Cherry Tree Lodge

What families say

Visitors describe walking into a home that feels alive with possibility — staff who stop to chat, organised activities that bring people together, and access to pleasant gardens when the weather's nice. The atmosphere can be particularly uplifting when the regular team is on duty, with their coordinated approach creating a sense of rhythm and purpose to each day.

Based on 30 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 & leadership75
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-28 · Report published 2023-04-28 · Inspected 7 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated the Safe domain as Good at Cherry Tree Lodge. This represents an improvement from the previous inspection where the home held a Requires Improvement rating. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicine management, falls records, or infection control practices beyond the domain-level judgement. The improvement trajectory is a positive signal, but the absence of granular evidence means this rating should prompt direct questions rather than complete reassurance.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a period of Requires Improvement tells you the home identified what was wrong and fixed it, which is itself a sign of a functioning management culture. However, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that safety in care homes most commonly slips on night shifts, where staffing is thinner and oversight lighter. With 74 beds across multiple care specialisms, you need to know exactly how many permanent staff are on duty overnight. Agency staff, while sometimes necessary, tend to be less familiar with individual residents, and that matters most when someone with dementia becomes distressed at 3am. The inspection report does not tell us anything specific about agency reliance or night ratios, so these must be your first questions.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing levels and reliance on agency staff are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care settings. Consistency of staff, particularly overnight, is directly linked to reduced falls and quicker recognition of deterioration.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template schedule. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and specifically ask how many carers are on duty overnight for the full 74-bed home."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutrition. As with the other domains, the published report does not provide specific examples of how effectiveness is demonstrated in practice, such as care plan content, GP access arrangements, or dementia training curricula. The Good rating is a baseline positive, but families considering this home for a parent with dementia will need more detail than the published text provides.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care setting means the staff who work with your parent actually understand what dementia does and how to respond to it, not just in a generic way, but in relation to your parent as an individual. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after every significant change, not just reviewed annually. Food quality is also a marker of genuine care: 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data explicitly mention food, and poor nutrition is a common and underreported risk for older people with dementia. The inspection confirms a Good rating but does not tell us how recently care plans were reviewed, whether families are included in reviews, or what the home's dementia training actually covers. These gaps are worth closing before you decide.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, including communication techniques and understanding of behavioural expressions of unmet need, significantly improves both safety outcomes and quality of life for residents when embedded consistently across the whole staff team, not just senior carers.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager: what dementia training does every care assistant complete before working unsupervised with residents, and when was the last cohort trained? Then ask to see a care plan (with appropriate anonymisation) to check whether it records personal history, preferred routines, and communication needs, or whether it reads as a generic clinical document."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, privacy, and whether care is led by the individual's preferences. The published report does not include inspector observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they are treated, or specific examples of dignity-preserving practice. The rating is encouraging, but the evidence base behind it is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data: 57.3% of positive reviews mention it by name, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. These are not soft extras. They are the foundation of good dementia care. Research shows that people with dementia read non-verbal cues, tone, pace, and physical gentleness, long after verbal communication becomes difficult. What inspectors describe as Good caring practice looks like staff knocking before entering rooms, using your parent's preferred name without being prompted, and not rushing personal care to meet a schedule. You cannot verify any of this from the published report. You need to see it for yourself on a visit, ideally at a time that is not pre-arranged as a formal tour.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led caring, where staff know and consistently apply individual preferences for address, routine, and physical contact, reduces behavioural distress and increases settled, content behaviour in people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens in a corridor or communal area when a member of staff passes a resident who is not in their direct care. Do they make eye contact, use a name, and pause briefly? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? That small interaction is one of the most reliable indicators of a caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. Responsiveness covers whether activities are meaningful and tailored to individuals, whether the home adapts to changing needs, and whether end-of-life care is planned. Cherry Tree Lodge holds specialisms in dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, which implies a commitment to meeting diverse needs. However, the published report does not include detail on the activity programme, individual engagement, or how the home plans for end of life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities matter more than many families expect. Our review data shows that 21.4% of positive family reviews specifically mention activities and engagement, and 27.1% mention residents seeming happy and settled. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with advanced dementia: one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks, sensory stimulation, and music, is what keeps people connected when group participation is no longer possible. With 74 residents across multiple care specialisms, the home has a complex population to keep meaningfully engaged. The inspection confirms a Good rating but gives no detail on how this is achieved. Ask specifically about provision for your parent if their needs change.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review identified that Montessori-based and occupation-focused individual activities, rather than group entertainment, are the most effective approaches for sustaining engagement and reducing distress in people with moderate to severe dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you last month's schedule and then ask: what happens for a resident who cannot join the group session? How many hours of one-to-one activity does each person with advanced dementia receive each week? If the answer is vague, that is something to weigh carefully."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Siobhan Anne Kearns, is in post, and a nominated individual (Dr Gavin O'Hare-Connolly) provides governance oversight on behalf of the provider, Runwood Homes Limited. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating across all domains suggests that leadership has driven meaningful change. The published report does not describe management visibility, staff culture, or how the home handles complaints and incidents beyond the domain rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that homes with consistent, visible managers who are known to both staff and residents outperform those where management changes frequently or operates at a distance. The fact that this home has moved from Requires Improvement to Good across all five domains is a concrete signal that someone in leadership identified the problems and drove improvement. What you cannot tell from the published report is how long Mrs Kearns has been in post, whether staff feel they can raise concerns without fear, or how the home responds when things go wrong. Communication with families, noted as important by 11.5% of positive reviews in our data, is also not assessed here.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that leadership stability and a bottom-up culture, where care staff feel empowered to speak up about concerns, are the two factors most strongly associated with sustained quality improvement rather than short-term inspection performance.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly: how long have you been in post, and what was the single most important change you made after the previous inspection? A confident, specific answer tells you a great deal. Also ask how a family member would raise a concern and what happens next."}

  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 residents with sensory impairments, physical disabilities and dementia, caring for both younger adults under 65 and older residents. This range of expertise means they're equipped to handle complex care needs across different age groups.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home's bright, modern environment can help with orientation and mood. The core staff team understands the importance of familiar faces and consistent routines in dementia care. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.