Courtland Lodge

What families say

Families describe a place where their relatives feel genuinely happy and settled. They talk about staff who take time to get to know each person, encouraging everyone to join in with activities while respecting those who prefer quieter moments. Special occasions get proper attention too, with staff making sure birthdays and celebrations feel personal.

Based on 9 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership70
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-04-30 · Report published 2019-04-30 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Safety at its last inspection in February 2022. This indicates inspectors did not find significant concerns about staffing, medicines management, or infection control. However, the published report does not include specific observations about night staffing ratios, falls management, or how the home uses agency staff. A desk-based review in July 2023 did not trigger any reassessment of this rating. The absence of published detail means the Good rating is the primary evidence available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safety is reassuring as a starting point, but our Good Practice evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 61 studies, March 2026) identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes. With 60 beds and a dementia specialism, you need to know how many staff are on duty overnight and how many of those are permanent rather than agency. The inspection findings do not answer these questions, so you will need to ask directly. Also check how the home logs and responds to falls: a home that reviews its own incident data openly is a strong signal of genuine safety culture.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review finds that reliance on agency staff undermines care consistency and is a leading factor in safety incidents in homes supporting people with dementia. Permanent staffing, particularly at night, is one of the most reliable predictors of safe care.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts compared to agency workers, and ask what the overnight staffing ratio is across the dementia unit specifically."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Courtland Lodge received a Good rating for Effectiveness at its last inspection. This domain covers care planning, dementia training, healthcare access, and food quality. The published report does not include specific detail on any of these areas: there are no examples of care plan content, no description of training programmes, and no observations about mealtimes or GP access. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied overall, but the evidence behind that judgement is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality is the most underestimated signal of good care. In our analysis of 3,602 positive family reviews across UK care homes, food and mealtimes appear as a meaningful theme: when families feel food is good, they tend to feel the whole home is good. The inspection did not record any detail here, so visit at a mealtime if you can. For dementia care specifically, the Good Practice evidence review highlights that care plans need to be living documents, reviewed frequently and updated when your parent's needs change, rather than completed once and filed away. Ask how often plans are reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies regular, meaningful care plan reviews (at least every three months for people with dementia) and genuine family involvement in those reviews as markers of effective, person-led care.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is structured, and ask when the last review took place for a resident with a similar level of need to your parent. Ask whether families attend reviews in person or are consulted by phone or letter."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Courtland Lodge received a Good rating for Caring at its last inspection. This domain is the most important to families, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how well staff know the individual people in their care. The published report does not include any direct observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents, or examples of how the home supports independence and preferred routines. The Good rating is the only available evidence on this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews. Compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in specific, observable behaviours, whether a staff member uses your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, whether they sit down to speak rather than talking from the doorway. The inspection findings here give you a Good rating but no window into those moments. The Good Practice evidence review notes that for people with dementia, non-verbal communication (tone, pace, touch, eye contact) matters as much as words. Watch for those signals on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies person-led care, specifically staff knowing individual histories, preferences, and communication styles, as the strongest protective factor against distress and withdrawal in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"On your visit, find a moment when a staff member approaches a resident who is not expecting them. Watch whether the staff member makes eye contact, uses the resident's name, and gives them time to respond. That unscripted moment tells you more than any planned interaction during a formal tour."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Courtland Lodge received a Good rating for Responsiveness at its last inspection. This domain covers activities, individual engagement, and how well the home adapts to changing needs including end-of-life care. The published report contains no specific information about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home responds to residents who withdraw or decline. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied, but no supporting detail is available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. But the Good Practice evidence review makes an important point that group activities, while valuable, are often inaccessible to people with more advanced dementia. The question to ask is not whether there is an activities programme, but what happens for your parent specifically on a Tuesday afternoon if they cannot or do not want to join a group. Montessori-based and household-task approaches (folding laundry, sorting objects, tending plants) have strong evidence for maintaining engagement and a sense of purpose in people with dementia. Ask whether the home uses any of these approaches.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review finds that tailored one-to-one activities, particularly those drawing on a person's occupational history and familiar routines, are significantly more effective at reducing distress and supporting wellbeing in advanced dementia than group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what they would do with your parent specifically on a day when they were not feeling sociable or could not join a group. A vague answer suggests the programme is not truly individualised."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Courtland Lodge received a Good rating for Well-led at its last inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Marta Danuta Carter, and a nominated individual, Mr Stewart Christopher Mynott, are on record. The home is run by Quantum Care Limited. The published report contains no specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home handles complaints and learning from incidents. The Good rating is the primary evidence available on leadership quality.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence review. A home where the registered manager has been in post for several years, is known by name to residents and staff, and is present on the floor rather than only in the office, tends to maintain quality more consistently than one with frequent turnover. The inspection findings do not tell you how long the current manager has been in post or how visible they are day to day. Ask this directly. Communication with families also falls under this domain: 11.5% of positive family reviews specifically mention being kept informed. Ask how you would be told if your parent had a fall, a health change, or a complaint was raised.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear as the two strongest organisational predictors of sustained care quality in homes supporting people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in their current role at this home, and ask whether the same deputy or senior carer has been in post for at least 12 months. Then ask how families are notified when something goes wrong, and how quickly."}

  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 supports people with dementia, physical disabilities, and other complex needs, caring for both younger adults under 65 and older residents. They're equipped to help people who need specialist residential support, whatever their age.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team understand how to provide the right balance of stimulation and calm. Families mention how staff encourage participation in activities while being sensitive to each person's changing needs and preferences throughout the day. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.