Clarendon Hall Care Home

What families say

Some families describe finding carers who take time to chat and connect, even during busy periods. Others have found the atmosphere welcoming, with staff who try to maintain their patience through long shifts.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity75
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement88
• Food quality62
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness78

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-01-25 · Report published 2020-01-25 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the June 2023 inspection. This indicates inspectors were satisfied with how risks were managed, how medicines were handled, and how staffing was deployed. No specific concerns about safety were recorded in the published summary. The home cares for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and a mix of adults over and under 65, which means safety systems need to be robust across varied needs. No detail on night staffing ratios, falls management, or infection control is available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating means inspectors did not find significant gaps in how the home keeps people safe, which is the baseline your parent needs. However, the inspection was carried out in June 2023, which means the findings are now over 18 months old. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, and 14% of families in our review data specifically mention staff attentiveness as a reason for their positive rating. The published report does not tell you the night staffing numbers for this 52-bed home, so that is a critical question to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety lapses, particularly on night shifts. A home that has improved from Requires Improvement should be asked directly how it has stabilised its permanent workforce.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff were on the dementia unit overnight, and ask whether that pattern is typical."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the June 2023 inspection. For a home that lists dementia as a specialism, this means inspectors were satisfied that staff had the training and knowledge to meet complex needs. It also suggests care plans were in place and that residents had access to healthcare professionals including GPs. No specific examples of dementia training content, care plan reviews, or dietary provision are described in the published text. The rating covers a broad home caring for both over-65s and under-65s with varied conditions.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating tells you that inspectors found the home competent, but it does not tell you how well staff understand dementia specifically. Our Good Practice evidence base found that dementia training quality varies enormously even within homes rated Good: some staff have completed detailed person-centred dementia programmes while others have only brief e-learning. Food quality, which 20.9% of families in our review data mention as a marker of genuine care, is not described in the published findings at all. Ask to see a week's menu and, if possible, visit at a mealtime.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans function best as living documents updated at least monthly with family input. A Good Effective rating does not confirm how frequently plans are reviewed or whether families are invited to contribute.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, and whether you would be invited to those reviews. Then ask what dementia training your parent's named key worker has completed and when they last updated it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the June 2023 inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that staff treated people with dignity, respected privacy, and supported independence where possible. No specific inspector observations of staff interactions are recorded in the published summary, and no resident or relative quotes are available. For a home where many residents will be living with dementia and may not be able to advocate for themselves, the quality of everyday interactions matters enormously.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews by name. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating tells you inspectors were satisfied, but the best signal you can get is what you see and hear on a visit. Watch whether staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, whether interactions feel unhurried, and whether staff make eye contact and speak at the right pace for someone with dementia. These are the observable markers that inspection reports often cannot fully capture.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal for people living with dementia. Staff who crouch to eye level, use calm touch, and read body language reduce distress and support dignity even when verbal communication is limited.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch a corridor interaction between a staff member and a resident who did not initiate contact. Does the staff member stop, make eye contact, and speak without rushing? That unhurried quality is the most reliable indicator of genuine warmth, and it cannot be faked consistently."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Outstanding at the June 2023 inspection. This is the highest possible rating and requires inspectors to find specific, detailed evidence that the home goes substantially beyond the expected standard in responding to individual needs. For the 52 people living here, this means activities, daily routines, and care approaches were tailored to who each person is, not just what condition they have. No specific activities, individual stories, or resident feedback are quoted in the available text, but the Outstanding rating itself is a strong signal. This was also the area where the home's improvement from Requires Improvement is most visible.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An Outstanding Responsive rating is genuinely rare and worth taking seriously. In our review data, activities and engagement are mentioned in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. Good Practice research identifies tailored individual activities, not just group sessions, as one of the strongest contributors to wellbeing for people with dementia. The key question is whether this Outstanding quality has been maintained since the June 2023 inspection, and whether it extends to people who are too unwell or withdrawn to join group activities.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking, provide meaningful engagement for people with advanced dementia who cannot participate in formal group activities. An Outstanding Responsive rating in a home with this specialism should include evidence of this kind of one-to-one provision.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what happened last Tuesday for a resident who is mostly in their room and cannot join group activities. If the answer is specific and immediate, the Outstanding rating is likely still meaningful. If the answer is vague or defaults to group sessions, probe further."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the June 2023 inspection. The registered manager is named as Anna Gretchen Selby, and the home is run by HC-One Limited, one of the larger care home operators in the UK. A Good Well-led rating means inspectors found governance systems in place, that the manager was known to the home, and that there was a culture of accountability. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating across the whole home is itself evidence of leadership effectiveness. No specific examples of how the manager has driven that improvement are available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Our Good Practice evidence base found that bottom-up empowerment, where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, is a key marker of healthy leadership. The improvement from Requires Improvement is encouraging, but the critical question for you is how long the current manager has been in post and whether that improvement is embedded or still fragile. Communication with families is mentioned by 11.5% of reviewers in our data as a specific positive, yet this is not described in the published findings.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that leadership stability, specifically manager tenure and consistent senior staff, is one of the strongest predictors of a care home's quality trajectory over time.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post at Clarendon Hall, and whether there have been any significant changes in the senior care team in the last 12 months. A home that has improved under a stable manager is in a very different position from one that has cycled through several managers."}

  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 caters for adults across different age groups, including those under 65 who need residential care. They support residents with dementia and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on Dementia care forms part of their provision, with staff experienced in supporting residents at different stages of the condition. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.