Abbotsfield Residential Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds26
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Dementia, Physical disabilities
- Last inspected2022-06-16
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Based on 5 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
- Healthcare50
- Management & leadership60
- Resident happiness55
What inspectors found
Inspected 2022-06-16 · Report published 2022-06-16 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at its May 2022 inspection. This represents an improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating in this domain. The published text does not provide specific detail on staffing ratios, falls management, medicines handling, or infection control practices. No concerns were raised in the published summary, but no direct evidence of safety systems in action is described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a period of Requires Improvement is genuinely encouraging. It suggests that whatever was falling short before has been addressed, at least to inspection standard. However, our Good Practice evidence base (drawn from 61 studies) consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in smaller homes like this one, with 26 residents. The published findings give no detail on overnight cover. Cleanliness, which 24.3% of positive family reviews mention directly, is also unaddressed in the available text. Visit the home and use your own senses: a well-run home will be odour-free, staff will respond promptly when a resident needs help, and someone senior will be clearly identifiable at all times.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety risk in care homes, because unfamiliar staff cannot recognise when a resident's behaviour is out of character. The inspection does not confirm how much agency cover this home uses.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual paper or digital rota for the past two weeks. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight for the 26 residents."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for effectiveness at its May 2022 inspection. This covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. The published summary does not describe specific findings in any of these areas. No concerns were identified, but no direct observations or examples are recorded in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness is where the practical detail of your parent's daily care sits: whether their care plan actually reflects who they are, whether a GP can be reached promptly, and whether the food is good enough to maintain their health and dignity. Food quality features in 20.9% of positive family reviews, and our Good Practice evidence base highlights it as a marker of whether a home genuinely understands the people it cares for. The inspection rating is positive, but without specific findings, you will need to fill this gap yourself. Ask to read a sample care plan (with names removed), and visit at lunchtime to see the meal in practice.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans function as living documents only when staff are trained to update them after every meaningful change in a resident's condition or preferences. A care plan written on admission and rarely revisited is a risk factor for missed healthcare needs.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are reviewed and who leads that process. Then ask how the plan would be updated if your parent's mobility or cognition changed significantly between scheduled reviews."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for caring at its May 2022 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. The published text does not include direct quotes from residents or relatives, nor specific inspector observations of care interactions. The Good rating indicates no concerns were found, but the detail that would allow a confident assessment of day-to-day kindness is not available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. These are not things you can verify from a published rating alone. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as words, particularly for people living with dementia who may not be able to articulate how they feel. On your visit, watch how staff enter rooms (do they knock?), how they address your parent (do they ask preferred names?), and whether interactions feel unhurried. These small moments are the most reliable indicators of a genuinely caring culture.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual well enough to interpret behaviour as communication, not as a management problem. This level of knowing does not show up in inspection ratings; it shows up in hallway conversations.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask a member of staff to tell you something specific about one of the residents you pass in the corridor, not their diagnosis, but something about who they are: what they enjoy, what upsets them, what they were like before coming to the home."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for responsiveness at its May 2022 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and end-of-life care. The published text does not describe any specific activity provision, one-to-one engagement practices, or how the home supports people in their final months. No concerns were identified in the summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Meaningful activity is mentioned positively in 21.4% of family reviews, and resident happiness, which depends heavily on engagement, features in 27.1%. For people living with dementia in particular, our Good Practice evidence base shows that tailored individual activity, not just group sessions, is what supports wellbeing and reduces distress. A home with 26 residents can potentially offer a more personal approach than a larger setting, but only if staffing allows time for one-to-one engagement. The inspection gives no insight into whether this happens at Abbotsfield. Ask to see last month's activity records, not the planned programme but the record of what actually happened.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review identified Montessori-based and everyday household activity approaches as effective for people with moderate to advanced dementia, because they draw on long-term memory and familiar routines rather than requiring new learning. Ask whether staff have any training in these approaches.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator) to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident who prefers not to join group activities. The answer will tell you a great deal about how seriously the home takes individual engagement."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The home was rated Good for well-led at its May 2022 inspection, improving from a previous Requires Improvement rating. A registered manager is recorded as in post. The published text does not describe the manager's visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles complaints and feedback. The improvement from Requires Improvement is a meaningful signal, but the detail needed to assess leadership quality is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and communication with families features in 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews respectively. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory: a home that has recently improved is in a better position than one that has recently declined, but only if the leadership that drove the improvement is still in place. The registered manager named at inspection was Mrs Kim Lara Rogerson. Before visiting, it is worth confirming whether she is still in post, how long she has been there, and whether she is present day to day rather than across multiple sites.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review found that staff empowerment, specifically the ability of frontline carers to raise concerns without fear, is a consistent marker of a well-led home. Ask staff directly whether they feel comfortable speaking up if something worries them.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in this role and whether she is based at Abbotsfield full time. Then ask what has changed since the previous Requires Improvement rating and what evidence she can show you that those changes have been sustained."}
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 cares for people over 65 with various needs, including dementia and physical disabilities. They've got an activities coordinator who puts real effort into keeping residents engaged throughout the day.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families dealing with dementia, it helps knowing the staff here have proper experience with the condition. They understand how to respond when someone's confused or distressed, which can make such a difference to daily life. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
Abbotsfield Residential Care Home achieved a Good rating across all five domains at its most recent inspection, improving from a previous Requires Improvement rating. However, the published inspection text provides very limited specific detail, so scores reflect confirmed Good ratings without the direct observations, quotes, or specific examples needed to score higher.
Homes in North West typically score 68–82.Worth a visit
Abbotsfield Residential Care Home, at 373 Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness, was rated Good across all five inspection domains at its most recent inspection in May 2022. This is a meaningful improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating, which suggests the home has made genuine progress under its current management. The home supports up to 26 older adults, including people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities, and has a registered manager in post. The main limitation here is that the published inspection text provides very little specific detail: no direct quotes from residents or relatives, no described observations of care interactions, and no specific findings on staffing, food, activities, or the dementia environment. A Good rating is a solid foundation, but it was awarded over two years before the time of writing, and the detail needed to assess day-to-day life is not available in the published report. Before making a decision, visit the home in person, ask to see the staffing rota for last week, observe how staff interact with your parent on the way round, and use the checklist questions above to fill in the gaps the inspection cannot answer.
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In Their Own Words
How Abbotsfield Residential Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Experienced staff who understand dementia in challenging times
Compassionate Care in Barrow-in-furness at Abbotsfield Residential Care Home
Finding the right care can feel overwhelming, especially when dementia is part of the picture. Abbotsfield Residential Care Home in Barrow-in-Furness has built up real experience with dementia care over the years. The team here has been working with older residents for a long time, and that kind of knowledge matters when you need people who truly understand.
Who they care for
The home cares for people over 65 with various needs, including dementia and physical disabilities. They've got an activities coordinator who puts real effort into keeping residents engaged throughout the day.
For families dealing with dementia, it helps knowing the staff here have proper experience with the condition. They understand how to respond when someone's confused or distressed, which can make such a difference to daily life.
Management & ethos
What stands out at Abbotsfield is how the staff approach dementia care. They've got a core group who've been there a while, so they know the residents well. Families mention that the team works hard to provide good care, though the home faces some challenges with its facilities that they're working through.
“Every family's situation is unique, and visiting Abbotsfield will give you the clearest picture of whether it's right for your loved one.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
