight, governance, and culture. No concerns about leadership were raised. The published summary does not include detail about manager tenure, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how the home responds to complaints from families.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership appear in 23.4% of our family review data, and communication with families in 11.5%. The presence of a named, registered manager is a basic but important safeguard. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory: homes where the manager has been in post for two or more years tend to maintain or improve their ratings, while frequent management changes often precede decline. The published findings do not tell you how long Miss Holland has been in post, or how staff feel about speaking up when something goes wrong. These are questions worth asking, because the answers tell you about the culture underneath the rating.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that bottom-up staff empowerment, where carers feel safe to raise concerns without fear, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. A rating tells you where a home is; the culture tells you where it is heading.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long she has been in post at The Coach House, and ask what she has changed since she arrived. A manager who can answer that question with specific examples is one who is actively shaping the culture rather than managing the paperwork."}

  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 specialises in caring for people with dementia and those experiencing mental health conditions. Their structured approach helps residents feel supported through challenging times.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team provides specialist nursing care that adapts to each person's changing needs. Their approach combines clinical knowledge with patience and understanding. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.