Alexandra House Care Home | Runwood Homes Senior Living

What families say

Families have shared how staff supported them through difficult times, particularly when their loved ones were approaching the end of their lives. The care team's compassion during these moments has brought comfort to relatives facing bereavement.

Based on 32 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
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-07-15 · Report published 2023-07-15 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at the June 2023 inspection, an improvement from the previous rating. The published report does not include specific details about falls management, medicines administration, night staffing ratios, or infection control practices at Alexandra House. The home cares for 106 people, including those with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which makes safe staffing across all shifts particularly important. No specific concerns were flagged in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a previous Requires Improvement is reassuring, but the published text does not tell you what specifically changed. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in larger homes: a 106-bed service needs robust cover between 10pm and 6am, and that is the question you should put directly to the manager. Agency staff usage is another key signal: homes that rely heavily on agency cover tend to have less consistent, less familiar care, which matters especially for your parent if they are living with dementia and depend on staff knowing their individual signals and routines.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that inconsistent staffing, particularly heavy agency use and thin night cover, is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A previous Requires Improvement rating makes it especially important to check whether staffing improvements have been sustained.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff appear on night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is for the dementia unit after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Effective at the June 2023 inspection. The published text does not include specific details about care plan quality, GP access arrangements, dementia training content, or how food quality and dietary needs are managed. Alexandra House provides nursing care and rehabilitation as well as long-term dementia care, which requires a broad range of clinical competencies across the staff team. No specific concerns were identified in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness covers some of the things families worry about most: whether care plans actually reflect your parent as an individual, whether the right healthcare professionals are involved at the right time, and whether staff genuinely understand dementia rather than just following a protocol. Food quality is also part of this domain, and our review data shows it features in 20.9% of positive family reviews when it is done well. The inspection does not give us specific evidence on any of these areas for Alexandra House, so these are questions you need to ask and observe directly on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after every significant change in a person's condition, with families actively involved in reviews. Homes where care plans are generic or infrequently reviewed tend to deliver less individualised care over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed and whether you would be invited to take part. Then ask whether that review would happen more frequently if your parent's condition changed quickly."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Alexandra House was rated Good for Caring at the June 2023 inspection. The published text does not include inspector observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives about dignity and respect, or specific examples of person-centred practice. Caring for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment requires staff to adapt their communication and pace for each individual. No concerns were noted in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they sit down to speak to them rather than talking from a standing position, and whether they move at your parent's pace rather than their own. The Good rating is a positive indicator, but the absence of specific observations in the published text means you need to see these things for yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication for people with advanced dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, use gentle touch, and allow silence are demonstrating person-led care in ways that inspection observations capture but summary ratings alone cannot convey.","watch_out":"When you visit, spend time in a communal area and watch how staff approach your parent's peers. Do they use names? Do they pause and listen, or do they move on quickly? This is the most reliable signal of the culture you cannot read from a published report."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Responsive at the June 2023 inspection. The published text does not include details about the activities programme, how the home supports people who cannot join group activities, or how individual preferences and life histories inform daily care. Alexandra House supports people with a wide range of needs, including dementia and rehabilitation, which requires a flexible and individualised approach to engagement. No specific concerns were identified.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. For people living with dementia, the evidence shows that group activities alone are not enough: one-to-one engagement, including everyday tasks like folding, gardening, or reminiscence, can make a significant difference to settled behaviour and quality of life. The inspection does not tell us what the actual programme at Alexandra House looks like, so this is something to investigate directly. Ask to see the timetable and, crucially, ask what happens for your parent on a day when they cannot or will not join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities, rather than passive group entertainment, produce the strongest outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Homes where activities are group-only often leave the most dependent residents with little meaningful engagement during the day.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical Tuesday for someone with your parent's level of need. Specifically, ask what one-to-one engagement your parent would receive on a day when they are not well enough or not willing to join a group session."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Alexandra House received a Good rating for Well-led at the June 2023 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. Dr Gavin O'Hare-Connolly is named as the Nominated Individual for the provider, Runwood Homes Limited. The published text does not include detail about the registered manager's tenure, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles complaints and learns from incidents. The improvement in rating suggests leadership changes or interventions have had a positive effect.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership appear in 23.4% of positive family reviews, often expressed as families feeling informed and heard. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability predicts quality over time: a home that improved under a particular manager can drift if that manager leaves. The move from Requires Improvement to Good is encouraging, but the key question is whether the current manager has been in post long enough to have driven that improvement themselves, or whether you are visiting at a moment of transition. Communication with families, cited in 11.5% of positive reviews, is also an area to probe directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership continuity and a culture where staff can raise concerns without fear as the two strongest structural predictors of sustained quality in care homes. A recent improvement in rating warrants a direct conversation about what changed and who led that change.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post at Alexandra House and what the two or three specific changes were that led to the improvement from the previous inspection rating. A manager who can answer this clearly and specifically is a good sign."}

  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 home provides specialist care for residents with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They also support adults under 65 who need residential care.. Gaps or open questions remain on As a specialist dementia service, Alexandra House caters to residents at different stages of their dementia journey. The team works with families to understand each person's unique needs and preferences. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.