Farmhouse Rest Home

What families say

People talk about the lively atmosphere that fills the home, with residents joining in activities throughout the week. The staff's natural friendliness seems to put both residents and their families at ease, creating connections that matter when you're settling into a new routine.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2017-12-14 · Report published 2017-12-14 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for safety at its February 2021 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This represents a confirmed improvement in how the home manages risk, medicines, and staffing. The published report does not include specific detail on staffing numbers, night ratios, or how incidents and falls are logged and reviewed. No concerns about infection control or the physical environment were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A move from Requires Improvement to Good in safety is genuinely reassuring, because it tells you inspectors found evidence that earlier problems had been resolved. However, the inspection is now over three years old. Good Practice research consistently highlights that night staffing is where safety most often slips in small residential homes, and for a home caring for people with dementia across 23 beds, knowing who is on duty after 8pm is essential information that the published report does not give you. Ask directly rather than assuming the Good rating covers current practice.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the clearest markers of risk in dementia care settings, because continuity of familiar faces directly affects how safe and settled residents feel, particularly at night.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota for night shifts, not a template. Note how many permanent staff names appear versus agency names, and ask what the minimum staffing level is for overnight cover across 23 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Inspectors rated the Effective domain Good in February 2021. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutritional support, and how well the home works with other services. The published report does not include specific observations on dementia training content, GP access frequency, care plan review cycles, or food quality. The home lists dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities as specialisms, which means its care planning processes should be tested against a broad range of needs.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Effective tells you that inspectors did not find significant gaps in training, care planning, or healthcare coordination. What it does not tell you is whether your parent's specific needs, particularly if they are living with dementia, will be planned for in meaningful detail. Our review data shows that dementia-specific care quality (mentioned in 12.7% of positive family reviews) is closely tied to how well staff know the individual, not just the diagnosis. Ask to see what a care plan actually looks like and how often it is updated.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should reflect the person's history, preferences, and communication style, not just medical need. Homes that review plans with families at least every three months score consistently better on family satisfaction measures.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is structured (with personal details removed) and ask when the last review took place. Ask whether families are invited to attend reviews or contribute in writing."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and how well staff support independence. No specific inspector observations of staff interactions, no quotes from residents or relatives, and no examples of dignity in practice appear in the published report text. The Good rating tells us inspectors were satisfied, but the absence of detail means families cannot draw on specific evidence beyond the headline rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of satisfaction in our family review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. The Good rating here is positive, but a Good rating without supporting detail is harder to act on than one backed by inspector observations of, for example, staff using preferred names or residents appearing relaxed and unhurried. The best thing you can do is visit at a quieter time, such as mid-morning or after lunch, and watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas, not just during formal care tasks.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett review highlights that non-verbal communication, tone of voice, pace of movement, and eye contact, matters as much as verbal interaction for people living with dementia who may have lost the ability to articulate distress clearly.","watch_out":"When you visit, note whether staff greet your parent by name and whether interactions feel unhurried. Ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and what they enjoy doing in the morning, to test how well the team knows the individual."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsiveness was rated Good in February 2021, covering activities, individual engagement, and how well the home responds to changing needs including end-of-life care. The published report does not describe specific activities on offer, how frequently they are provided, or whether one-to-one engagement is available for residents who cannot participate in groups. The home supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which means tailored, individual responsiveness is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness and contentment appear in 27.1%. For a home that supports people at varying stages of dementia, the question of what happens on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, when a group activity is not running, is more important than what the activity schedule looks like on paper. Our Good Practice evidence highlights that individual, everyday engagement (helping to fold laundry, looking at a familiar magazine, a short walk in the garden) is often more meaningful for people with advanced dementia than structured group sessions.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found strong evidence that Montessori-based and everyday household activity approaches significantly improve wellbeing for people with moderate to severe dementia, compared with group entertainment activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask what happens for a resident who cannot join a group activity session. Ask for a concrete example of what one-to-one engagement looked like for a resident last week, not what the programme says but what actually happened."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Good at the February 2021 inspection, following a previous Requires Improvement rating. The published information identifies a registered manager (Miss Tammy Marie Shepherd) and a nominated individual (Mrs Elizabeth Ann Mayer), indicating an accountable leadership structure. No specific detail on management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home responds to complaints is recorded in the available report text. The improvement from Requires Improvement suggests that leadership problems identified previously were addressed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of whether a home maintains or improves its quality over time. The improvement trajectory here is a positive signal, but the inspection is now over three years old and a desk review in July 2023 is not a substitute for a full physical inspection. Management and communication with families appears in 23.4% of positive family reviews and 11.5% mention communication specifically. Ask whether the registered manager is still in post and how long they have been there, because manager changes often precede dips in quality.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and where managers are visible on the floor rather than office-based, consistently outperform on family satisfaction and inspection outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask whether the registered manager named in the 2021 inspection is still in post. If there has been a change, ask when it happened and how the handover was managed. Also ask how the home communicates with families when something goes wrong or a care plan changes."}

  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 welcomes people with various needs including dementia, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They care for adults both under and over 65.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home's emphasis on maintaining an active, social environment can help residents stay engaged. The friendly approach from staff helps create reassuring routines. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.