Honeysuckle House

What families say

Visitors often comment on the friendly nature of the staff here. There's a sense that the team takes time to be helpful when families come to visit.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement55
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-11-16 · Report published 2018-11-16 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the December 2022 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and safeguarding arrangements. The published report does not include specific observations about any of these areas, but a Good rating indicates inspectors did not identify significant concerns. The home is a small 25-bed service, which in principle means individual residents are less likely to be overlooked. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no new information requiring reassessment.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating gives you a reasonable level of confidence that basic safety systems were working at the time of the inspection. However, the most important safety question for a dementia home is one the published report does not answer: how many staff are actually on duty overnight? Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety can slip, particularly in smaller homes where one staff member going off sick can significantly reduce cover. In homes rated Good for safety across the UK, families in our review data still identify night-time attentiveness as their number one concern. The inspection is over two years old, so this question is worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency needed to spot changes in a person's condition.","watch_out":"Ask: how many permanent staff are on duty overnight, and what happens if one of them calls in sick? Is there a bank of regular cover staff or does the home rely on agency workers at night?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good, covering training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and outcomes. Dementia is listed as a registered specialism, which means the service is expected to demonstrate specific competence in this area. The published summary does not include detail about the content of dementia training, how frequently care plans are reviewed, or how GP and specialist healthcare input is arranged. No concerns were raised by inspectors in this area.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent living with dementia, the Effective domain matters most in the everyday detail: does your mum's care plan describe her by name, note her preferred daily routine, and reflect what she can still do rather than only what she cannot? Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans need to be living documents, reviewed regularly with family input, not paperwork completed at admission and filed away. A specialism in dementia care should also mean staff have received training that goes beyond a basic awareness course, covering non-verbal communication, recognising pain in people who cannot express it, and approaches such as Montessori-based activities. Ask to see a sample care plan and ask when it was last updated.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review identified that dementia training focused on non-verbal communication and person-centred approaches significantly improves daily care outcomes, but generic awareness training alone does not produce the same effect.","watch_out":"Ask to see how care plans are structured and ask: when was the last time a family member was invited to contribute to a care plan review, and how is that conversation recorded?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. This is the domain families weight most heavily in our review data, accounting for over half of what drives a positive family experience. The published report includes no direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific inspector observations of staff interactions. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied with what they saw, but without published detail it is not possible to describe specific examples of kind or dignified care.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Fifty-seven percent of positive family reviews across UK care homes focus on staff warmth above anything else, and 55 percent highlight compassion and dignity. A Good Caring rating is encouraging, but it tells you inspectors found no problems rather than telling you your dad will be greeted by name, spoken to at eye level, or given time to make choices at his own pace. Good Practice research is clear that for people living with dementia, how something is said matters as much as what is said: tone, touch, and unhurried presence all affect wellbeing. When you visit, watch what happens in a corridor. Do staff make eye contact and stop to speak, or walk past? That tells you more than any rating.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that non-verbal communication, including tone, eye contact, and physical proximity, is as significant as verbal interaction in determining the emotional wellbeing of people living with dementia, particularly those with limited speech.","watch_out":"During your visit, observe an unplanned corridor moment: does a member of staff stop, make eye contact, and speak to your parent by their preferred name, or is interaction task-focused and brief?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good, covering activities, individual engagement, person-centred planning, and end-of-life care. No detail about the activity programme, its frequency, or how it is adapted for individuals with advanced dementia was published. The home's small size of 25 beds could support more personalised engagement, but this is not confirmed in the report. End-of-life planning arrangements are not described in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Will your parent have a life here is the question families ask most often after visiting a home, and the published report cannot fully answer it. For someone living with dementia, a Good Responsive rating should mean more than a weekly bingo session and a singalong. Good Practice evidence strongly supports the value of everyday purposeful activity: folding laundry, tending plants, handling familiar objects, or listening to personally meaningful music. These are not add-ons; they reduce agitation and support a sense of identity. The key question for a 25-bed home is whether there is enough staffing to provide one-to-one engagement for your parent on days when group activities are not suitable for them.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including domestic tasks and sensory engagement, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than group-only programme models.","watch_out":"Ask: if my parent cannot participate in a group activity because they are having a difficult day, what happens? Who would spend time with them one-to-one, and is that built into the staffing model or dependent on a member of staff having a spare moment?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-Led domain was rated Good, and the home has a named Registered Manager (Miss Katrina Sarah Summerscales) and a Nominated Individual, both registered with the regulator. The home is operated by Sheridan Care Limited. The published report does not include detail about management visibility, staff culture, how feedback is gathered, or how the home responds to complaints and incidents. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a change in rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Stable, visible leadership is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. A named manager who has been in post for a significant period, who is known to families and staff by name, and who is accessible when concerns arise, is a very different experience from a home that cycles through managers or relies heavily on a head office structure. Good Practice research shows that bottom-up empowerment, where care staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, is a key marker of a genuinely well-led home. Ask how long the current manager has been in post and whether the same person was in place at the 2022 inspection. The inspection is over two years old, so leadership continuity since then is an important question.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review identified management stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality: homes that retain the same manager over multiple inspection cycles consistently outperform those with frequent leadership changes.","watch_out":"Ask: is Miss Summerscales still the Registered Manager, how long has she been in post, and when did you last make a significant change to how the home is run? A confident, specific answer is a good sign."}

  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 team here supports adults of all ages, including those under 65 who need care. They have particular experience in dementia care, providing specialist support for people at different stages of their journey.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families navigating dementia, the staff here understand the importance of creating a supportive environment. They work with residents living with dementia to maintain their comfort and dignity. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.