MHA The Fairways – Residential & Dementia Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds60
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Dementia, Mental health conditions, Physical disabilities, Sensory impairment
- Last inspected2019-08-17
- Activities programmeThe home offers impressive facilities including a pool, library, cinema and craft rooms. Families mention the bright, clean environment throughout. Meals get positive mentions too, with good variety and quality that residents appreciate.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Families describe staff who really get to know residents as individuals. They talk about the kindness shown in daily interactions and how quickly their loved ones settled into life here. There's a consistent theme of residents feeling genuinely at home rather than just cared for.
Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10
The eight family priority themes
- Staff warmth55
- Compassion & dignity58
- Cleanliness60
- Activities & engagement52
- Food quality52
- Healthcare58
- Management & leadership42
- Resident happiness55
What inspectors found
Inspected 2019-08-17 · Report published 2019-08-17 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the July 2019 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. No specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, or incident learning was included in the published summary. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement overall, so the Good rating here represents an improvement from the prior inspection. The findings are now more than five years old.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safety is encouraging, particularly given the home had previously required improvement. However, the absence of any specific published detail means you cannot rely on the rating alone to reassure yourself about day-to-day safety. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip in a 60-bed home, and agency reliance is one of the most common factors when things go wrong. You need to ask these questions directly because the inspection findings do not answer them.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that inconsistent staffing, particularly high agency use and reduced night cover, is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, including falls and missed medication.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty overnight across all 60 beds."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the July 2019 inspection. This domain covers how well staff understand and meet people's needs, including care planning, dementia training, access to healthcare professionals, and food quality. No specific observations, examples, or quotes appear in the published summary. The rating alone indicates that inspectors were satisfied with the standard, but the detail behind that judgement is not available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective tells you that inspectors were broadly satisfied with how the home translated its knowledge of each person into daily care. Food quality, which is one of the top eight things families mention in positive reviews (cited in 20.9% of positive reviews in DCC's data), is included within this domain, but no detail about menu choice or mealtime experience was published. Dementia-specific training is also assessed here, and given the home's specialism in dementia care, this is something to explore directly. The evidence base confirms that care plans function best as living documents reviewed with families rather than static records filed on admission.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans which are regularly updated with family input, and which include the person's life history and communication preferences, are significantly associated with better daily wellbeing for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample of how the home records a person's individual preferences, including their preferred name, daily routine, and what helps them feel calm. Ask when care plans were last reviewed and whether family members are routinely invited to those reviews."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the July 2019 inspection. This is the domain that most directly reflects whether staff treat your parent with warmth, dignity, and respect. It covers whether residents are addressed by their preferred names, whether privacy is maintained, and whether people are supported to remain as independent as possible. No inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimony were included in the published summary, so the Good rating is the only evidence available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in DCC's review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. The Good rating here is the most directly relevant finding to what families care about most. Without specific quotes or observations in the published text, however, you cannot know how this rating was reached or whether it still holds. The most reliable thing you can do is visit at an unscheduled time and watch how staff interact with the people who live there in corridors, at mealtimes, and during personal care handovers.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with advanced dementia, and that staff who are trained to read and respond to non-verbal cues produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"When you visit, notice whether staff greet your parent by their preferred name without being prompted, whether they crouch or sit to speak at eye level, and whether they finish what they are doing before moving on rather than talking over someone's head."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the July 2019 inspection. This domain covers whether the home offers meaningful activities, responds to individual preferences, and makes arrangements for end-of-life care. No specific examples of activities, individual engagement programmes, or end-of-life planning appear in the published summary. Given that the home supports people with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, and mental health conditions, the range and adaptability of activities is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement are cited in 21.4% of positive family reviews in DCC's data, and resident happiness (the visible sign of responsive care) appears in 27.1% of positive reviews. The Good rating is positive, but the lack of published detail means you do not know whether the home's activity programme includes one-to-one sessions for people who cannot join group activities, which is essential for people at more advanced stages of dementia. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that group-only activity programmes leave the most vulnerable people without meaningful engagement.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that individualised, one-to-one activity, including familiar household tasks and sensory engagement, produces better outcomes for people with advanced dementia than group programmes alone, particularly where verbal communication has reduced.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the actual activity log for the past two weeks, not the planned schedule. Ask specifically how many sessions were one-to-one and how the programme is adapted for someone who is no longer able to join a group."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the July 2019 inspection. This is the one domain that did not improve to Good, even though the home's overall rating moved up. Well-led covers the quality of management, whether staff feel supported and able to raise concerns, whether the home learns from complaints and incidents, and whether governance systems are robust. No specific detail about what was found to be lacking appears in the published summary. The registered manager at the time of inspection was Mr Adam James Baker.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating for well-led is the most important flag in this report. Management and leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality over time, and 23.4% of positive family reviews specifically mention management as a reason families feel confident. A home can have kind staff and pass a safety inspection while still lacking the governance and leadership structures that keep quality consistent when things get difficult. The inspection is now over five years old, so you need to find out directly what has changed since 2019, who is currently leading the home, and what the most recent quality monitoring shows.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes, and that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear are significantly less likely to have recurring safety or quality failures.","watch_out":"Ask the current registered manager directly: how long have you been in this role, what specific improvements were made following the 2019 Requires Improvement rating for well-led, and can you show me the most recent internal quality audit or family satisfaction survey results?"}
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 Fairways provides specialist support for sensory impairments, dementia, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. They care for adults over 65, with facilities and expertise to meet complex needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home welcomes residents living with dementia, providing specialist care as part of their range of services. Staff work to understand each person's individual needs and preferences. — 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.
DCC Family Score
The Fairways scores in the mid-range because the inspection findings are now over five years old, leaving most themes supported by ratings rather than specific observations or testimony. The Requires Improvement rating for well-led pulls the overall picture down and is the single most important thing to explore on a visit.
Homes in South West typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
Families describe staff who really get to know residents as individuals. They talk about the kindness shown in daily interactions and how quickly their loved ones settled into life here. There's a consistent theme of residents feeling genuinely at home rather than just cared for.
What inspectors have recorded
Staff are described as attentive and respectful, keeping families well informed about any changes. During Covid, families felt confident in how infection control was managed, even when visiting was restricted. The team seems to understand the importance of treating each resident with dignity.
How it sits against good practice
For families facing difficult decisions about care, The Fairways offers both practical support and genuine warmth.
Worth a visit
The Fairways, on Malmesbury Road in Chippenham, was rated Good overall at its last inspection in July 2019, having improved from a previous Requires Improvement rating. Four of the five domains (Safe, Effective, Caring, and Responsive) were rated Good, which represents a meaningful step forward. However, the well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the same inspection, meaning the management and governance picture was not yet fully resolved when inspectors visited. The published report contains almost no specific detail: no inspector observations, no resident or family quotes, and no concrete examples of what the home does well or where it still needs to improve. The inspection findings are now over five years old. A lot can change in a care home in that time, including the registered manager, the staff team, and the quality of daily life. Before making a decision, visit the home in person, ask to speak with the current manager about what has changed since 2019, and request to see the most recent internal quality reports and any feedback from families.
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In Their Own Words
How MHA The Fairways – Residential & Dementia Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Where residents settle quickly and families find real reassurance
Compassionate Care in Chippenham at The Fairways
When families visit The Fairways in Chippenham, they often mention how content their loved ones seem. This South West care home creates an environment where residents feel settled and families notice the difference. The bright, well-maintained spaces and varied daily activities help create a sense of purpose and engagement.
Who they care for
The Fairways provides specialist support for sensory impairments, dementia, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. They care for adults over 65, with facilities and expertise to meet complex needs.
The home welcomes residents living with dementia, providing specialist care as part of their range of services. Staff work to understand each person's individual needs and preferences.
Management & ethos
Staff are described as attentive and respectful, keeping families well informed about any changes. During Covid, families felt confident in how infection control was managed, even when visiting was restricted. The team seems to understand the importance of treating each resident with dignity.
The home & environment
The home offers impressive facilities including a pool, library, cinema and craft rooms. Families mention the bright, clean environment throughout. Meals get positive mentions too, with good variety and quality that residents appreciate.
“For families facing difficult decisions about care, The Fairways offers both practical support and genuine warmth.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
