Appleby Grange

What families say

What strikes visitors is how staff spend time with residents throughout the day, chatting and engaging rather than just checking in. The atmosphere feels bright and calm, with a genuine sense of warmth that families notice from their first visit.

Based on 6 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement55
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership45
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-10-15 · Report published 2020-10-15 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This is an improvement from the previous rating and indicates inspectors were satisfied with arrangements around staffing, medicines, and risk management at the time. The published summary does not include specific observations about night staffing ratios, agency use, or falls management. With 29 residents across a nursing home that includes people with dementia, the detail behind the Good rating matters as much as the rating itself. The inspection findings are now over four years old, so conditions may have changed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find serious or immediate concerns at the time of the visit, which is reassuring after a previous Requires Improvement. However, Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in smaller nursing homes, and the published report gives no specific figures for overnight cover across 29 beds. Agency staff usage is another factor families in our review data frequently raise, because unfamiliar staff are less likely to spot early signs of distress or deterioration in someone with dementia. Until you can see the actual rota and ask about night cover directly, treat the Good rating as a starting point rather than a complete answer.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are the two strongest predictors of safety failures in dementia care settings, yet they are among the least visible factors in published inspection summaries.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota for night shifts, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff covered overnight for the 29 residents, and ask whether a registered nurse is always on site at night."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well the home responds to people's changing needs. Dementia is a listed specialism, which means inspectors would have expected to see evidence of dementia-specific training and care plan quality. The published summary does not record specific detail about GP access arrangements, care plan review frequency, or food quality. The Good rating is encouraging but the lack of published detail means families need to ask direct questions.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating means inspectors were broadly satisfied that staff knew what they were doing and that care plans were in reasonable order. For families considering this home for a parent with dementia, the key question is how much individual detail sits inside those care plans. Good Practice evidence from 61 studies shows that care plans which capture a person's life history, preferred routines, and communication style lead to measurably better outcomes, particularly for managing distress. Food quality is the theme families in our review data mention most consistently after staff warmth, yet the inspection gives no detail here. Visiting at a mealtime and tasting the food yourself is the most reliable check.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans treated as living documents, reviewed with family input at least every three months, are associated with significantly better quality of life for people with dementia compared with plans that are set on admission and rarely revisited.","watch_out":"Ask the manager when your parent's care plan would first be reviewed after admission, who would be involved in that review, and whether you as a family member would be invited to contribute. Then ask to see an example of how a plan has changed in response to a resident's deterioration."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, privacy, and whether residents are supported to maintain their independence. No specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimonies are included in the published summary for this home. The Good rating indicates inspectors did not find concerning interactions, but without recorded observations it is not possible to assess the depth of relational care being provided. This is the domain that matters most to families in our review data, so a visit is essential.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important factor in family satisfaction, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across the 5,409 homes in our dataset. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. The inspection gave this domain a Good rating, which is the right direction, but the absence of any recorded observations or quotes means you cannot rely on the inspection alone to answer the question of whether the staff here are genuinely kind. Good Practice research is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people with dementia, and that person-led care requires staff to know each individual well, including their preferred name, their personal history, and what calms or unsettles them. The best evidence you can gather is your own observation on an unannounced or informally timed visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review identified that for people with advanced dementia, staff knowledge of individual life history and communication preferences is the strongest predictor of reduced distress episodes, more so than the physical environment or activity provision.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff greet your parent or any resident in a corridor or communal area. Do they use the person's preferred name, make eye contact, and move without hurrying? A rushed or task-focused interaction in a communal area is a reliable signal of broader culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the August 2020 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors its offer to individual needs, including activities, engagement, and end-of-life planning. Appleby Grange supports people with dementia and mental health conditions alongside older adults, which requires a genuinely varied and flexible activities programme. The published summary does not include specific detail about what activities are offered, whether one-to-one engagement is available for residents who cannot join groups, or how end-of-life care is approached. A Good rating here is positive but needs direct verification.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for meaningful weight in family satisfaction scores, and families in our data are particularly concerned about whether group activities are the only option. For a parent with advanced dementia who cannot follow group sessions, individual engagement, whether that is a simple household task, a familiar piece of music, or a walk in the garden, is what preserves a sense of self and reduces agitation. Good Practice evidence strongly supports Montessori-based approaches and everyday activity inclusion, not just scheduled entertainment. The inspection gives no detail on this, so you need to ask specifically what happens on a Tuesday afternoon for someone who cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based individualised activity approaches, including familiar domestic tasks such as folding laundry or sorting objects, reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia more consistently than group entertainment programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator, not just the manager, to describe what one-to-one engagement looks like for a resident who cannot participate in group sessions. Then ask to see last week's actual activity records for one resident with advanced dementia, not just the planned schedule."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the August 2020 inspection, and this remains the current published rating. This is the only domain that did not reach a Good standard. The registered manager is named as Mrs Nicola Sowerby and the nominated individual as Mrs Susan Rocks. The published summary does not detail what specific governance, audit, or cultural issues led to the Requires Improvement rating. The inspection took place in August 2020, meaning more than four years have passed without a published reassessment of leadership quality. This is the area of greatest uncertainty for families considering this home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership quality is the most reliable predictor of whether a care home improves or declines over time, according to Good Practice research. A Requires Improvement in Well-led means inspectors found that governance, oversight, or management culture was not consistently effective at the time of the inspection. Management quality accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in our dataset, and families most commonly raise concerns about communication when leadership is weak. The fact that this rating has not been updated since 2020 means you have no published evidence of whether things have improved. This is the single most important question to put directly to the manager when you visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear are the two strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes, and that a Requires Improvement in the Well-led domain frequently precedes broader quality deterioration if not addressed.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly: what specific issues were identified in the 2020 Well-led inspection, and what has changed since then? Ask to see the most recent internal quality audit and ask how staff are supported to raise concerns. If the manager cannot answer these questions clearly and specifically, treat that as a significant warning 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 support for people with dementia and mental health conditions, welcoming both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the team brings patience and understanding to their daily care approach. Families have found the staff maintain their compassionate approach even when supporting residents through more challenging aspects of the condition. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.