Foxholes Care Home

What families say

Families describe how their relatives have settled in well here, with staff who pick up on individual preferences and respond to them day by day. The atmosphere feels relaxed, and relatives say they've gotten to know both staff and other residents during their visits.

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
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-09-19 · Report published 2019-09-19 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the September 2024 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published report does not include specific detail on staffing ratios, agency staff use, or how falls and medication errors are logged and reviewed. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating suggests that concerns identified earlier have been addressed, but the published text does not describe what those concerns were or what changed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is reassuring, but it is the starting point for your questions, not the end. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, and that homes relying heavily on agency staff can struggle to maintain the consistency that people with dementia need. With 110 beds across a home supporting dementia and physical disabilities, the staffing picture on a night shift matters enormously for your parent's safety. The published findings do not tell you the numbers, so you will need to ask directly. Our review data also shows that families mention staff attentiveness in 14% of positive reviews, which means its absence is noticed quickly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and the consistent presence of familiar staff are two of the strongest predictors of safe, low-anxiety environments for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many carers and senior staff are on duty overnight across all 110 beds, and in the last month, what percentage of night shifts were covered by agency staff rather than the permanent team?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the September 2024 inspection. This domain covers how well staff are trained, how care plans are written and reviewed, whether residents have regular access to GPs and other health professionals, and how the home manages nutrition and hydration. The published report does not include specific examples of dementia training content, care plan quality, or healthcare access arrangements. The Good rating indicates the inspector was satisfied, but the detail behind that judgement is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For families choosing a dementia care home, the Effective domain is where training and care planning sit, and these matter enormously. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should be living documents, updated with the family after every significant change, not paper exercises completed on admission. Dementia-specific training, not just generic care training, is what equips staff to understand why your parent behaves as they do and how to respond in ways that reduce distress. The published findings do not confirm whether staff here have that level of training. Food quality, which 20.9% of positive family reviews cite specifically, is also part of this domain and is not described in the available text.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that dementia-specific training covering communication, behavioural understanding, and person-centred approaches produces measurable improvements in resident wellbeing and reductions in the use of sedating medication.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: what specific dementia training does every member of staff complete before working unsupervised, and can you see a sample care plan to understand how your parent's individual preferences, history, and health needs would be recorded and reviewed?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the September 2024 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, how residents are treated with dignity and respect, whether privacy is protected, and whether people are supported to remain as independent as possible. The published report contains no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no recorded inspector observations of staff interactions. The Good rating indicates the inspector was satisfied with what they observed, but the published text does not describe specific examples.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, cited in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract values; they show up in specific moments: whether a carer knocks before entering a room, whether your parent is addressed by the name they prefer, whether someone sits with them rather than rushing to the next task. The inspection found Caring to be Good, but without specific observations or family testimony in the published text, you cannot know from this report alone what that looks and feels like here. This is the domain you can assess most directly on a visit, simply by watching how staff move through the building and speak to the people who live there.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review emphasises that non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and physical proximity, matters as much as what is said, particularly for people with advanced dementia who may not process spoken words reliably.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch for at least 15 minutes in a communal area without announcing yourself as a prospective family member. Notice whether staff make eye contact with residents, whether they crouch to speak rather than lean over, and whether anyone is sitting alone without acknowledgement for long periods."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the September 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether the home offers meaningful activities tailored to individuals, how it responds to changing needs and complaints, and whether end-of-life care is planned and respectful. The published report does not describe the activity programme, give examples of individual engagement, or reference end-of-life planning arrangements. As with the other domains, the Good rating confirms the inspector's overall judgement but the specific evidence behind it is not available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities sit at 21.4%. What our review data and the Good Practice evidence both confirm is that group activities alone are not enough, particularly for people with more advanced dementia who cannot easily join in. One-to-one engagement, whether that is a staff member sitting to look through a photo book, folding laundry together, or simply talking about a person's life history, is what keeps people connected and reduces agitation. The published findings do not tell you whether Foxholes has a dedicated activity coordinator, what the programme looks like on a Sunday afternoon, or how they engage residents who cannot access groups. These are questions you need to ask and, if possible, observe.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household task involvement, rather than scheduled group entertainment, are most effective at maintaining a sense of purpose and reducing distress in people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for the last two weeks, including weekends. Ask specifically: if your parent cannot join a group session, what happens for them on a weekday evening and on a Sunday afternoon?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the September 2024 inspection. The home is run by Mrs Ushakiran Gandecha, who is both the Registered Manager and the Nominated Individual, meaning she holds personal regulatory responsibility for the home's performance. The fact that the home improved from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains suggests that leadership has been effective in identifying and addressing previous shortfalls. The published report does not describe management visibility, staff culture, complaint handling, or how the home involves families in governance.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence base. A manager who is also the nominated individual carries significant personal accountability, which can be a positive sign of commitment. The improvement from Requires Improvement is the most concrete piece of evidence available here: something was wrong before, and the inspection found it has been put right. What you cannot tell from the published text is how long the current manager has been in post, whether there have been recent senior staff changes, and how the home communicates with families when things go wrong. Communication with families is cited in 11.5% of positive reviews, and its absence is often what families remember most when care goes badly. Ask about this directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research evidence review found that leadership stability, defined as a consistent registered manager in post for more than 12 months, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes that have previously received a lower rating.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post at Foxholes, and if a significant change happened with my parent's health or behaviour overnight, how would I be told and by whom?"}

  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 Foxholes provides care for adults both over and under 65, including those living with dementia or physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home supports residents with dementia, creating routines and environments where they can feel settled and engaged at their own pace. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.