The Dales Nursing Home

What families say

Families describe the nursing team's approach as consistently patient and respectful, particularly when residents face challenging health conditions. The home has built a reputation for helping residents feel settled and maintain their wellbeing over extended stays.

Based on 13 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-01-10 · Report published 2020-01-10 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2019 inspection. The published summary does not set out the specific concerns that led to this rating. The overall Good rating was maintained because the other four domains were rated Good. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a formal reassessment. The inspection was conducted over four years ago, so the current position on safety cannot be confirmed from published findings alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement in Safe is the finding that should give you the most pause. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing and agency staff reliance as the two areas where safety most commonly slips in homes of this size. Because the published report gives no detail on what the Requires Improvement related to, you cannot assume it has been resolved. Families who contributed to our review data consistently cite staff attentiveness as a core concern, and it overlaps directly with safe practice. The four-year gap since the last full inspection means you are being asked to trust significant progress with limited evidence. Ask the manager directly what the Requires Improvement related to and what specific changes were made.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that night staffing ratios and reliance on unfamiliar agency staff are the most common contributors to safety incidents in care homes for older people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to explain exactly what the Requires Improvement in Safe related to in 2019, what changes were made in response, and whether those changes have been independently verified. Then ask to see last week's actual staffing rota, including night shifts, and count how many names are permanent staff versus agency."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. This domain covers care planning, staff training, healthcare access, and nutrition. The published summary does not include specific observations, quotes, or examples from this domain. The home cares for people over 65, people with dementia, and people with physical disabilities, so effective practice across those three groups requires distinct knowledge and approaches. No information is available on how frequently care plans are reviewed or how families are involved.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective is a baseline reassurance, but the absence of specific detail means you cannot rely on it alone. Our Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents that should change as your parent's needs change, not static paperwork reviewed once a year. For someone with dementia in particular, regular reassessment of communication preferences, daily routines, and food and drink support matters greatly. The Effective domain also covers whether staff have received meaningful dementia training, not just a tick-box online module. Because no specifics are published here, this is an area to probe directly on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that homes where care plans are treated as working documents, updated after any significant change and reviewed with family involvement, show measurably better outcomes for residents with dementia compared with homes where plans are reviewed on a fixed annual schedule.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised is fine) and ask the manager how often plans are formally reviewed. Specifically ask whether families are invited to contribute to reviews and what happens to the plan when your parent has a fall, a health change, or a period of distress."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published summary contains no specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative feedback from this domain. The home's specialism in dementia care means that caring practice should include non-verbal communication and person-led approaches tailored to individuals who may not be able to express their preferences verbally. No evidence of this is available in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single largest driver of positive family reviews in our data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good rating in Caring is encouraging, but without specific observations or quotes from the inspection, it is not possible to know what the inspectors actually saw. For your parent with dementia, the things that matter most are often small: whether staff use their preferred name, whether they move without hurry, whether they recognise and respond to non-verbal signs of discomfort. These are things you can assess yourself on a visit, because they happen in corridors and at mealtimes, not only in formal care settings.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that non-verbal communication skills are as important as verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia, and that homes where staff receive specific training in reading non-verbal cues report lower rates of distress and agitation among residents.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff greet your parent or any resident they pass in a corridor. Do they make eye contact, use the person's name, and pause without rushing? Ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like to spend a morning. If staff cannot answer without checking notes, that tells you something important."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors care to individual needs, the activity programme, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The published summary does not include specific examples of activities, individual adjustments, or end-of-life planning. The home's 31 beds and three specialisms suggest a relatively small, mixed-needs environment where truly individual responsiveness requires deliberate effort.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. A Good rating in Responsive is positive, but the absence of specific evidence means you cannot assess whether activities are genuinely tailored or simply scheduled in a timetable that residents with advanced dementia cannot access. Our Good Practice research is clear that one-to-one engagement matters as much as group activities, particularly for residents who are no longer able to follow a group session. Ask specifically what is available for your parent on a day when they do not want to or cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review identified Montessori-based approaches and everyday household task involvement as among the most effective methods for maintaining engagement and a sense of purpose in people with moderate to advanced dementia, and noted that these are most effective when delivered one-to-one rather than in groups.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator) to describe what happened last Tuesday for a resident with advanced dementia who did not join the group session. If the answer is vague, ask to see the activity records for that resident for the past two weeks."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2019 inspection. The home is registered with a named manager and a nominated individual, indicating a formal governance structure. The published summary does not include specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents. The home has only one recorded inspection, so there is no pattern of consistent Well-led ratings to draw on.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to our Good Practice evidence. A Good rating in Well-led at a single inspection is a positive signal, but it is not the same as a pattern of sustained good leadership. Communication with families is a theme that appears in 11.5% of our positive review data, and families consistently tell us that knowing who to call and feeling that their concerns are taken seriously matters enormously. Because this inspection took place in 2019, you have no way of knowing whether the same manager is still in post or whether the culture has shifted. Ask how long the current registered manager has been in role.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that leadership stability, measured by manager tenure of two or more years, is one of the most consistent predictors of positive care outcomes and staff retention in care homes for older people.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in their current role and whether there have been any significant changes in senior staff since 2019. Also ask how the home handles a complaint from a family member: what happens, who responds, and how quickly. The answer will tell you as much about the culture as any formal 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 Dales provides specialist care for people over 65 with dementia and physical disabilities. Their nursing team has developed particular expertise in end-of-life care.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home accepts residents living with dementia as part of their wider care provision for older adults with complex health needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.