Abbey Grange Care & Nursing Home – Country Court

What families say

Families describe staff who listen carefully when concerns are raised and act on feedback without getting defensive. The home has helped several residents who'd lost weight elsewhere regain their strength through flexible meal times and homemade cooking. Staff encourage residents to eat where they're most comfortable, whether that's in their rooms or with others in the dining areas.

Based on 51 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-09-29 · Report published 2018-09-29 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the most recent inspection in July 2022. This is an improvement on the previous rating of Requires Improvement, suggesting that earlier safety concerns have been addressed. The published summary does not record specific observations about medication management, falls prevention, infection control, or night staffing levels. The home is registered for nursing care as well as personal care, which means qualified nurses should be on site around the clock.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe is reassuring, particularly because it follows a Requires Improvement judgement, meaning inspectors were satisfied that previous problems had been resolved. Our review data shows that staff attentiveness, which includes responding promptly to call bells and monitoring residents overnight, is among the top concerns families raise. Good Practice research highlights that night staffing is the point in the day where safety most often slips, particularly in homes with high dementia populations. The inspection did not record specific night staffing ratios for Abbey Grange, so this is something you will need to ask about directly. Do not assume a Good rating means everything is at the highest possible standard; it means minimum safe thresholds were met and usually exceeded, but specific detail here is thin.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance and reduced night staffing are two of the most consistent risk factors in dementia care settings, because continuity and familiarity are critical to residents' sense of safety and settled behaviour.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the planned template. Count the permanent names versus agency names on night shifts, and ask what the nurse-to-resident ratio is after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the most recent inspection in July 2022, improved from Requires Improvement. This domain covers whether staff know what they are doing: care plans, dementia training, GP access, nutrition, and hydration. The published summary does not provide specific observations or evidence about any of these areas. The home is registered to provide nursing care, implying qualified clinical staff are present, but training content, care plan quality, and GP access frequency are not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone with dementia means staff understanding your parent as an individual and knowing how to respond when their needs change. Our review data shows that families specifically value dementia-tailored care (cited in 12.7% of positive reviews) and good healthcare access (20.2%). Good Practice research consistently finds that care plans used as living documents, updated regularly and written with input from families, are one of the strongest predictors of good outcomes. Because the inspection does not describe the content or quality of care planning at Abbey Grange, you will need to ask to see how a plan is structured and whether your input would be sought at regular reviews. The Good rating tells you inspectors were broadly satisfied, but the detail you need to feel confident is not in the published report.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, particularly training that covers non-verbal communication and responsive behaviours, significantly improves care quality and reduces the use of inappropriate interventions such as unnecessary sedation.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training all care staff complete, when it was last updated, and whether any staff on the dementia unit hold a recognised dementia qualification such as the Dementia Care Mapping practitioner award or an equivalent."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the most recent inspection in July 2022, again improved from the previous Requires Improvement. Inspectors were satisfied that people were treated with kindness and respect. However, the published summary includes no direct observations of staff-resident interactions, no quotes from residents or relatives, and no specific examples of dignity being upheld or compromised. The absence of detail does not mean poor care; it means the published record does not allow independent verification of specific caring behaviours.","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 are mentioned in 55.2%. These are the things families feel most acutely when they visit and when they leave their parent behind. Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication, including unhurried body language, eye contact at the person's level, and use of a preferred name, matters as much as anything else in dementia care. Because the inspection provides no recorded observations of these interactions at Abbey Grange, a personal visit is essential. Go at a time when care is being delivered, not just during an organised activity, and watch how staff move around and speak to residents.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know individual life histories and use them to shape daily interactions, is associated with reduced agitation and improved wellbeing in people living with dementia, independently of environment or staffing ratios.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand quietly in a communal area for ten minutes and observe: do staff sit with residents or pass through? Do they use residents' preferred names without prompting? Do they make eye contact and move without appearing hurried? These small behaviours are the most reliable indicator of a caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the most recent inspection in July 2022, improved from Requires Improvement. This domain covers whether the home tailors care to individual needs and provides meaningful activities and engagement. The published summary does not describe the activities programme, individual engagement approaches, end-of-life planning, or how the home responds to complaints. No evidence is recorded about one-to-one engagement for residents who cannot join group activities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement are cited by families in 21.4% of positive reviews, and resident happiness overall is mentioned in 27.1%. For someone with dementia, meaningful occupation during the day is not a nice addition; it is a clinical need. Good Practice research, including studies on Montessori-based approaches, shows that familiar everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking are often more effective than formal group activities for people in the middle and later stages of dementia. The inspection does not describe what Abbey Grange actually provides in this area. Ask to see two weeks of actual activity records, not just the planned timetable, and specifically ask what happens for a resident who cannot engage with groups.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found strong evidence that individually tailored activities, including tasks linked to a person's previous work or hobbies, reduce episodes of distress and improve mood in people with dementia more effectively than group-only activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what they did last Tuesday for a resident who stays in their room. If the answer is vague or defaults to group activities only, that is a gap worth pressing on. Ask whether one-to-one sessions are timetabled or left to chance."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-Led domain was rated Good at the most recent inspection in July 2022, improved from Requires Improvement. A named registered manager, Mrs Kerry Leanne Peach, is recorded as being in post, and a nominated individual, Mrs Helen Louise Richmond, is also identified. The home is operated by Country Court Care Homes Limited. The published summary does not describe the manager's visibility, culture on the floor, staff satisfaction, or governance systems in any specific detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is cited in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families is mentioned in 11.5%. Good Practice research consistently finds that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time: homes where the manager has been in post for more than two years, and where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, tend to perform better across all other domains. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good suggests meaningful leadership work has taken place. However, the published report does not confirm how long the current manager has been in post or whether staff culture has genuinely shifted. Ask these questions directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review identified manager tenure and bottom-up staff empowerment as two of the most reliable predictors of sustained quality in care homes, with homes under stable leadership showing significantly fewer safeguarding incidents over time.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long they have been in this role and what the main change they made after the previous Requires Improvement rating was. A confident, specific answer is a good sign. A vague or deflecting answer warrants further scrutiny."}

  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 Abbey Grange provides specialist dementia care alongside general nursing support for adults over 65. The home also accepts younger adults who need nursing care.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff have experience supporting residents at different stages of dementia, including those who've found previous care settings challenging. The team works with families to understand each person's history and preferences, adapting their approach accordingly. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.