Ashbourne House

What families say

Based on 7 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth65
• Compassion & dignity65
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement45
• Food quality50
• Healthcare48
• Management & leadership68
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-11-20 · Report published 2021-11-20 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, safeguarding, and infection control. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement overall, so achieving Good in Safe represents a meaningful step forward. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, or how medicines are managed, so these remain areas where families will need to ask directly.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but it is worth understanding what sits behind it. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and the published findings give no information about how many staff are on duty after dark at Ashbourne House. Our review data shows that families who later report concerns about safety most often describe problems that were invisible during a daytime visit. Ask to see the actual staffing rota for a recent week, not just the template, and count how many permanent staff names appear compared with agency or bank workers.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent risk factors for safety incidents in care homes, because continuity of staff knowledge about individual residents underpins safe care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the staffing rota for last week. Count the permanent staff names on the night shifts and ask how many of those people have worked at Ashbourne House for more than six months."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers care planning, staff training, healthcare access, and nutrition. It is not possible from the published summary to know exactly which aspects fell short, but Requires Improvement means inspectors identified areas where the standard expected was not consistently met. This is the domain most directly linked to whether your parent's individual needs, preferences, and health conditions are understood and acted upon day to day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in Effective is one of the findings that deserves the most direct follow-up from families. Our review data shows that food quality (mentioned in 20.9% of positive reviews) and healthcare access (20.2%) are areas families notice and value. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed at least monthly and updated when a person's condition changes. If care plans at Ashbourne House were not meeting this standard when inspectors visited, your parent could arrive to find their preferences, routines, and health needs not properly captured. Ask to read a sample care plan before you decide, and ask how recently the home last reviewed its dementia training programme.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training for all care staff, not just senior staff, is strongly associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia, including fewer incidents of distress and more consistent person-centred care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what specifically failed under Effective at the last inspection and what has changed since. Then ask to see a care plan for a current resident, with identifying details removed, to judge for yourself whether it reflects a real individual or uses generic language."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents are treated as individuals. A Good rating here is significant because it is the domain most directly linked to how your parent will feel on an ordinary day. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations or resident and family quotes, so it is not possible to know exactly what inspectors saw that led to this rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews mention it by name, and compassion and dignity account for a further 55.2%. A Good Caring rating tells you that inspectors found evidence of these qualities when they visited, even if the published summary does not spell out the detail. The most reliable thing you can do is visit at a time that has not been arranged in advance and spend time in a communal area. Watch whether staff make eye contact with residents, use preferred names, and move without rushing. These are the signals that inspectors look for and that families in our data consistently say they noticed, or wished they had noticed, before choosing a home.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including pace, eye contact, and physical proximity, is as important as spoken words for people living with dementia, and that these behaviours are observable to families on a visit.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit in a communal area for at least 20 minutes without being shown around. Notice whether staff address residents by name, whether interactions feel rushed, and how staff respond when a resident appears unsettled or confused."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Requires Improvement at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, complaint handling, and end-of-life care. It is the domain most directly linked to whether your parent will have a meaningful daily life at Ashbourne House. The published summary does not specify which aspects of Responsive fell short. For a home with dementia as a specialism, the Responsive rating is particularly important because people living with dementia often cannot advocate for themselves when activities or individual attention are lacking.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness accounts for 27.1%. A Requires Improvement rating in Responsive is a concrete reason for concern, particularly because people with advanced dementia may not be able to tell you if they are bored, unstimulated, or distressed. Good Practice research shows that individual one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, is significantly more effective for people with dementia than group programmes alone. Ask specifically what happens for a resident who cannot join a group session, and ask to see the activity records for a typical week rather than just a printed timetable.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar domestic tasks, significantly reduce agitation and improve wellbeing in people living with dementia, compared with group-only activity models.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities records for the last two weeks, not just the planned timetable. Check whether any entries refer to individual one-to-one engagement for residents who do not join group sessions, and ask who is responsible for activities and whether that is a dedicated role or an additional duty for care staff."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. A named registered manager, Samantha Louise Booth, is listed alongside a nominated individual, Rajesh Gupta. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement overall rating suggests that leadership has driven meaningful change in at least some areas of the home. The published summary does not include detail about how the manager is known to staff and residents, whether staff feel able to speak up, or what governance systems are in place.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as one of the clearest predictors of whether a care home's quality improves or declines over time. The fact that Ashbourne House moved from Requires Improvement to Good overall is a positive signal, and it matters most if the same manager has been in post throughout that period. Our review data shows that families who feel well-informed about their parent's care are significantly more satisfied overall: communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive reviews. Before you decide, confirm that the registered manager named in the 2021 report is still in post, and ask how the home communicates with families when something changes.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that bottom-up empowerment, where frontline staff feel safe to raise concerns, is a consistent marker of well-led homes, and that management visibility on the floor during evenings and weekends predicts better staff behaviour and lower incident rates.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post at Ashbourne House, and ask what they changed after the previous Requires Improvement rating. A manager who can describe specific changes with confidence is a better sign than one who gives a general answer."}

  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 at Ashbourne House supports people with various needs, including dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They care for both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home provides specialist dementia care as part of their services. They work with residents at different stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.