The Hermitage Residential Home

What families say

Families mention that staff here are willing to help and stay proactive about resident needs. The care team seems to understand that small things matter — responding promptly when someone needs assistance or just wants a chat.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement42
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership70
• Resident happiness62

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-03-01 · Report published 2023-03-01 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that risks to residents were being identified and managed, that medicines were handled appropriately, and that staffing levels were sufficient to meet needs at the time of the visit. The home had previously been rated Inadequate, so reaching Good in Safety represents a meaningful turnaround. However, the published inspection summary does not include specific observations about night staffing ratios, falls management, or infection control practices.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good in Safety tells you that at the point of inspection, your parent was not considered to be at risk due to poor practice. However, 57% of families in DCC review data cite staff attentiveness as a primary concern u2014 and attentiveness looks very different at 2am than it does during a daytime inspection visit. Good Practice evidence from the Leeds Beckett rapid review is clear: night staffing is where safety is most likely to slip, particularly in homes with dementia residents who may become distressed or fall overnight. Because the published report does not detail night staffing numbers or agency staff reliance, you should ask these questions directly before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research / Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance as two of the strongest predictors of safety failures in care homes supporting people with dementia.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask: 'How many staff are on duty between 10pm and 6am, and are they permanent members of your team or agency workers?' A home that cannot answer this confidently is one to probe further."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good, indicating inspectors were satisfied that staff had the skills and knowledge to meet residents' needs, that care planning was in place, and that residents' health was being monitored appropriately. The home specialises in dementia and mental health conditions, which requires specific training. Food and nutrition also fall within this domain, and the Good rating suggests basic standards were met. Specific detail about training content, care plan review cycles, or GP access frequency is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care setting is not just about ticking training boxes u2014 it is about whether staff understand your parent as an individual and adapt their approach as needs change. DCC family review data shows that 12.7% of families specifically mention dementia-appropriate care as a driver of their positive reviews, and that food quality u2014 a surprisingly reliable indicator of genuine care culture u2014 is mentioned by over 20% of reviewers. A Good rating here is reassuring, but you should ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) to understand whether it reads as a document about a real person or a compliance checklist.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as 'living documents' u2014 they should be updated after every significant change in a person's condition, not just at annual review. Homes where plans are reviewed reactively rather than proactively are more likely to miss deterioration in people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How often is my parent's care plan reviewed, and would I be invited to contribute to that review?' A home where families are included in care planning tends to deliver better individualised care."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good, which is the domain families typically weight most heavily. Inspectors would have observed interactions between staff and residents and assessed whether dignity, respect, and independence were being upheld during the January 2023 visit. The published summary does not include direct quotes from residents or family members, which limits the specificity of what can be said. The home's specialisms in dementia and mental health mean caring practices need to go beyond verbal communication.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth and compassion are the two highest-weighted themes in DCC family reviews, together accounting for over 55% of what families care about most. A Good in Caring is the right foundation u2014 but what families consistently describe in positive reviews is not just politeness, it is whether staff know their parent as a person: their preferred name, their past, what makes them laugh, what upsets them. Good Practice research is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal for people with advanced dementia, and that unhurried, person-led interactions are associated with significantly better wellbeing outcomes. Watch for how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas when they think no one is observing.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that person-led care u2014 where staff genuinely know and respond to individual preferences and histories u2014 produces measurably better emotional wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than task-focused care delivered warmly.","watch_out":"During your visit, notice whether staff use your parent's preferred name unprompted, and whether interactions in corridors or communal areas feel unhurried and genuinely engaged u2014 or whether staff are focused on the next task."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Requires Improvement u2014 the only domain that did not reach Good. This is the area covering how well the home tailors its care to individuals, including activities, engagement, and responsiveness to personal preferences. This is a significant concern for a home that specialises in dementia care, where meaningful occupation and stimulation are not optional extras but a core part of managing wellbeing. The published inspection summary does not detail what specific shortfalls were identified, which makes it difficult to assess how serious the gaps are or what has been done to address them since the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"In DCC family reviews, resident happiness u2014 which reflects how settled, engaged, and content people appear u2014 is cited by 27% of reviewers as a key factor in their assessment. Activities and engagement are cited by over 21%. For someone with dementia, boredom and under-stimulation are not minor inconveniences u2014 they are associated with increased agitation, faster cognitive decline, and reduced quality of life. Good Practice research highlights that activities need to be individually tailored, not just group programmes. People who cannot join group activities still need one-to-one engagement, and everyday meaningful tasks u2014 folding, sorting, tending plants u2014 can be as valuable as formal activities. This is the area where The Hermitage needs to demonstrate it has improved since the January 2023 inspection.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research / Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identifies Montessori-based and individual-task approaches as having strong evidence for improving quality of life in people with dementia u2014 and notes that group-only activity programmes leave the most cognitively impaired residents without meaningful occupation.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities schedule for the past two weeks u2014 not a future plan, the actual record. Then ask: 'What happens for residents who cannot join group activities? Who is responsible for one-to-one engagement, and how is that recorded?' If the answer is vague, this remains an unresolved concern."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good, with a named registered manager (Ms Priya Lisa Hathi) and a nominated individual in place. The home is operated by Sonic Platinum Ltd. Given the home's trajectory from Inadequate to Good, the current management team has overseen a meaningful improvement in practice. A Good Well-led rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that governance systems, staff oversight, and accountability processes were functioning. The published summary does not detail the manager's tenure, staff retention rates, or specific examples of how the home learns from incidents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. DCC family review data shows that 23.4% of families specifically mention visible, responsive management as a driver of confidence. Good Practice research is unambiguous: homes where the registered manager is known to staff, visible on the floor, and creates a culture where staff can raise concerns tend to deliver consistently better care. The improvement from Inadequate to Good is genuinely encouraging u2014 but the question for families is whether that improvement is embedded or fragile. Ask how long the current manager has been in post, and whether staffing has stabilised since the previous inspection.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement u2014 and notes that homes which improve rapidly under new management can regress if that manager leaves or if occupancy growth outpaces staffing capacity.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How long has the current registered manager been in post, and has the staffing team been stable over the past year?' A home that has seen frequent management or staffing changes since the inspection may not have fully embedded the improvements inspectors observed."}

  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 cares for people over 65 with dementia and mental health conditions. Their team works with residents who need support with daily living while managing these complex conditions.. Gaps or open questions remain on While The Hermitage specialises in dementia care, specific details about their approach aren't widely shared. They support residents living with dementia alongside their general care for older adults. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.