The Park Residential Care Home

What families say

Reviewers often mention how staff take time with residents, answering questions patiently and providing emotional support through difficult days. Several families have watched their relatives settle and flourish, with noticeable improvements in stability and contentment over time.

Based on 9 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality60
• Healthcare82
• Management & leadership88
• Resident happiness72

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-05-06 · Report published 2020-05-06 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the March 2020 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that risks were managed, medicines were handled appropriately, and staffing was sufficient. The home cares for people with dementia and mental health conditions, so safe practices around risk and environment are especially important. No specific concerns or enforcement actions were recorded. The published summary does not include staffing ratios, night cover numbers, or detail on how incidents and accidents are logged and reviewed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating tells you that inspectors did not find anything seriously wrong, but it does not tell you exactly how many carers are looking after your parent at two in the morning. Good Practice research consistently highlights night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip in residential homes, particularly those supporting people with dementia. For a 35-bed home, you would want at least two carers overnight and ideally a senior on call. Agency staff are another watchpoint: our review data shows that families in homes with high agency use often report feeling that staff do not know their parent well enough to notice when something is wrong. Ask the manager directly about both of these before making your decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and agency staff reliance are two of the strongest predictors of safety outcomes in residential dementia care, yet they are among the least consistently reported in published inspection findings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear on night shifts, and ask what the minimum number of carers on duty overnight is for the dementia residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Outstanding at the March 2020 inspection, the highest possible rating. This covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well staff understand and meet individual needs. Achieving Outstanding in this domain requires inspectors to find specific, demonstrable evidence of best practice rather than simply adequate compliance. The home lists dementia as a specialism, and the Outstanding rating implies that dementia-specific training and care planning were assessed positively. The published summary does not include specific examples of care plan content, training programmes, or healthcare arrangements.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Outstanding for Effective is the rating families should look hardest at when choosing a home for a parent with dementia, because it covers whether staff genuinely know what they are doing. Our family review data shows that 20.2% of positive reviews specifically mention good healthcare and health monitoring, and 12.7% mention dementia-specific understanding. An Outstanding here suggests that inspectors saw real evidence of both. Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett review emphasises that care plans should function as living documents, updated after any significant change in health or behaviour, not simply filed and forgotten. Ask whether your parent's care plan would be reviewed after a fall, a hospital stay, or a change in mood.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that homes rated Outstanding for Effective were significantly more likely to involve families in care plan reviews and to use structured dementia training frameworks, such as the Dementia Care Mapping approach, compared with Good-rated homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to walk you through how a care plan is written when a new resident arrives, and how often it is formally reviewed. Specifically ask whether families are invited to those reviews and whether the plan is updated after a significant health change, not just on a fixed schedule."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the March 2020 inspection, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied with what they observed, but did not find the level of specific, outstanding practice required for the highest rating. The published summary contains no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific observations about how staff interact with people day to day. The home's dementia and mental health specialisms mean that the quality of moment-to-moment staff interaction matters enormously for people who may not be able to articulate their own experience.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity come close behind at 55.2%. The absence of specific examples or quotes in this inspection does not mean these qualities are absent; it means the published summary does not give us enough to go on. Good Practice research is clear that for people living with dementia, non-verbal communication, tone of voice, unhurried movement, and eye contact matter as much as words. When you visit, notice whether staff crouch to speak to a resident who is seated, whether they use your parent's preferred name, and whether interactions feel calm and unrushed or efficient and task-focused.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know and use individual preferences, histories, and communication styles, produces measurably better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than care that meets physical needs but lacks relational warmth.","watch_out":"Arrive a few minutes before a scheduled mealtime or activity and watch how staff greet the people sitting in the communal areas. Notice whether staff make eye contact, use names, and pause to listen, or whether they move through the room without stopping. This tells you more than any brochure."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the March 2020 inspection, covering activities, engagement, individuality, and how well the home responds to changing needs. A Good rating indicates inspectors found satisfactory evidence of personalised responses and a range of activities. The home supports residents with dementia and mental health conditions, making meaningful daily engagement especially important. No specific activities are described in the published summary, and there is no mention of whether one-to-one engagement is available for residents who cannot participate in group activities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, but the quality that matters most is not how many group sessions are on the timetable, it is whether your parent would have something meaningful to do on a quiet Tuesday afternoon when the group activity has finished. Good Practice research highlights that for people with advanced dementia, individual engagement, such as looking through a familiar photograph album, folding laundry, or tending a plant, is often more beneficial than group sessions. Resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1% of positive reviews, and that happiness tends to come from being known and engaged rather than simply kept safe. The inspection does not tell us whether The Park offers this level of individual attention.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and occupation-focused individual activities, rather than group-only programmes, produce the best outcomes for engagement and wellbeing in people living with dementia, including reduced agitation and improved mood.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what would happen for your parent on a day when the main group activity did not suit them or they were unable to join. Ask specifically whether staff would spend one-to-one time with your parent and what that might look like in practice."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Outstanding at the March 2020 inspection, the highest possible rating and the area of greatest strength for this home. The home has two registered managers (Mrs Zoe Gay Hara and Mrs Yvonne Hird) and a nominated individual (Mr John Paul Weldrick), indicating a clear and stable leadership structure. Outstanding Well-led ratings require inspectors to find strong evidence of a positive culture, effective governance, learning from incidents, and staff who feel empowered to speak up. The published summary does not include specific examples of what made leadership Outstanding, but the rating itself is a meaningful signal.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research is consistent on one point above all others: leadership stability is the single strongest predictor of whether a care home's quality improves or declines over time. An Outstanding Well-led rating, combined with named managers who appear to have been in post at the time of inspection, suggests a home that is being actively run rather than passively administered. Our family review data shows that 23.4% of positive reviews specifically mention management as a reason for satisfaction, and the most common descriptor is that the manager was visible and approachable, not office-bound. The main uncertainty is that this inspection is from March 2020. Check whether the same managers are still in post, because a change at the top is the most reliable early warning sign of quality drift.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, long-tenured managers were significantly more likely to maintain or improve their inspection ratings over successive assessments, and that staff in those homes were more likely to report feeling able to raise concerns without fear.","watch_out":"Before or during your visit, ask directly whether Mrs Hara and Mrs Hird are still the registered managers and how long they have each been in post. If there has been a management change since 2020, ask what prompted it and how the transition was handled. A confident, specific answer is a good sign."}

  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 welcomes younger adults alongside older residents, with particular experience supporting people with dementia and mental health conditions.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff show patience and understanding with residents experiencing dementia, helping them navigate daily challenges. The team focuses on maintaining stability and supporting gradual improvements where possible. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.