Highstone Mews Care Home

What families say

Families using the home for respite care describe staff as warm and helpful during short stays. Several people mention their relatives settling in well, making friends and joining in with activities. The atmosphere during these shorter visits has left many feeling their loved ones were well looked after.

Based on 26 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 & leadership70
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-04-30 · Report published 2020-04-30 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The home is registered to provide nursing care as well as personal care, which means qualified nurses should be on site around the clock. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, falls management, medicines administration, or infection control practices. No concerns were raised about safety in the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, particularly given this home's previous Inadequate rating. However, our Good Practice evidence base highlights that safety most often slips on night shifts and when agency staff are used, because consistency of care depends on staff knowing individual residents well. The published report gives no information about night staffing numbers or agency reliance at Highstone Mews, so these are the two most important questions to ask directly. In our review data, families who later report concerns about safety most commonly say they wished they had asked about nights earlier in their decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff dependency as the two most reliable early indicators of whether a care home's safety improvements are sustainable over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager: how many qualified nurses and carers are on duty overnight for the 62 beds, and how many of last month's night shifts were covered by agency staff rather than permanent employees? Ask to see the actual rota, not the planned template."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The home's registered specialisms include dementia and physical disabilities, as well as nursing care, which implies staff should have relevant training and expertise. The published report does not include specific detail about care plan quality, dementia training content, GP access arrangements, or food and nutrition practices. No concerns were identified in this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that specialises in dementia, the key question is not whether training exists on paper but what it looks like in practice. Good Practice research consistently shows that dementia training is only effective when it covers non-verbal communication, person-centred approaches, and behavioural responses, not just awareness-level content. The published inspection gives no detail on training quality here. Care plans are also critical: a plan that was written on admission and never updated cannot guide good care for a person whose dementia is changing. Ask specifically how often plans are reviewed and whether your family is invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (61 studies, 2026) found that care plans function as genuinely useful tools only when they are regularly updated to reflect changes in the person's condition and when family members are actively involved in shaping them, rather than simply signing them.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is updated when a resident's needs change. Specifically, ask who reviews plans, how often, and whether family members are contacted before the review or just told afterwards."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This is the domain most directly linked to how staff treat the people who live here on a daily basis, covering warmth, dignity, respect, and independence. The published report does not include specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or relative feedback about staff interactions. No concerns were raised about care quality.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. The absence of specific observational detail in this report means the Good rating is confirmed but the texture of daily interactions is not visible from the published findings alone. On your visit, watch how staff greet your parent at the door, whether they use their preferred name, and whether interactions feel unhurried. Good Practice research shows that non-verbal communication, tone of voice, eye contact, and pace, matters as much as spoken words for people with dementia.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review (2026) found that for people living with dementia, the quality of non-verbal communication from staff, including calm tone, unhurried movement, and consistent use of familiar names, has a measurable effect on distress levels and sense of safety.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit in a communal area for at least 15 minutes without announcing yourself and watch how staff interact with residents in passing. Are they making eye contact, using names, and moving without hurry, or are interactions brief and task-focused?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. This domain covers whether the home tailors its care to individual residents, offers meaningful activities, and responds well at end of life. The published report does not include specific detail about the activities programme, individual engagement for residents who cannot join groups, or end-of-life care arrangements. No concerns were identified.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for nearly half of what drives positive family reviews in our data: 21.4% of positive reviews specifically mention activities and 27.1% mention visible contentment in residents. For a person with dementia, activities that feel purposeful and familiar, such as folding laundry, looking through photographs, or tending plants, are often more beneficial than organised group entertainment. Good Practice research shows that one-to-one engagement for residents who are anxious or physically frail is a reliable marker of genuine responsiveness. The published inspection gives no information about whether Highstone Mews offers this, so it is worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review (2026) found that Montessori-based and household-task approaches to activity, where residents engage in familiar, everyday actions rather than passive entertainment, consistently produce lower agitation scores and greater observed wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the actual record of what happened in the last four weeks, not the planned timetable. Ask specifically what is offered to a resident who is too anxious or too unwell to join a group session, and who delivers that one-to-one time."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The home is run by Strong Life Care Limited, with Miss Chloe Evans as the registered manager and two nominated individuals named in the registration. The presence of a named registered manager is a basic but important requirement. The published report does not include specific detail about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home responded to its previous Inadequate rating. No concerns were identified.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality accounts for 23.4% of what drives positive family reviews in our data, and Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of whether a home sustains its quality over time. Given this home's history of an Inadequate rating followed by a return to Good, the key question is not whether the management is capable now but whether that capability is embedded in the culture or dependent on particular individuals. If the registered manager left tomorrow, would the home continue to improve? Ask how long Miss Evans has been in post, what specific changes she oversaw after the Inadequate rating, and how staff are supported to raise concerns.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice review (2026) found that homes which sustain quality improvements after a period of poor performance share a common feature: a leadership culture where frontline staff feel confident to raise concerns without fear, and where governance is embedded in routine practice rather than activated only for inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what were the main reasons for the previous Inadequate rating and what specific changes did she introduce? Then ask a member of care staff, separately, the same question. If the answers broadly match, that is a good sign the improvement is genuine and understood across the team."}

  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 cares for adults both under and over 65, including those with physical disabilities. They provide dementia care alongside their general nursing services.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those considering dementia care, it's worth noting that families have reported very different experiences. The home accepts residents with dementia as part of their wider service offering. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.