Braemar Lodge

What families say

Families describe a place where visiting feels natural and easy, with staff who welcome them whenever they need to be there. People notice how the team stays emotionally connected to residents, especially during those final weeks and days.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership55
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-08-24 · Report published 2023-08-24 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The April 2025 inspection rated this domain Good. No specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls logging, infection control, or safety incidents was included in the published summary. The home is a small service with 17 beds, which can support closer staff-to-resident ratios, but this was not confirmed by the inspection findings provided. The previous inspection in August 2023 resulted in a Requires Improvement overall rating, so it is worth asking what specific safety improvements were made in the period between the two inspections.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating tells you that inspectors did not find serious concerns, but with so little published detail, you cannot be certain what they actually checked. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in small residential homes. In a 17-bed home, even one staff absence overnight can significantly change the level of supervision available. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive sign, but ask the manager to describe what changed, specifically, since 2023.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the clearest predictors of inconsistent safety in dementia care settings, because unfamiliar staff are less able to recognise changes in an individual's behaviour that signal a health problem.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many permanent staff were on duty overnight last week, and how many of those shifts were covered by agency workers? Ask to see the actual rota, not a staffing template."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The April 2025 inspection rated this domain Good. No specific findings were published about care plan quality, dementia training content, GP access, medication management, or nutritional support. The home specialises in dementia care, which means staff should have specific training in this area, but the level and content of that training was not described in the published summary. Families cannot assess from the published report alone whether care plans are detailed, regularly reviewed, or genuinely reflective of individual preferences.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated whenever your parent's needs, preferences, or health change, not just at scheduled review points. If your parent has dementia, the care plan should include their personal history, communication preferences, and what helps them feel settled. Our review data shows that healthcare responsiveness (access to GPs and timely responses to health changes) matters to 20.2% of families in their positive reviews. Ask specifically how the home responds when a resident's health deteriorates overnight.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that dementia-specific training, particularly on non-verbal communication and person-centred approaches, significantly improves care outcomes, but training quality varies widely between homes even where formal training certificates are held.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if needed) and check whether it includes the person's life history, preferred routines, and communication preferences, not just medical and personal care tasks."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The April 2025 inspection rated this domain Good. No specific observations about staff warmth, dignity in care, use of preferred names, or responses to distress were included in the published summary. No resident or family quotes were available from the inspection text provided. A Good rating in this domain is encouraging, particularly given that caring is the area families most consistently highlight in positive reviews, but the absence of published detail means it cannot be independently verified from this report.","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 are close behind at 55.2%. These qualities are also the hardest to assess from a document: they are visible in how staff speak to your parent in a corridor, whether they knock before entering a room, and whether they move at your parent's pace rather than their own. A Good rating here is a reasonable signal, but your own observations on a visit matter more than any inspection score for this domain.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication in dementia care, and that staff who know a resident's personal history are significantly more able to respond to distress in a calm and effective way.","watch_out":"On your visit, notice whether staff address your parent (or any resident you pass) by their preferred name rather than a generic term, and whether interactions feel unhurried. This is one of the most reliable real-time indicators of a caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The April 2025 inspection rated this domain Good. No specific findings were published about the activity programme, individual engagement, response to complaints, or end-of-life care planning. For a home that specialises in dementia care, the quality and variety of activities, including one-to-one engagement for residents who cannot join groups, is particularly important. The published summary does not allow an assessment of whether activities are tailored to individuals or primarily group-based.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement are mentioned positively in 21.4% of family reviews in our data, and resident happiness (which is closely linked to meaningful engagement) features in 27.1%. Good Practice research shows that Montessori-based and task-led approaches, such as involving residents in simple household tasks they have always done, are more effective for people with dementia than structured group sessions alone. A small home with 17 residents has the potential to offer genuinely individual attention, but this depends on staffing levels and staff confidence in leading one-to-one activities.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that individualised activities, including everyday domestic tasks that connect to a person's previous life, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes in dementia care than group-only activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or, if there is no dedicated coordinator, the manager) to describe what they would do to engage your parent specifically, based on their individual interests and abilities, if your parent was unable or unwilling to join a group session."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The April 2025 inspection rated this domain Good. The home is run by two named individuals, Mrs Saima Raja and Mrs Denise Macedo Dos Santos, with a named registered manager in post. The recovery from a Requires Improvement rating in August 2023 to a Good rating in April 2025 suggests that leadership has addressed whatever concerns were identified previously. However, the published summary provides no detail about what governance improvements were made, how staff are supported, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to Good Practice research. The fact that this home has a named registered manager and has improved its rating is a positive sign. Communication with families is mentioned in 11.5% of positive reviews in our data, and families consistently value a manager who is visible, knows residents by name, and responds promptly when concerns are raised. Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post, as recent management changes can affect the stability of a previously improving home.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear of consequences, and where managers are regularly visible on the floor rather than office-based, consistently perform better on quality indicators over time.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly: what were the main concerns identified at the 2023 inspection, and what specific changes did you make to address them? A confident, specific answer is a good sign; a vague or defensive one is worth noting."}

  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 over 65, including those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on While the home accepts residents with dementia, including advanced Alzheimer's, families should ask about specific approaches and support available for their loved one's particular needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.