Baxendale Care Home

What families say

What strikes families is how welcoming the initial experience feels. People describe a warm reception that helps ease those first difficult days. The stability of the staff team means residents settle with people who'll be there for the long haul, creating real consistency in their care.

Based on 23 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 & leadership74
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-05-20 · Report published 2022-05-20 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2022 inspection, an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. This means inspectors were satisfied with the management of risk, medicines, and staffing at the time of the visit. The published summary does not record specific observations about falls management, infection control, or night-time staffing ratios. A review conducted in July 2023 found no new information requiring a change to this rating. The home has 45 beds, and the adequacy of staffing relative to occupancy on the day of inspection is not detailed in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safety is reassuring, particularly given the previous Requires Improvement result, which suggests the home identified problems and fixed them. However, Good Practice research consistently shows that safety risks in care homes are highest at night and at weekends, when staffing tends to be thinner. Our family review data shows that attentive staffing is one of the clearest signals families notice on visits. Because the published report gives no specific numbers for night staffing or agency use, you should treat these as open questions and ask them directly before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that night staffing ratios are the point at which safety most commonly deteriorates in residential care homes, and that high agency staff use undermines the consistency families rely on. Neither figure is recorded for Baxendale in the available inspection text.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template. Count permanent staff versus agency names on both day and night shifts, and ask whether those numbers change at weekends."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2022 inspection, covering training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and staff knowledge. The published summary does not include specific observations about care plan content, GP visit frequency, or how the home manages nutrition for residents with dementia who may have difficulty eating. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good indicates that previous gaps in this area were addressed before the inspection. A July 2023 review found no reason to revise this rating. The home lists Dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors would have considered dementia-specific practice as part of this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For families considering Baxendale for a parent with dementia, the Good Effective rating means inspectors were satisfied that staff have the knowledge to support your mum or dad's health and care needs. Food quality is rated highly in 20.9% of positive family reviews nationally, and the Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated as a person's dementia progresses. Because the published report gives no detail on how often plans are reviewed or whether families are involved, these are worth asking about explicitly. Dementia training that goes beyond basic induction is particularly important, so ask what specific training staff have completed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies care plans as the foundation of person-centred dementia care, finding that plans which are reviewed regularly and reflect personal history, preferences, and routines lead to better wellbeing outcomes than those treated as static documents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed, and whether you would be invited to contribute. Ask what dementia training staff have completed and when the team was last trained, beyond basic induction level."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2022 inspection, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. This is an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating and indicates inspectors were satisfied with how staff treated residents at the time of the visit. No specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative testimony are included in the published summary. The previous Requires Improvement result means there were concerns in this or related areas before 2022, and the improvement to Good reflects progress. The published July 2023 review found no new concerns.","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 follow closely at 55.2%. The absence of specific observations in the published report means you cannot rely on the inspection alone to answer the question of whether staff are genuinely kind to your parent. The Good rating tells you inspectors were satisfied; it does not capture whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, or whether they move without hurry. These are things you need to observe yourself on a visit, ideally at an unscheduled time.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. Staff who move calmly, make eye contact, and respond to non-verbal cues produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes than those who rely solely on speech.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas when they think they are not being observed. Notice whether staff use residents' preferred names, whether interactions feel unhurried, and how a member of staff responds to a resident who appears confused or distressed."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2022 inspection, covering activities, engagement, individuality, and end-of-life care planning. This represents an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. No specific activities are described in the published summary, and there is no detail about how the home supports residents who cannot participate in group activities, how end-of-life planning is approached, or how the home handles complaints. The July 2023 review found no evidence requiring a rating change. The home's dementia specialism means inspectors would have considered whether activities were adapted to different stages of cognitive impairment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. For a parent living with dementia, the quality of daily life depends heavily on whether staff offer meaningful moments throughout the day, not just organised group activities. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that people with more advanced dementia benefit most from one-to-one engagement and familiar, everyday tasks, not just group sessions. Because the published report gives no detail on what activities are offered or how they are tailored to individuals, this is a gap you should fill through a visit and direct conversation with the activities coordinator.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and engagement with familiar everyday tasks, such as folding laundry, tending plants, or simple cooking activities, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than passive group entertainment.","watch_out":"Ask to speak with the activities coordinator and ask them to describe what your parent's typical Tuesday afternoon would look like, including what would happen if your parent did not want to join a group activity. Ask how often one-to-one time is recorded in care notes."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2022 inspection, and a named registered manager (Miss Jacqueline Gordon) and nominated individual (Mr David John French) are recorded in the report. This is an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating and indicates inspectors found satisfactory governance, accountability, and leadership culture at the time of the visit. The published summary does not include detail about manager visibility, staff satisfaction, or how concerns are raised and acted upon. The July 2023 review found no reason to revise the rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence base. The fact that a named manager is in post and the home has improved from Requires Improvement is a positive indicator. Communication with families appears in 11.5% of positive reviews nationally, and how well a manager keeps families informed through changes in health or incidents is something inspectors do not always capture in detail. Because the previous Requires Improvement rating raises a reasonable question about what went wrong and how it was fixed, this is exactly the conversation to have with the manager during your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability is the single strongest predictor of sustained care quality in residential homes. Homes where the registered manager has been in post for two or more years consistently perform better across all domains than those experiencing frequent management change.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post, what did the previous Requires Improvement rating identify, and what specific changes did you make to address it? The quality and candour of that answer will tell you a great deal about the culture of the home."}

  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 Baxendale specialises in dementia care and supports adults over 65. The home particularly suits those who need higher levels of support, with staff experienced in managing complex care needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families navigating dementia, the home offers dedicated support from staff who understand the condition. Their long-standing team brings years of experience in dementia care, which shows in how they handle the daily challenges and changes the condition brings. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.