Dementia Care Home

Hillside Care Home in Merseyside | Qualia Care

Hillside Avenue, Liverpool, Merseyside, L36 8DU

Nursing homes

At a Glance

The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.

DCC Family Score
72/ 100
Weighted from family reviews
Dementia SpecialismConfirmed

Nursing homes

Families Rate The Staff70 / 100

Staff warmth score

“Well Looked After”68%

of reviewers answered yes

Good to know

  • Registered beds119
  • SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Dementia, Mental health conditions
  • Last inspected2023-11-02

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The Evidence

What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.

Section 01

What families say

Some families describe feeling welcomed during the admission process, with staff taking time to provide reassurance as their relatives settled into the home. Others have found the initial transition more challenging, particularly around visiting arrangements.

The eight family priority themes

  • Staff warmth70
  • Compassion & dignity70
  • Cleanliness70
  • Activities & engagement65
  • Food quality65
  • Healthcare68
  • Management & leadership72
  • Resident happiness68
Section 02

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-11-02

  • Is this home safe?

    Good
    The Safe domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection, an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. The published report does not include specific observations about staffing ratios, falls management, medicines administration, or infection control practices. A named registered manager is confirmed as in post. The improvement from the previous rating suggests that whatever safety concerns were identified before have been addressed to the inspector's satisfaction. No specific concerns or enforcement actions are recorded.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is the care effective?

    Good
    The Effective domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. The home is registered to provide nursing care, which means clinical oversight should be available beyond standard personal care. The published report does not include specific detail on how care plans are written, reviewed, or shared with families, nor on GP access arrangements, dementia training content, or food quality. Dementia is listed as a specialism, but no specific evidence of dementia-focused practice is described in the published findings.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is this home caring?

    Good
    The Caring domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. The published report does not include specific inspector observations of staff interactions, descriptions of how dignity is maintained during personal care, or quotes from residents or relatives about how they feel treated. No concerns about dignity or respect are recorded. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating, which covered all domains, suggests that the quality of caring interactions was part of what was assessed and found to have improved.
    Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded
  • Is the home responsive?

    Good
    The Responsive domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection. The published report does not include specific information about the activities programme, how activities are tailored for individuals with dementia, or how the home responds to complaints and individual preferences. No concerns about responsiveness are recorded. The home is registered to care for people with dementia and mental health conditions alongside older adults, which implies a need for varied and individualised approaches to engagement.
    Verified by inspector
  • Is the home well-led?

    Good
    The Well-led domain was rated Good at the September 2023 inspection, improving from the previous Requires Improvement rating. Miss Susan Michelle Lucas is named as the Registered Manager and Mrs Lynn Patricia Fearn as the Nominated Individual for the provider, Qualia Care Limited. The inspection does not include detail on how long the current manager has been in post, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how the home uses incident data to improve practice. The improvement across all five domains from a previous Requires Improvement suggests effective leadership has been applied since the earlier inspection.
    Verified by inspector
  • Source: CQC inspection report →

    Section 03

    What the evidence base says

    The home specialises in caring for older adults with dementia and mental health conditions. They provide both ongoing residential support and end-of-life care for residents. For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialist residential care. Families considering dementia care will want to discuss specific approaches and daily routines during their visit. All areas worth probing directly during a visit.

The DCC Verdict

Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.

72/ 100

DCC Family Score

Hillside Care Home scores 72 out of 100, reflecting a genuine and encouraging improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating to a Good across all five inspection domains. The score sits in the mid-range because the published inspection report contains limited specific observational detail, quotes, or named examples to move individual themes into the higher bands.

Homes in North West typically score 68–82.

The three-lens summary

Lens 01

What families tell us

Some families describe feeling welcomed during the admission process, with staff taking time to provide reassurance as their relatives settled into the home. Others have found the initial transition more challenging, particularly around visiting arrangements.

Lens 02

What inspectors have recorded

Lens 03

How it sits against good practice

Every family's experience of choosing care is unique, and visiting in person helps you understand what feels right for your loved one.

DCC Recommendation

Worth a visit

Hillside Care Home, on Hillside Avenue in Liverpool, was rated Good at its inspection in September 2023, with that rating confirmed across all five domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. Crucially, this is an improvement on a previous Requires Improvement rating, which means inspectors found the home had meaningfully addressed earlier concerns rather than standing still. The home is a large nursing home with 119 beds, registered to care for older adults, people living with dementia, and people with mental health conditions. A named registered manager is in post, which is a basic but important governance indicator. The honest limitation of this report is that the published inspection text is brief and contains very little specific observational detail, direct quotes from residents or relatives, or concrete examples of practice. That means the Good rating is confirmed but the reasons behind it are not well documented in what is publicly available. When you visit, come with a list of specific questions. Ask to see last week's staffing rota and count permanent versus agency names on night shifts. Ask how dementia training is delivered and who last completed it. Observe whether staff knock before entering rooms, use your parent's preferred name, and move without appearing hurried. For a 119-bed home, the detail of how care is delivered to individuals, particularly those with advanced dementia, is the thing the inspection report cannot tell you and a visit can.

The three questions to ask when you visit

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In Their Own Words

How Hillside Care Home in Merseyside | Qualia Care describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.

What Hillside Care Home in Merseyside | Qualia Care says about itself

Liverpool care home supporting families through life's difficult transitions

Hillside Care Home – Expert Care in Liverpool

When someone you love needs specialist care for dementia or mental health conditions, finding the right support matters deeply. Hillside Care Home in Liverpool provides residential care for people over 65, with particular experience in dementia and mental health support. The home offers both long-term residency and end-of-life care.

Care & specialisms

Who they care for

    The home specialises in caring for older adults with dementia and mental health conditions. They provide both ongoing residential support and end-of-life care for residents.

    How they describe their dementia care

    For residents living with dementia, the home provides specialist residential care. Families considering dementia care will want to discuss specific approaches and daily routines during their visit.

    “Every family's experience of choosing care is unique, and visiting in person helps you understand what feels right for your loved one.”

    DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.

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