Ashurst Park Care Home

What families say

Families describe seeing their relatives become more settled and engaged after moving here, especially those who'd found other homes challenging. The atmosphere feels different — residents who'd become withdrawn elsewhere start joining in with activities again. Even those who spend more time in their rooms seem to build genuine connections with the carers who visit them regularly.

Based on 25 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth65
• Compassion & dignity65
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership45
• Resident happiness60

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-09-23 · Report published 2021-09-23 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The safe domain was rated Good at the April 2025 inspection. This rating covers areas including staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to safety incidents. The published summary does not provide specific detail on what inspectors observed, such as staffing ratios, agency use, or falls management. The Good rating is a positive baseline, but the absence of published detail means families should seek specifics directly from the home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors did not find serious concerns about your parent's physical safety in this home. However, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that safety problems in care homes most commonly emerge at night, when staffing is thinnest, and among homes that rely heavily on agency staff who do not know the residents. Because the published report does not detail night staffing numbers or agency use at Ashurst Park, you cannot currently assess these risks from the published findings alone. With 53 beds and a specialism in dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, the complexity of need in this home makes staffing consistency particularly important. Ask directly before you visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of safety lapses in dementia care, because unfamiliar staff miss early warning signs of deterioration that permanent staff would recognise.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count the permanent staff names against agency names, and ask specifically how many carers are on duty overnight for the 53 residents currently in the home."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Good at the April 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans are detailed and kept up to date, whether residents have regular access to healthcare professionals, and whether food provision meets individual needs. The published summary does not include specific examples of care planning practice, dementia training content, or dietary arrangements. The Good rating indicates inspectors were broadly satisfied, but the level of detail available to families from the published summary is limited.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in this domain is reassuring, but families tell us in our review data that food quality (cited in 20.9% of positive reviews) and visible healthcare management are among the things that most affect day-to-day confidence in a home. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should function as living documents, updated after every significant change in a resident's condition, and that family involvement in those reviews is a strong marker of person-centred practice. Because the published report does not confirm how often care plans are reviewed or how families are included, these are essential questions to ask before your parent moves in. Dementia-specific training is also not detailed in the available findings, which matters given this home's specialism.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia training quality varies significantly between homes even when both hold a Good rating. Training that includes non-verbal communication, behaviour as communication, and personalised care approaches produces measurably better outcomes than generic training programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to walk you through how a care plan is created when a new resident moves in, how often it is formally reviewed, and how the family is notified when something in the plan changes. Ask to see a blank template so you can judge the level of personalisation expected."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Good at the April 2025 inspection. This domain covers how staff treat residents, whether dignity and privacy are respected, whether residents are supported to maintain independence, and how staff respond emotionally to residents' needs. No specific observations, quotes, or examples are available in the published summary. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the overall standard of care interactions during the inspection visit.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data, mentioned in 57.3% of the 3,602 positive reviews we analysed across UK care homes. When families describe what matters most, they consistently point to whether staff use their parent's preferred name, whether they are unhurried, and whether they notice and respond to distress. A Good rating in caring suggests inspectors observed broadly positive interactions at Ashurst Park, but because no specific observations are recorded in the published summary, you cannot rely on the rating alone. The most reliable way to assess this for your parent is to visit at different times of day, including late afternoon when staffing can be lower and routines more pressured.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal interaction in dementia care. Staff who make eye contact, move at a calm pace, and approach from the front before speaking produce significantly lower rates of distress in people with advanced dementia.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff greet your parent's potential future neighbours in corridor interactions. Are they addressed by name? Do staff stop and make eye contact, or do they pass quickly? Notice whether anyone appears to be waiting for help without a response."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether the home provides activities and engagement that reflect individual preferences, whether residents' cultural and personal backgrounds are recognised, and whether end-of-life care is well planned. Ashurst Park has a specialism in dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, which means the range of individual need in the home is significant. No specific activities, engagement programmes, or end-of-life arrangements are described in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness and meaningful engagement are cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews in our data. Families consistently describe the difference between a home where their parent sits in a chair all day and one where staff know what that person finds meaningful and make it happen. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with moderate or advanced dementia, and that one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks, reminiscence, or sensory activities, is what makes a real difference to wellbeing. Because this home cares for people with a wide range of conditions, ask specifically how individual activity time is structured for someone with your parent's particular needs.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review identified that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activity approaches produce significantly better mood and engagement outcomes for people with dementia than group entertainment programmes, particularly for those who can no longer participate in organised group sessions.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical day for a resident with moderate dementia who cannot join group sessions. Ask how many hours per week of one-to-one engagement that resident would receive and who is responsible for providing it when the activities coordinator is off duty."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the April 2025 inspection, which is the sole reason the home's overall rating is Requires Improvement. This domain covers leadership quality, governance systems, how the home responds to concerns, whether staff feel supported, and whether the home has a clear improvement culture. A registered manager, Mrs Jomina Gilles, is in post. The nominated individual is Mr Alan Goldstein of Bondcare (London) Limited. The specific reasons for the Requires Improvement rating are not detailed in the published summary available for this analysis. The full published report from August 2025 should contain this detail.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership quality is not just a regulatory technicality. Our analysis of care home review data and the Good Practice evidence base both show that management stability and culture directly determine whether everything else in a home holds together under pressure. When governance is rated Requires Improvement, it typically means inspectors found gaps in how problems are recorded and acted on, how staff are supervised, or how the home demonstrates it is learning and improving. This matters for your parent because a well-run home will notice early if something is going wrong with their care and act quickly. A poorly governed home may miss those signs. Read the full August 2025 report carefully to understand what specifically was found lacking, and ask the manager directly what has changed since the inspection.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Homes where the registered manager has been in post for more than two years, is visible on the floor, and is known by name to residents and families consistently outperform homes with recent management changes or a culture where concerns are handled at a distance.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Jomina Gilles how long she has been in her current role at Ashurst Park, what the inspection identified as the specific governance concerns, and what measurable changes have been made since April 2025. Ask whether there is a written improvement plan you can see, and ask when the next inspection is expected."}

  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 cares for adults both under and over 65, with particular experience in dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team works with residents whose dementia comes with challenging behaviours that other homes have struggled to support. Families report seeing meaningful changes in mood and engagement after their relatives settle in here. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.