Anbridge House

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 warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-09-02 · Report published 2023-09-02 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Safety at the August 2023 inspection. This is an improvement on the previous Requires Improvement rating, which indicates that earlier safety concerns were resolved to inspectors' satisfaction. The published findings do not include specific detail on staffing ratios, night cover, medicines management, or falls recording. The 21-bed size means the home is small, which can support closer staff familiarity with each person.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but the thin published detail means you cannot rely on the inspection text alone to understand how safe your parent would be here. Good Practice evidence from the Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identifies night staffing as the period where safety is most likely to slip in small homes. Agency staff reliance can undermine the consistency that people with dementia depend on. For a home of this size and specialism mix, ask specifically about night cover numbers and how often agency staff are used, as these questions are not answered by the published findings.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett and IFF Research rapid evidence review found that learning from incidents, including falls, is one of the clearest markers of a safety culture. Homes that review incidents and make changes perform better over time than those that treat them as isolated events.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the incident log for the last three months, specifically falls records, and ask what one change was made to the environment or care practice as a result of the most recent significant incident."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Effectiveness at the August 2023 inspection. This domain covers how well staff understand and meet care needs, including training, care planning, health monitoring, and food. The published findings do not include specific observations on dementia training content, care plan quality, GP access arrangements, or food provision. The home's registration covers a broad range of needs including dementia, mental health, and physical disabilities.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good effectiveness rating tells you inspectors were satisfied that the home was meeting its legal obligations, but it does not tell you whether your dad's care plan would be written in a way that reflects who he really is. Our family review data shows that food quality is mentioned positively in over one in five reviews (20.9%), making it one of the clearest everyday signals of genuine care. The Good Practice evidence base highlights care plans as living documents that should change as a person's needs change, not paperwork filed at admission. With the detail missing from this report, you will need to assess these things yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training that goes beyond basic awareness, covering communication, behaviour as expression of unmet need, and person-centred approaches, is strongly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia training staff have completed in the last 12 months and whether it covers recognising unmet need in people who cannot communicate verbally. Ask to see your parent's draft care plan before admission to check whether it reflects their history, preferences, and personality."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Caring at the August 2023 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. No specific observations, quotes from residents or relatives, or direct examples of caring interactions appear in the published inspection text. A Good rating here means inspectors were satisfied that the legal standards for dignity and respect were being met during their visit.","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 together feature in 55.2%. These are not abstract values but observable, everyday behaviours: whether staff knock before entering a room, use your mum's preferred name rather than 'love' or 'dear', and whether they move without hurry during personal care. The inspection gives a Good rating but no window into these moments. The most reliable way to assess this is to arrive at the home unannounced during a busy time, such as mid-morning or just before lunch, and observe how staff move and speak.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal interaction for people with dementia. Staff who make eye contact, position themselves at the person's level, and respond to facial expressions support wellbeing even when verbal communication has diminished.","watch_out":"During your visit, notice whether staff address your parent by their preferred name without being prompted. Ask the manager: what name does your mum prefer to be called, and how is that recorded and communicated to all staff including agency workers?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Responsiveness at the August 2023 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and end-of-life care. No specific activity examples, individual engagement observations, or end-of-life care details appear in the published text. The home's registration includes dementia and mental health conditions, which means responsiveness to individual need is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is referenced positively in 27.1% of family reviews, and activities in 21.4%. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with dementia, particularly those who are less mobile or in later stages. Tailored one-to-one activities, including simple household tasks like folding, sorting, or gardening, are strongly associated with reduced agitation and better wellbeing. The inspection rating is reassuring but gives no evidence that one-to-one engagement is happening here. This is one of the most important questions to ask on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches, where people with dementia engage in familiar, purposeful activities at their own pace, produce measurable improvements in mood and engagement compared with structured group sessions alone.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator: if my mum cannot join a group session because she is tired or unsettled, what would happen for her that afternoon? Ask to see the activity records for one resident who has advanced dementia, to see whether individual engagement is documented."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Well-led at the August 2023 inspection, improving from Requires Improvement. Anbridge Care Home is run by Mr Charles Jones and Mrs Sally Jones as a family-run service. The published findings do not include specific observations about the manager's visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home responded to the previous Requires Improvement rating. The improvement itself is evidence that leadership acted on earlier concerns.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is referenced in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families in 11.5%. The most important leadership signal for a family choosing a home is whether the manager is present and known to residents and staff day to day. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability predicts quality over time: homes where the manager changes frequently tend to see quality fluctuate. The fact that this home improved from Requires Improvement under the Jones family's leadership is a meaningful positive signal, but the home was subsequently deregistered in February 2026. You should ask what happened and whether the service has transferred to another provider or closed entirely.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that staff who feel able to speak up to management about concerns, without fear of consequences, are a stronger predictor of good care culture than formal governance documentation alone.","watch_out":"Given that this service was deregistered in February 2026, your first question should be whether the home is currently operating under a different registration. If it is, ask the current manager how long they have been in post and what, if anything, changed at the point of deregistration."}

  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 here cares for people over 65 with a range of needs including sensory impairments, dementia, mental health conditions and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the care focuses on maintaining dignity and building meaningful relationships between staff and residents. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.