The Mews Care Home

What families say

Families describe staff throughout the home as pleasant and approachable. Management and carers greet visitors immediately on arrival, taking time to help everyone feel comfortable during those first anxious moments.

Based on 3 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth60
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness62
• Activities & engagement58
• Food quality57
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness58

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-12-02 · Report published 2023-12-02 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for safety at the December 2023 inspection, an improvement on the previous Requires Improvement. This indicates inspectors were satisfied that risks were being managed, medicines were handled appropriately, and staffing was sufficient at the time of the visit. The home supports people with complex needs including dementia and physical disabilities, which places significant demands on safe care practice. Specific details about falls management, infection control observations, or night staffing ratios are not available without the full inspection text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a previous Requires Improvement is reassuring u2014 it tells you that whatever the inspectors found concerning before, the home has addressed it to a standard they were satisfied with. However, for families with a parent living with dementia, safety is most at risk at night and during staff changeovers, and our family review data shows that 14% of families specifically mention staff attentiveness as a key concern. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that night staffing ratios are where safety most often slips in homes with complex caseloads. You should not assume a Good rating means every shift is equally well staffed u2014 ask specifically about nights.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (2026) found that safety incidents in care homes are disproportionately concentrated in night hours and during periods of high agency staff use u2014 two factors that rarely appear prominently in headline inspection ratings.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask the home manager: 'How many staff are on duty overnight on the dementia unit, and what proportion of those shifts are covered by permanent staff rather than agency?' If they cannot give you a specific number confidently, ask why."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness, which covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutritional care. The home lists dementia as a specialism alongside learning disabilities and physical disabilities, suggesting structured staff training is expected across multiple disciplines. A Good rating here indicates inspectors were satisfied that staff had the knowledge and skills to deliver appropriate care and that healthcare needs were being met. No specific examples of training content, GP access arrangements, or care plan quality are available without the full inspection report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent living with dementia, effectiveness is about whether staff truly understand the condition u2014 not just the basics, but how to communicate when words become difficult, how to manage distress without medication, and how to adapt care as needs change. Our family review data shows that dementia-specific care quality is cited in 12.7% of positive reviews, and food quality u2014 often underestimated u2014 appears in 20.9%. The Good Practice evidence base consistently finds that care plans only improve outcomes when they are treated as living documents, reviewed regularly with family input. Ask how often your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed and whether you would be included in that conversation.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (2026) found that care plan quality u2014 specifically whether plans are regularly updated, personalised, and co-produced with families u2014 is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes for people living with dementia in residential settings.","watch_out":"Ask the home: 'How often are care plans reviewed, and how would you involve me as a family member in that process?' A good answer will include a specific timeframe and a named point of contact, not a vague promise of 'regular' reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for caring, which covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and the preservation of independence. This is the domain most directly connected to what families tell us matters most u2014 our review data shows staff warmth (57.3% weight) and compassion and dignity (55.2% weight) are by far the most important themes for families choosing a home. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that residents were being treated with respect and kindness at the time of the inspection. Without the full report, no direct observations of staff behaviour, resident testimony, or examples of dignity in practice are available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important factor in our family review data u2014 and it is also the hardest thing to measure from a rating alone. A Good caring rating means inspectors saw enough to be satisfied, but an inspection visit is a snapshot, often on a single day. The Good Practice evidence base emphasises that non-verbal communication matters just as much as verbal for people with dementia u2014 whether a staff member crouches to eye level, uses a calm tone, or notices a resident's distress without being told. These micro-moments define your parent's daily experience and are invisible in any report. Your visit is the only way to assess this.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that person-centred caring behaviours u2014 including using preferred names, making eye contact, and responding without rushing u2014 have a direct positive effect on wellbeing for people with dementia, and these behaviours cannot be reliably inferred from inspection ratings alone.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit quietly in a communal area for at least 15 minutes without talking to staff. Watch how staff interact with residents passing in the corridor u2014 do they greet them by name, make eye contact, and pause to engage? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? This tells you more than any rating."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness, which covers how well the home tailors care to individuals, the quality of its activity programme, how it handles complaints, and whether end-of-life care is planned in advance. The home supports people across a wide range of needs, which means responsiveness requires genuine individual assessment rather than a one-size approach. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with these arrangements. No specific detail about the activity programme, individual engagement plans, or end-of-life planning practices is available without the full inspection report.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, responsiveness is the difference between a home that keeps them safe and one that gives them a life. Our family review data shows resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive reviews and activities in 21.4% u2014 families notice when their parent is engaged versus when they are sitting unstimulated. The Good Practice evidence base is particularly clear that for people with advanced dementia who cannot join group activities, one-to-one engagement is essential and often absent. A Good rating does not tell you whether the activity programme includes your parent specifically u2014 or whether someone will sit with them individually if they cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (2026) found that Montessori-based and everyday-task-focused individual engagement significantly reduces distress in people with moderate to advanced dementia u2014 and that homes rated Good for responsiveness vary considerably in whether they apply these approaches individually or only at a group level.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator: 'If my parent cannot join group activities because of their dementia, what would happen for them on a typical afternoon?' A strong answer will describe a named member of staff, a specific type of one-to-one engagement, and a genuine sense that this is planned rather than improvised."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Well-Led at the December 2023 inspection u2014 a significant improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating in this domain. This indicates inspectors found evidence of stable, accountable leadership with systems in place to monitor quality and drive improvement. The fact that the home has improved across all five domains simultaneously suggests a period of purposeful leadership change rather than piecemeal fixes. Without the full inspection report, the specific governance arrangements, management tenure, or staff culture evidence cannot be confirmed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a home's quality trajectory u2014 and a previous Requires Improvement followed by an improvement to Good across all domains is genuinely encouraging. It tells you that someone in charge noticed things were not right and acted. Our family review data shows that 11.5% of positive reviews cite communication with families as a key strength, and management visibility matters. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that the best homes are those where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear u2014 a culture that starts at the top. Ask how long the current manager has been in post and what specific changes they made after the previous inspection.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that leadership stability u2014 specifically manager tenure of more than two years u2014 is one of the most reliable predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes, and that bottom-up staff empowerment is a consistent feature of high-performing services.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: 'How long have you been in post, and what were the main changes you made after the previous inspection?' A confident, specific answer about what was wrong and what was fixed is a very positive sign. Vagueness or defensiveness about the previous rating is a reason to probe further."}

  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 Mews provides care for adults both under and over 65, including those living with dementia, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home's approach centers on really listening to each person and ensuring they feel heard and cared for throughout their stay. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.