Deansfield Residential Home

What families say

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement45
• Food quality50
• Healthcare45
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-27 · Report published 2023-04-27 · Inspected 8 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Deansfield was rated Good for Safe at the March 2023 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This indicates that inspectors were satisfied with safety systems, staffing levels, and medicines management at the time of the visit. The home specialises in dementia care, so safe management of risk and consistent staffing are particularly important. The published report text does not include specific observations about falls, accident logging, or infection control practices, so it is not possible to confirm the detail behind this rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Safe rating of Good, particularly following a previous Requires Improvement, is encouraging and suggests real progress. For a small 16-bed home, staffing consistency matters enormously: your parent is likely to be seen by the same small group of carers every day, and that familiarity is protective. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip, especially for people living with dementia who may become confused or distressed after dark. The published findings do not confirm night staffing numbers, so this is one of the most important questions to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies agency staff reliance as a significant risk factor in dementia care: unfamiliar faces at night increase agitation and reduce the likelihood that early signs of distress are recognised. A home with consistent permanent staff is demonstrably safer.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota, not the template. Count how many named staff appear on night shifts and ask what proportion are permanent employees rather than agency or bank workers."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"Effective is rated Requires Improvement at this inspection. This domain covers how well the home translates knowledge into practice: care planning, dementia training, healthcare access, nutrition, and whether care reflects each person's individual needs. The published report text does not specify what the inspectors found lacking, which makes it difficult to assess how serious the shortfall is or whether it has been addressed since the inspection. This is one of two domains that did not reach the Good standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating for Effective is the finding that should most concern you if your parent has dementia. This is the domain that asks whether staff actually know your parent, whether the care plan reflects who she is, what she likes, and what her daily routine looks like, and whether healthcare concerns are acted on promptly. Our review data shows that 20.2% of positive family reviews specifically mention healthcare responsiveness and 12.7% mention dementia-specific care quality. When these are not right, families notice. The inspection found something insufficient here, and the report does not tell us what has been done to fix it.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that care plans function as living documents only when staff are actively trained to update them following changes in the person's condition. Static or templated care plans are associated with poorer outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan for a resident with dementia (anonymised if necessary). Check whether it records their preferred name, daily routine, food preferences, and how staff should respond if they become distressed. Then ask when it was last updated and who updates it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring is rated Good, which covers the warmth, dignity, and respect shown by staff in day-to-day interactions. This is an improvement consistent with the overall upward trend from the previous inspection. The published report text does not include specific inspector observations or resident and relative quotes from this domain, so it is not possible to describe exactly what inspectors saw that led to the Good rating. A Good rating for Caring does mean inspectors were satisfied that fundamental standards of kindness and respectful treatment were met.","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 follow closely at 55.2%. A Good rating for Caring is therefore a meaningful reassurance. For a person living with dementia, much of what matters is not what is said but how staff move around them: unhurried, familiar, calm. Because the report text does not give us specific examples, we cannot confirm the texture of those interactions from published evidence alone. Visit at a time when care is actually happening, not during a scheduled tour, to observe this for yourself.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that for people with advanced dementia, non-verbal communication, including tone of voice, pace of movement, and physical proximity, is as important as spoken words. Homes where staff are trained in non-verbal communication show measurably lower rates of agitation.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens in the corridor or communal area when your parent would pass a member of staff. Do staff make eye contact, use a name, or pause? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? This is more revealing than anything said in a formal meeting."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"Responsive is rated Requires Improvement at this inspection. This domain asks whether the home genuinely tailors its offer to each person: whether activities are meaningful rather than generic, whether individual preferences are reflected in daily life, and whether people who cannot join group activities still receive one-to-one engagement. The published report text does not specify what inspectors found lacking in this domain. This is the second domain to remain below the Good standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Responsive is the domain that most directly affects your parent's quality of life day to day. Our review data shows that 21.4% of positive family reviews mention activities and engagement, and 27.1% mention residents appearing content and settled. When Responsive is rated Requires Improvement, it often means that activities are either generic, inconsistently delivered, or not adapted for people who cannot participate in groups. For a person with dementia, the absence of meaningful engagement is not neutral: boredom and under-stimulation are associated with increased agitation and faster cognitive decline. This is one of the most important areas to probe directly when you visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies individualised activity, including Montessori-based approaches and familiar household tasks, as significantly more effective than group-only programmes for people living with dementia. One-to-one engagement for people who cannot join groups is a key marker of a genuinely responsive home.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what activities took place last Tuesday (a specific day, not 'a typical day'). Then ask which residents were included and how staff supported anyone who could not join a group session. If the answer is vague or the activity log cannot be produced, that tells you something important."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led is rated Good at this inspection. The home is run by LJ Care Limited, with a named registered manager and a nominated individual both on record. A Good rating for Well-led indicates that inspectors were satisfied that governance systems, accountability, and culture were sufficiently in place at the time of the visit. The improvement from the previous overall Requires Improvement rating suggests that leadership has been effective in driving change in at least some areas. The published report text does not include specific examples of leadership actions or staff feedback about the management culture.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. A Good rating for Well-led, combined with an overall improvement trend, suggests that Deansfield has management that is capable of recognising problems and acting on them. That said, two domains remain at Requires Improvement, which means the job is not finished. Our review data shows that 23.4% of positive family reviews specifically mention management quality. Families value a manager who is visible, who knows their parent by name, and who responds to concerns promptly. The published findings do not confirm whether those conditions are met here, so test them directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that leadership stability, specifically a consistent registered manager over 12 months or more, is a reliable predictor of sustained quality improvement in care homes. High management turnover is associated with stalled or reversed improvement trajectories.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether the same person was in post during the previous Requires Improvement inspection. Then ask what specific changes were made in response to that earlier rating and how the home is addressing the two remaining Requires Improvement domains."}

  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 team at Deansfield provides residential care for adults over 65, with particular experience supporting people with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families navigating dementia care, the home's established staff team means residents work with carers who understand their individual needs and preferences over time. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.