Westbourne care home

What families say

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity74
• Cleanliness62
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality58
• Healthcare60
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-10-26 · Report published 2022-10-26 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Requires Improvement at the September 2022 inspection. This is the only domain that did not achieve a Good rating. The published inspection summary does not specify which aspect of safety prompted this rating, so it is not possible to confirm from the available text whether the concern related to staffing, medicines, infection control, or risk management. This rating means that, at the time of the inspection, one or more safety standards were not consistently met. The overall rating improved from Requires Improvement to Good, but the Safe domain did not follow that improvement.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement in safety is the finding that should weigh most heavily in your decision. Research from the Good Practice evidence base consistently identifies night-time staffing and medicines management as the two areas where safety most commonly slips in small residential homes. Because the published text does not name the specific concern, you cannot assess the risk without asking directly. Our family review data shows that families rarely report safety concerns in their own reviews, not because safety is fine but because they often do not know what to look for. Ask the manager to walk you through the action plan that was produced after this inspection and confirm what has been resolved.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance and inconsistent night staffing are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A Requires Improvement in safety warrants specific questions about both.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the specific action plan produced in response to the Requires Improvement in safety. Ask which finding prompted it, what was changed, and whether the home has had any follow-up contact with inspectors since October 2022."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the September 2022 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans reflect what individuals need, and whether residents have access to healthcare professionals including GPs. The home lists dementia as a specialism alongside learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which means staff are expected to hold relevant training across a range of complex needs. No specific examples of care plan content, training records, or healthcare access are available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective is reassuring, but the lack of specific detail in the published summary means you cannot rely on it alone. Our family review data shows that 20.9% of positive reviews mention food quality and 20.2% mention healthcare access, yet both are areas where general compliance ratings can mask day-to-day variation. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that care plans need to be treated as living documents, updated as a person's needs change, not completed once and filed. Given that Westbourne supports people with dementia alongside learning disabilities and physical disabilities, ask how care plans are kept current as needs evolve.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes with regular, structured care plan reviews that include family members produce measurably better outcomes for people with dementia. A Good rating in this domain is most meaningful when families are actively included in those reviews.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, whether you would be invited to take part, and what happens to the plan when your parent's health or behaviour changes significantly."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the September 2022 inspection. This domain measures whether staff treat people with kindness, respect their privacy, and support their independence. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations, quotes from residents, or accounts from relatives that would allow a more detailed picture. A Good rating here indicates that inspectors were satisfied with the quality of interactions they observed, but the limited published detail means the specific evidence behind this rating is not available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. A Good rating in Caring is therefore the most important domain rating for many families. What you cannot tell from a rating alone is whether the warmth is consistent across all shifts or concentrated among a small group of staff. The Good Practice evidence base notes that non-verbal communication matters as much as what staff say, particularly for people with advanced dementia who may not be able to articulate their experience. On a visit, watch whether staff make eye contact, use calm tones, and address your parent by the name they prefer.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that person-led care depends on staff knowing each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. Homes that invest in this knowledge, through key worker relationships and detailed life history work, consistently produce better outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"On your visit, listen for whether staff use your parent's preferred name rather than a generic term, and watch whether interactions feel unhurried. Ask a member of staff what they know about your parent's life before they came to the home."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the September 2022 inspection. This domain covers whether the home tailors its support to individual needs, provides meaningful activities, responds to complaints, and plans for end-of-life care. The home supports a broad range of needs including dementia, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which requires a high degree of individual tailoring. No specific activity examples, complaints outcomes, or end-of-life care detail are available in the published inspection summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement feature in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1%. A Good rating in Responsive suggests the home meets the standard, but a standard inspection cannot capture whether activities are genuinely tailored to each person or whether they default to group sessions that suit only some residents. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that people with advanced dementia benefit most from one-to-one engagement and everyday household tasks that connect to their earlier life, not just scheduled group activities. If your parent is likely to find group settings difficult, ask specifically how the home supports people who cannot or will not join in.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar household tasks, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than programme-led group activities.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity records for the past two weeks, not the planned schedule. Check whether any entries show one-to-one engagement for residents who did not join group sessions, and ask what happens on weekends and bank holidays when activity coordinators may not be on shift."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the September 2022 inspection. The registered manager at the time of the inspection was Miss Samantha Anne Campbell, with Mr Balbir Bains listed as the nominated individual representing the provider, Bainscare Limited. A Good rating in this domain indicates that inspectors were satisfied with the governance systems, management culture, and accountability structures in place. No specific examples of leadership practice, staff culture observations, or family feedback mechanisms are available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of the family satisfaction signal in our review data. A Good in Well-led, combined with the overall improvement from Requires Improvement, suggests the leadership team drove a positive change. The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality; homes where the registered manager stays in post tend to maintain standards more reliably than those with high turnover. Because the inspection is over two years old, you need to confirm whether Miss Campbell is still in post and, if not, who has taken over and for how long.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that leadership stability is among the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes. A change of registered manager, particularly shortly after an improvement in ratings, is a signal that warrants careful follow-up.","watch_out":"Ask whether the registered manager named in the 2022 report is still in post. If there has been a change, ask who the current manager is, how long they have been in the role, and what their background in dementia care is."}

  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 supports residents with physical disabilities, sensory impairments and learning disabilities. They also provide specialist dementia care and welcome adults of all ages who need residential support.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home has experience supporting residents living with dementia, providing appropriate care within their residential setting. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.