Clairleigh

What families say

Visitors mention how content the residents look here. There's a good range of activities happening throughout the week, giving people different ways to stay engaged. The atmosphere feels calm and caring.

Based on 8 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-05-19 · Report published 2018-05-19 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the August 2024 inspection. The inspection report does not include specific observations about staffing ratios, falls management, medicine administration, or infection control practices. The previous rating in this domain was Requires Improvement, so an improvement to Good represents a real step forward. The published report does not detail what changed to bring about that improvement. A nursing home registration means qualified nurses should be on site around the clock, but the report does not confirm actual night staffing numbers.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For families choosing a home for a parent with dementia, safety is rarely about dramatic incidents. It is about whether someone notices at 3am that your dad is distressed, whether medicines are given on time, and whether falls are logged and acted on rather than simply recorded. The Good Practice evidence base from the Leeds Beckett rapid review (61 studies, 2026) identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes. The published inspection findings do not confirm what staffing looks like at night here, so this is the single most important question to ask before you decide. An improvement from Requires Improvement to Good is worth noting, but families should find out specifically what changed.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that safety failures in care homes are disproportionately concentrated in night shifts, and that agency reliance on those shifts compounds the risk. Knowing the permanent-to-agency ratio after 8pm is a more useful safety indicator than the overall rating alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the planned template. Count the number of permanent carers and nurses named on night shifts versus agency staff. For 50 residents, ask what the minimum overnight staffing level is and what happens when a staff member calls in sick."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the August 2024 inspection. The report does not include specific observations about care plan quality, GP access, dementia training content, or food provision. The home is registered as a nursing home, which means clinical effectiveness is subject to ongoing professional standards as well as inspection. No specific detail about how the home improved from its previous position is recorded in the published text. The inspection did not record whether care plans are reviewed with families or how frequently they are updated.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home is most visible in the small details: whether your mum's care plan records that she likes tea with no sugar and Radio 4 in the morning, whether her GP is called promptly when something changes, and whether staff have been trained to understand that behaviour is often communication when words are no longer available. Our family review data shows that healthcare responsiveness matters to 20.2% of families choosing a home. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should be living documents updated after any significant change, not filed and forgotten. The published inspection findings do not confirm whether this happens here. Ask to see a blank care plan template and ask how recently a resident's plan was last reviewed.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans which include detailed personal histories, daily routines, and communication preferences are associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia. Homes where families are included in care plan reviews show higher satisfaction scores in both staff and family surveys.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how often care plans are reviewed, who attends those reviews, and whether families are invited. Then ask to see the record of a review that has taken place in the past three months (with personal details removed) so you can judge the level of detail for yourself."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the August 2024 inspection. No specific observations from inspectors about staff interactions, use of preferred names, responses to distress, or unhurried care are recorded in the published text. No quotes from residents or relatives are included in the available report extract. The home's previous rating included Requires Improvement in at least some domains, and the move to Good across the board suggests the culture has shifted, but the published findings do not describe what that shift looks like in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews across 5,409 UK care homes mention it by name, and compassion and dignity account for a further 55.2%. What families are describing when they use these words is usually specific and observable: a carer who crouches to eye level rather than looming over a chair, staff who use your parent's preferred name without being reminded, and a pace that never feels rushed. The published inspection findings for Clairleigh do not give you enough detail to judge this from the report alone. You need to see it for yourself. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that non-verbal communication matters as much as words for people living with dementia.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that person-led care, where staff know an individual's history, preferences, and communication style, is associated with significantly lower rates of distress behaviour and higher resident wellbeing scores. This kind of knowledge cannot be assumed from a Good rating alone; it has to be observed.","watch_out":"When you visit, spend time in a communal area and watch how staff interact with residents who are not speaking to them directly. Do staff make eye contact and use names? Do they move at the resident's pace or their own? Ask the manager what name your parent would be called by staff, and whether that preference would be recorded before admission."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the August 2024 inspection. The published report does not include specific observations about the activity programme, individual engagement for people with advanced dementia, or end-of-life care planning. No detail is recorded about how the home tailors its provision to individual preferences or how it responds when a resident's needs change. The home is registered to care for people living with dementia, which implies some specialist provision, but the inspection text does not describe what that looks like day to day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For families thinking about whether your parent will have a life here rather than simply be kept safe, the activity programme is a key marker. Our family review data shows that activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family feedback, and resident happiness for 27.1%. The Good Practice evidence base highlights that group activities alone are not enough: people with more advanced dementia need one-to-one engagement, and the most effective approaches use familiar household tasks and sensory activities rather than organised group sessions. The published inspection findings do not tell you whether Clairleigh has an activities coordinator, what the programme looks like, or what happens for a resident who can no longer join a group. These are questions to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individualised activity approaches, including everyday household tasks such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking, produce measurable improvements in engagement and wellbeing for people with dementia compared with group activity programmes alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity schedule for the past month, not just the current week. Then ask specifically: if my parent reaches a stage where they cannot join group activities, what would happen during an average morning? Who would spend time with them, doing what, and for how long?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the August 2024 inspection. A registered manager, Miss Sacha Louise Rock, is named and in post, which is a basic requirement for governance and accountability. Mr Balbir Bains is the nominated individual representing the provider, Palmgrange Limited. The previous inspection resulted in a Requires Improvement rating, and the improvement across all domains to Good suggests leadership has had a positive effect. The published report does not include specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, incident learning, or governance processes.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our family review data shows that management and communication with families account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive feedback respectively. A home that has improved from Requires Improvement to Good under its current management team is showing a positive trajectory, but the published findings do not tell you how long the registered manager has been in post, whether staff feel able to raise concerns, or how the home communicates with families when something changes. Good Practice research is clear that homes where staff can speak up without fear of blame are safer and more responsive. Ask the manager directly about all of these things.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability is one of the strongest single predictors of sustained care quality in care homes. Homes that have recently changed manager or are growing quickly in occupancy are at higher risk of quality slipping, even after a Good rating.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long she has been in her current role, and what specific changes were made following the previous Requires Improvement rating. Also ask: if you were unhappy with something about your parent's care, what is the process for raising it, and how quickly would you expect a response?"}

  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 Clairleigh specialises in caring for adults over 65, including those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team understands how to support residents with dementia, providing patient care that helps people feel secure and valued. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.