Whitebourne Care Home – Care UK

What families say

Families visiting Whitebourne often mention the genuine friendliness they encounter from the moment they arrive. Staff members make an effort to welcome visitors warmly, and the management team takes time to talk with families about their loved one's needs.

Based on 12 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 & leadership70
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-04-27 · Report published 2018-04-27 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Whitebourne was rated Good for safety at its February 2022 inspection. This followed a previous Inadequate rating, meaning inspectors were satisfied that significant safety improvements had been made. The published summary does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. A named registered manager is in post, which supports consistent safety oversight. No concerns are recorded in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a previous Inadequate is reassuring, but it tells you where the home was in early 2022, not necessarily where it is now. Good Practice research consistently highlights night staffing as the area where safety is most likely to slip in a 66-bed home, and agency reliance can undermine the consistent, familiar presence your parent needs. Our review data shows that families rate safe environment as a key concern in 11.8% of positive reviews. Because the published findings give no specific ratios or detail, this is an area where you will need to ask directly rather than rely on the inspection record alone.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels are the single area where safety most commonly deteriorates in residential care homes, particularly for residents with dementia who may be more unsettled after dark.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count the number of permanent staff versus agency staff on each night shift and ask what the standard ratio is for 66 beds overnight."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Whitebourne was rated Good for effectiveness at its February 2022 inspection. This domain covers staff training, care planning, healthcare access, and food. The published summary does not include specific detail about dementia training content, GP involvement, care plan review frequency, or meal quality. The Good rating implies inspectors found no significant failures in these areas. The home lists dementia, learning disabilities, mental health, and physical disabilities as specialisms, which requires staff to hold a range of relevant knowledge.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness covers some of the things families most want to know about: whether care plans genuinely reflect who your parent is, whether staff have proper dementia training, and whether your parent sees a GP promptly when needed. In our review data, food quality appears in 20.9% of positive reviews and healthcare access in 20.2%, making these meaningful signals of quality. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should be living documents, updated as your parent's needs change, not completed at admission and filed away. Because the published inspection gives no specific examples, ask the manager how often care plans are reviewed and whether families are invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans which are regularly reviewed with family involvement, and which capture the person's life history, preferences, and communication style, are associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you an example of how a care plan is reviewed when a resident's needs change. Ask how families are involved in that process and how recently your parent's plan would typically be updated after admission."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Whitebourne was rated Good for caring at its February 2022 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations about staff interactions, preferred names, pace of care, or response to distress. No resident or relative quotes are included in the published findings. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the standard of caring interactions at the time of the visit.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. These are the things families most want to feel confident about. A Good Caring rating is positive, but the absence of specific observations in the published report means you cannot rely on the inspection alone to answer the question of whether staff will treat your parent as an individual. When you visit, watch how staff address your parent on arrival, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether they move at the person's pace rather than their own.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication for people with advanced dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, maintain calm tone, and use touch appropriately produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"During your visit, notice whether any staff member addresses your parent by their preferred name without being prompted, and whether interactions feel unhurried. If you see a moment of distress or confusion from any resident, observe how quickly and calmly staff respond."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Whitebourne was rated Good for responsiveness at its February 2022 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home responds to each person's needs and preferences. The published summary does not include specific detail about the activities programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home supports residents who cannot join group sessions. The home's specialism list includes dementia, which implies some level of tailored provision. No resident or relative quotes are included in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for a combined weight of nearly 50% in what our review families highlight. A Good Responsive rating is positive, but for families considering a place for someone living with dementia, the key question is not whether group activities exist but whether there is meaningful one-to-one engagement for your parent on days when they cannot or will not join a group. The Good Practice evidence shows that Montessori-based approaches and familiar household tasks, not just scheduled entertainment, are most effective for maintaining wellbeing in people with dementia. Ask specifically what happens for your parent on a quiet Tuesday afternoon.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that individually tailored activities, including everyday domestic tasks and sensory engagement, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical day looks like for a resident who does not join group sessions. Ask how many hours of one-to-one time each resident receives each week and who provides it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Whitebourne was rated Good for well-led at its February 2022 inspection, having previously been rated Inadequate. A named registered manager, Miss Colette Kelleher, is in post, and a nominated individual, Ms Rachel Louise Harvey, is also identified. The improvement from Inadequate to Good across all five domains indicates that leadership drove substantial change. The published summary does not include detail about manager tenure, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home acts on feedback. The home is operated by Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd, a large provider.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in a care home. The fact that this home moved from Inadequate to Good is a genuine positive, and credit for that belongs to the management team in place at the time. Our review data shows that management and leadership matters to 23.4% of families writing positive reviews, and communication with families matters to 11.5%. The key question for you is whether the same manager is still in post, since the last inspection was in early 2022. A change of manager can shift a home's culture quickly in either direction.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that leadership stability is the single strongest structural predictor of sustained quality in care homes. Homes that maintained the same manager for more than two years consistently outperformed those with frequent leadership changes.","watch_out":"Ask directly whether the registered manager named in the inspection report is still in post and how long they have been at Whitebourne. If there has been a management change since early 2022, ask what that transition looked like and how it was communicated to families."}

  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 at Whitebourne supports residents with dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. They focus on caring for adults over 65 who need specialised attention for complex or multiple conditions.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialist care tailored to individual needs. The team understands how to support people through the different stages of dementia, helping them maintain dignity and connection. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.