Hargrave House Care Home

What families say

Based on 5 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
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-05-23 · Report published 2019-05-23 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2019 inspection. The published summary does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls recording, or infection control practices. No concerns were raised and no requirement notices were issued. The inspection is now more than six years old, so the current safety picture is unknown from published sources alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is the minimum you should expect, but it is not the whole picture for a 58-bed home that includes people living with dementia. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip, and agency staff reliance as a factor that undermines the familiarity and consistency that people with dementia need. Neither is addressed in the published findings. When you visit, ask specifically how many staff are on overnight and how the home covers an unexpected absence at 2am.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff consistency are among the strongest predictors of safety outcomes for people living with dementia, yet these are rarely captured in the summary findings of routine inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count how many care staff are named on night shifts, and ask what proportion of those names are permanent employees rather than agency cover."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2019 inspection. The published summary does not record specific findings about care plan quality, GP access arrangements, dementia training content, or food and nutrition practice. No shortfalls were identified at the time. Given that the inspection is more than six years old, current practice in these areas needs to be verified directly with the home.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home means more than passing an inspection: it means care plans that are reviewed regularly with your input, staff who know how dementia affects your parent specifically, and food that accounts for swallowing difficulties, preferences, and the way dementia can affect appetite. Our review data shows food quality features in 20.9% of positive family reviews, making it one of the more visible markers of genuine care. The inspection tells you the home met the standard in 2019; it does not tell you what the food is like or how recently your parent's care plan would be updated.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after any significant change in the person's condition, with families actively involved in reviews rather than simply notified after the fact.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, and whether families are invited to those reviews or simply informed of changes. Then ask to see the most recent kitchen menu and find out how dietary preferences are recorded and acted on."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2019 inspection. No specific inspector observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, response to distress, or privacy practices are recorded in the published summary. The absence of concerns is positive, but the absence of detail means there is nothing specific to pass on to you about what warmth looks like in this home day to day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data, mentioned in 57.3% of all positive reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. The signals that matter are observable: does a carer crouch to speak at eye level with your parent, do they use the name your parent prefers, do they move without hurry? These are things you can only assess by visiting, because the 2019 inspection summary does not describe specific interactions.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication, including pace, posture, and eye contact, is as important as spoken language for people living with dementia, and that staff who know a person's life history are significantly better placed to provide person-led care.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas when they think no one is observing. Do they make eye contact, use names, and slow down? Ask a staff member what your parent's preferred name is and see whether they know it without checking a file."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2019 inspection. Dementia is a registered specialism for the home, which means it is set up in principle to respond to the specific needs of people living with dementia. The published summary does not describe the activities programme, individual engagement approaches, or end-of-life planning practices. No shortfalls were recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Responsive rating tells you the home met the standard; it does not tell you whether your parent would have something to look forward to each day. Our review data shows activities and engagement feature in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness is referenced in 27.1%. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not enough for people with advanced dementia: tailored one-to-one engagement, including household tasks and sensory activities, makes a measurable difference to wellbeing. Ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base finds that Montessori-based and household-continuity approaches, where people with dementia are supported to do familiar everyday tasks at their own pace, produce better wellbeing outcomes than passive group entertainment alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see last month's actual activity records, not the planned programme. Check whether activities happened on the days they were scheduled, and ask the activities coordinator what they would do specifically for your parent on a day when group sessions are not running."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2019 inspection. A named registered manager (Miss Shelley Sidhu) and a nominated individual (Mr Tony Thiru) are recorded against the registration. The published summary does not provide detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance processes, or how the home responds to complaints and incidents. No concerns were raised at the time of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence base. A registered manager who has been in post for several years and is known to staff and residents by name is a very different situation from a home that has seen frequent management changes. The inspection from 2019 confirms a named manager was in post then; it cannot tell you whether that person is still in post now, or how the culture has developed since. Management quality features in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families is mentioned in 11.5%. Both are worth probing directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership tenure and a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear as the two strongest structural predictors of sustained care quality in residential dementia settings.","watch_out":"Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post, and ask a care worker (not a manager) whether they feel comfortable raising a concern about a resident's care. Their answer, and the ease with which they give it, will tell you more than any policy document."}

  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 adults both under and over 65, with particular expertise in dementia care. This means they understand the different needs of younger people living with dementia as well as older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on The secure dementia ward gives families confidence that their loved ones are in a safe environment. Staff here understand the complexities of dementia and work to maintain each person's dignity and comfort. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.