Medical Express Ultimate Care Service

What families say

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-11-21 · Report published 2018-11-21 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Safety at its July 2018 inspection. The available report text does not provide specific detail about how safety is maintained, staffing arrangements, medicines management, or infection control practices. A named Registered Manager is in post. A review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a change to this rating. Given that the home supports people with a very wide range of complex needs in just seven beds, safety arrangements are particularly important to explore directly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but with an inspection from 2018 you should treat this as a starting point rather than a current guarantee. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in small residential homes u2014 and in a seven-bed home supporting dementia alongside mental health and substance misuse conditions, knowing exactly who is on duty after 8pm matters enormously. Our family review data shows that 14% of positive reviews specifically mention staff attentiveness as a reason for confidence u2014 which suggests families notice and value this. Ask to see the home's accident and incident log and ask how recently it has been reviewed by management.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University's rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance and poor night-time staffing ratios are among the most consistent predictors of safety failures in residential dementia care settings.","watch_out":"Ask: how many permanent staff are on duty overnight, and when did the home last use agency cover? Request to see the last three months of incident logs and ask what changes were made as a result."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Effectiveness at its July 2018 inspection. The home lists dementia as a specialism alongside eating disorders, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, suggesting staff are expected to hold skills across a broad range of conditions. No specific detail about care plan quality, dementia training content, healthcare access, or food provision is available in the published report. The rating has not been reassessed since 2018.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in dementia care means your mum or dad's care plan should be a living document that reflects who they are today u2014 not a form completed on admission and filed away. Our family review data shows food quality features in over 20% of positive reviews, yet it is one of the areas most often poorly described in inspection reports. In a home that also supports people with eating disorders, understanding how mealtimes work and whether individual dietary needs are genuinely met is particularly important. Good Practice evidence shows that regular GP access and proactive health monitoring u2014 not just reactive responses u2014 are markers of a truly effective care home.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans used as genuine, regularly updated reflections of a person's preferences and health status u2014 rather than administrative compliance documents u2014 are among the strongest predictors of good outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a redacted example of a care plan and ask when it was last updated and who was involved in the review. Also ask: how does the home manage mealtimes for someone with dementia who may be a slow or reluctant eater?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Caring at its July 2018 inspection. No direct quotes from residents or relatives are available in the published report text, and no specific observations of staff interactions are described. The Caring domain typically assesses whether staff treat people with dignity, use preferred names, and respect independence. Without specific evidence it is not possible to verify how this manifests day-to-day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth and compassion are the single most important factors in our family review data, featuring in over 57% of positive reviews. Yet they are also the hardest things to assess from an inspection report u2014 especially one as brief as this. Good Practice research is clear that in dementia care, non-verbal communication matters as much as what is said: how a member of staff approaches your dad in the corridor, whether they crouch to his eye level, whether they use his preferred name without prompting. These things cannot be seen in a rating. A Good for Caring tells you the inspectors were satisfied; it does not tell you what your parent's Tuesday afternoon will feel like.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that person-led care u2014 where staff know and consistently apply individual preferences, histories, and communication styles u2014 produces measurably better emotional wellbeing outcomes for people living with dementia than compliance-based approaches.","watch_out":"When you visit, arrive at a quieter time (mid-afternoon rather than immediately after lunch). Watch how staff greet your parent when you introduce them. Do they use a name they have not been told yet, or do they wait to learn it from you? That small moment tells you a great deal."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Responsiveness at its July 2018 inspection. No specific information about activities, individual engagement, or end-of-life planning is available in the published text. The home's broad specialism list u2014 covering dementia, mental health, eating disorders, and substance misuse in just seven beds u2014 means the responsiveness to individual needs must accommodate a very wide range of presentations. No information about how the home tailors activities or daily routines to individual preferences is available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good for Responsiveness should mean your parent is treated as an individual, not managed as a category. Our family review data shows resident happiness and activities feature strongly in what families notice and report u2014 27% of positive reviews mention contentment and engagement. In a seven-bed home, the potential for genuinely individualised attention is real, but it depends entirely on how staff are deployed and what structured activity provision looks like day-to-day. Good Practice evidence is clear that for people with advanced dementia, one-to-one engagement u2014 not just group activities u2014 is what maintains quality of life. Ask what happens on a typical afternoon for someone who cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and the incorporation of familiar household tasks into daily routines produce significantly better engagement and reduced distress in people living with dementia compared with passive or entertainment-only activity models.","watch_out":"Ask: what would a typical Tuesday look like for my parent from 2pm to 5pm? Ask specifically what one-to-one engagement is available for someone who cannot participate in group activities, and ask to see the most recent monthly activity record."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Well-led at its July 2018 inspection. A named Registered Manager, Mrs Floretta Thomas, and a Nominated Individual, Ms Stephanie Ofori-Kuragu, are identified. The running organisation is Medical Express Ultimate Care Services Limited. No specific information about management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home responds to concerns is available in the published text. The rating has not been reassessed since 2018.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research is unambiguous: leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of consistent quality in a care home. A named manager in post is a positive sign, but the inspection is now more than six years old and much can change. Our family review data shows management and communication with families feature in nearly a quarter of positive reviews u2014 families notice when a manager is visible, approachable, and responsive. In a small seven-bed home, you should expect to be able to speak to the manager directly and easily. If on your visit the manager is unavailable, hard to reach, or unable to speak to you without an appointment, treat that as a signal worth taking seriously.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that care homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear u2014 and where managers are visibly present on the floor rather than office-based u2014 demonstrate consistently better outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current manager has been in post and whether they are full-time on site. Ask: if I have a concern about my parent's care at 9pm on a Friday, who do I call and what happens next?"}

  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 team here works with adults under 65 who need specialist residential support, as well as older residents. They have experience supporting people through eating disorders and substance misuse recovery alongside those living with dementia or physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides support alongside their work with people facing other complex health conditions. This mixed environment means dementia care happens within a broader specialist setting. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.