The Croft Residential Home

What families say

Visitors describe finding their relatives settled and content here, with a sense that the atmosphere itself contributes to wellbeing. The staff's passion for their work shows through in everyday interactions, creating an environment where residents feel valued and cared for.

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth85
• Compassion & dignity88
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement80
• Food quality65
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership85
• Resident happiness78

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-03-11 · Report published 2020-03-11 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Croft Residential Home was rated Good for safety at its January 2020 inspection. This rating indicates that inspectors found adequate staffing, appropriate medicines management, and satisfactory infection control arrangements in place at the time. The published summary does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, or falls management practices. No concerns or enforcement actions relating to safety were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find significant gaps, but it is not the same as Outstanding. For a 24-bed home specialising in dementia, the details that matter most to you are how many staff are present overnight and how much the team relies on agency cover. Good Practice research consistently highlights that night staffing is where safety is most likely to slip, and that frequent changes of unfamiliar faces can increase anxiety and distress in people living with dementia. The published report does not answer these questions, so you will need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the clearest predictors of inconsistent care quality, particularly in homes with a dementia specialism, where familiarity and routine are protective factors.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota for the night shift, not the template. Count how many of those names are permanent employees and how many are agency workers."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effective at the January 2020 inspection. This indicates that inspectors were satisfied that staff had appropriate training and skills, that care plans reflected individual needs, and that residents had access to healthcare professionals. The home specialises in dementia care, so dementia-specific training would have been assessed as part of this domain. No specific detail about training content, GP access frequency, or care plan review cycles is recorded in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here is a reasonable baseline, but for a dementia specialist home you want to go beyond the rating and understand what dementia training actually involves. Our review data shows that dementia-specific care quality is a concern for families in 12.7% of positive reviews, meaning families notice and value it when staff clearly understand the condition. The Good Practice evidence base tells us that care plans work best when they are treated as living documents, updated after any significant change in your parent's health or behaviour, and when families are actively involved in reviewing them.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that regular, structured review of care plans with family involvement is one of the strongest predictors of person-centred dementia care, particularly as cognitive needs change over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: what specific dementia training do staff complete, how recently was it updated, and how often is your parent's care plan formally reviewed? Request to see the format of a care plan (with personal details removed) to judge whether it reads as genuinely individual or as a standard template."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Caring was rated Outstanding at the January 2020 inspection, the highest possible rating. This is the domain most directly tied to how your parent would feel day to day: whether staff are kind, whether privacy is respected, and whether your parent's independence is actively supported. An Outstanding rating in Caring requires inspectors to find clear and specific evidence across all of these areas, not just general compliance. This was the joint strongest domain for the home alongside Responsive and Well-led.","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 together account for a further 55.2%. An Outstanding Caring rating is the most direct signal the inspection system can give you that what families value most was genuinely present when inspectors visited. The Good Practice evidence base also highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia, and Outstanding Caring ratings are only given when inspectors see staff actively attentive to these cues. The main uncertainty is whether this culture has been maintained in the five years since the inspection.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know each resident as an individual including their history, preferences, and communication style, is the most consistent predictor of wellbeing in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"On your visit, pay attention to how staff address your parent during an introduction: do they ask what name your parent prefers, and do they make unhurried eye contact? These small behaviours are among the most reliable indicators of a genuinely caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Outstanding at the January 2020 inspection. This domain covers whether care is tailored to individuals, whether activities are meaningful and varied, and whether the home responds well to changing needs including at the end of life. An Outstanding rating here indicates inspectors found specific evidence that the home does more than follow a standard programme and actively shapes care and activity around each person. The published summary does not describe specific activities or individual examples in detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for a significant share of what families comment on in our review data: activities are mentioned in 21.4% of positive reviews and resident happiness in 27.1%. An Outstanding Responsive rating tells you that inspectors saw real evidence of individualised engagement rather than just a group activity board. Good Practice research highlights that for people with more advanced dementia, one-to-one engagement and familiar everyday tasks, such as folding, sorting, or simple cooking activities, are more beneficial than group sessions alone. Ask specifically what happens for your parent on a day when they do not feel like joining a group.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities significantly reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia, compared with group-only activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity records for a resident with similar needs to your parent, covering the previous two weeks. Check whether there is evidence of one-to-one time on days when group activities did not take place, and whether the records show genuine variety or the same repeated sessions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Outstanding at the January 2020 inspection. The home is run by Croft Residential Limited, with a registered manager and a nominated individual named on the registration. An Outstanding well-led rating requires inspectors to find clear evidence of a positive staff culture, robust governance systems, and leadership that is visible and accountable to both staff and residents. This rating, combined with the improvement from Good at the previous inspection, suggests a home with active and improving leadership at the time of the assessment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and communication with families account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews in our data respectively. An Outstanding well-led rating is the inspection system's strongest signal that the manager is genuinely in charge of quality, not just administration. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the clearest predictors of sustained quality: homes where the manager has been in post for several years, and where staff feel able to raise concerns, consistently perform better over time. Given that the inspection was in January 2020, the tenure of the current manager and team is one of your most important questions.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, empowering leadership, where staff feel confident to raise concerns without fear, showed significantly better outcomes for people living with dementia than homes with frequent management changes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post, and ask one or two care staff the same question. If the current manager was not the registered manager in January 2020, ask what has changed and how the Outstanding culture has been maintained."}

  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 Croft provides residential care for adults over 65, including those living with dementia. The home maintains health protocols including infection control procedures.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the caring approach of the staff becomes especially important. The team understands how to create moments of joy and connection, whether through special visits from therapy animals or other engaging activities. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.