The Old Vicarage

What families say

Families describe how staff take time to understand each person during those crucial first weeks. The team stays in regular contact with relatives, providing updates and working together to help residents feel comfortable in their new surroundings.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement52
• Food quality52
• Healthcare52
• Management & leadership58
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-09-27 · Report published 2018-09-27 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to risk. No specific findings, incident data, or observations are recorded in the available report text. The home is registered for 19 beds with a dementia specialism, which means the safety of people who may be at risk of falls, wandering, or self-neglect is a key consideration. No concerns were raised, but equally no reassuring specifics are available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find immediate concerns about how your parent would be kept safe. However, for a home specialising in dementia, the detail matters enormously. Good Practice research consistently shows that safety problems u2014 particularly falls and medication errors u2014 are most likely to surface at night, when staffing is thinner. With 19 beds, you would reasonably expect at least two staff on overnight, but this is not confirmed in the report. Ask the home directly about night staffing numbers and what happens when a resident becomes distressed after midnight.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research / Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios are the single most predictive factor of safety incidents in small residential care homes u2014 and are rarely scrutinised in routine inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the home: 'How many staff are on duty overnight, and is at least one of them trained specifically in dementia care?' Then ask to see the falls register for the last three months."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. Effectiveness covers training, care planning, health monitoring, GP access, and food quality. No specific findings are recorded u2014 no detail on dementia training content, care plan review cycles, medication competency checks, or how the home monitors weight and nutrition. The Good rating suggests these processes were found to be in place, but without specifics it is not possible to confirm how robust they are in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, 'effective' care means staff know them as an individual, can spot when something is wrong, and act quickly. For someone living with dementia, this is especially critical u2014 changes in behaviour are often the first sign of a urinary infection, pain, or deteriorating health. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should function as living documents reviewed at least monthly and updated whenever something changes, not filed and forgotten. This report gives you no reassurance that the home meets that standard u2014 but it also raises no red flags. Ask to see a care plan on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that in homes rated Good for Effectiveness, the quality of dementia-specific training was the most variable factor u2014 homes with the same rating could differ significantly in whether staff had completed accredited dementia training or only basic awareness modules.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: 'What dementia training have staff completed, and when was it last updated?' Look for a named qualification (e.g. Dementia Care Mapping, City & Guilds, Skills for Care) rather than a general answer about 'in-house training'."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. Caring covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, privacy, and whether your parent is treated as an individual. No direct observations, resident comments, or relative feedback are recorded in the available text. The absence of any concerns in a Good rating is meaningful u2014 inspectors observed nothing that warranted a lower score u2014 but without quotes or specific descriptions it is impossible to convey what interactions actually look like in this home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important factor in family satisfaction with care homes u2014 it accounts for 57.3% of positive reviews in DCC's analysis of over 3,600 family testimonials across the UK. For someone living with dementia who may not be able to articulate how they feel, the quality of moment-to-moment interactions with staff is everything. A Good rating here is encouraging, but the most reliable test remains a surprise visit u2014 arriving unannounced at a mealtime or in the mid-afternoon, watching how staff speak to residents in corridors, and noticing whether your parent's preferred name is used.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication u2014 touch, tone, eye contact, unhurried pace u2014 matters as much as verbal interaction for people with dementia, and is rarely captured in inspection reports that rely on brief scheduled visits.","watch_out":"On your visit, stand in the corridor or lounge for five minutes without introducing yourself immediately. Notice whether staff speak to residents by name, make eye contact, and take their time u2014 or whether interactions feel rushed and task-focused."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. Responsiveness covers activities, individual engagement, how well the home responds to each person's preferences and needs, and end-of-life care planning. No activity schedules, individual engagement records, or examples of person-centred responses are recorded in the available text. The home's small size of 19 beds could mean a more responsive, less institutional environment u2014 but this is an inference, not an inspection finding.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here means inspectors found the home was meeting residents' individual needs in a general sense. For your parent u2014 especially if they have dementia u2014 what matters is whether there is meaningful engagement beyond group activities in the lounge. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that people with more advanced dementia need one-to-one engagement tailored to their personal history: familiar music, household tasks, objects from their past. In 21.4% of positive family reviews, activities and engagement were specifically praised. Ask the home what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident who can no longer join group activities.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and life-history approaches to individual activity significantly reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people with moderate-to-advanced dementia u2014 but these approaches require deliberate investment and staff time that is not always present even in Good-rated homes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity record for a resident with more advanced dementia over the last two weeks u2014 not just what was planned, but what was actually recorded as happening. Look for individual one-to-one entries, not just group session notes."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The home is run by a named provider (Mr Kamal Dawood Siddiqi) with a registered manager (Mrs Susan Wilson). Well-led covers management visibility, staff culture, governance, and whether the home learns from incidents. No detail is available on manager tenure, staff turnover, audit processes, or how the home has responded to any complaints or incidents. The July 2023 monitoring review found no reason to change the rating, which suggests no serious concerns have emerged in the period since the 2021 inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, good leadership means there is someone consistently in charge who knows the residents, supports the staff, and acts quickly when something goes wrong. For families, it means clear communication, prompt responses to concerns, and a culture where staff feel safe to raise issues. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality u2014 homes that maintain a consistent registered manager over multiple years consistently outperform those with frequent changes. The fact that the same manager appears to have been in post for the period covered by available records is a positive sign, but ask directly how long Mrs Wilson has been in the role.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that in homes rated Good for Well-led, the most significant differentiator between those that improved and those that plateaued was whether staff felt empowered to raise concerns without fear of consequences u2014 a factor that cannot be assessed from inspection text alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: 'How long have you been in post, and how do you keep families informed if something goes wrong with their parent's care?' The confidence and specificity of the answer will tell you more than any report."}

  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 Old Vicarage specialises in caring for people over 65, with particular experience in dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home's approach to dementia focuses on gentle transitions and maintaining familiar routines. Staff adapt the environment and daily structure to help each person feel secure and settled. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.