Hourigan House Care Home – Minster Care Group
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Residential homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds40
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia
- Last inspected2019-01-12
- Activities programmeThe home maintains high cleanliness standards throughout, with families particularly noting how bright and welcoming the spaces feel. Recent changes to the layout suggest ongoing improvements to the physical environment.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Families describe walking into a clean, bright environment where staff show real warmth towards residents. The caring approach comes through in daily interactions, with team members taking time to offer emotional support when people need it most.
Based on 35 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 & leadership74
- Resident happiness70
What inspectors found
Inspected 2019-01-12 · Report published 2019-01-12 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The inspection rated the Safe domain as Good at the December 2025 assessment. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, falls prevention, and how the home responds to safeguarding concerns. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations on night staffing ratios, agency use, or falls recording. A Good rating indicates inspectors found no significant safety concerns, but the detail behind that rating is not available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but safety is also where problems are hardest to spot from the outside. Good Practice research consistently identifies night-time as the period when safety risks are highest in care homes, particularly for people living with dementia who may be up and moving in the dark. The published findings do not confirm what overnight staffing looks like at Hourigan House for its 40 residents, so this is a gap you need to fill directly. Ask specifically how many care staff are on duty after 10pm, whether a senior is always present, and how the home records and responds to falls.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in residential dementia care. A Good daytime rating does not automatically confirm adequate overnight cover.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from last week, including overnight shifts. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear on the night shifts for 40 residents."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The inspection rated the Effective domain as Good at the December 2025 assessment. This domain covers staff training, care plan quality, access to healthcare, nutrition, and how well the home meets the assessed needs of each person. The home is registered as a dementia specialism, which means it has declared the capacity to meet dementia-specific needs. The published summary does not include detail on care plan review frequency, the content of dementia training, GP access arrangements, or food quality and choice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in dementia care comes down to whether staff genuinely know your parent as an individual and whether care plans are treated as living documents rather than filed paperwork. Our family review data shows food quality features in 20.9% of positive reviews, which reflects how much families read it as a signal of genuine care. The published findings do not confirm what dementia training staff have completed or how recently care plans are reviewed, so these are important questions to ask before you decide. Ask to see an anonymised example of a care plan to judge whether it reflects a real person's preferences or reads like a template.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as the single most important document in dementia care, but only when they are written with the person and their family, updated at least quarterly, and actually read and used by staff on every shift.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what dementia-specific training all care staff have completed in the last 12 months and whether any staff hold a formal qualification such as a Dementia Care Mapping certificate or equivalent. Ask to see the training records if possible."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The inspection rated the Caring domain as Good at the December 2025 assessment. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, independence, and privacy. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the quality of relationships between staff and the people who live there. The published summary does not include specific inspector observations of staff interactions, resident quotes about how they feel, or family testimony about day-to-day kindness.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities; they show up in small, observable moments: whether a staff member uses your mum's preferred name without being prompted, whether they knock before entering a room, and whether they sit down at eye level when speaking to someone who is seated. The published findings confirm a Good rating but do not give you the specific detail to judge this for yourself. Plan to visit unannounced if possible, or at least at a time the home is not expecting you, and watch how staff move through the building and greet residents in corridors.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review notes that non-verbal communication, including pace, posture, and tone of voice, is as important as words for people living with dementia, and that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens when a member of staff walks past a resident sitting alone in a corridor or lounge. Do they stop, make eye contact, and say something personal? Or do they walk past? This small moment is one of the most reliable indicators of genuine warmth."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The inspection rated the Responsive domain as Good at the December 2025 assessment. This domain covers whether the home tailors its care to individual needs, the quality and variety of the activities programme, how it supports people at the end of life, and how it handles complaints. The home is registered to care for people living with dementia as well as adults of working age and older adults. The published summary does not include detail on the activities programme, one-to-one engagement, or end-of-life planning.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews and resident happiness in 27.1%, which tells you that having a life inside a care home matters as much to families as the clinical basics. For someone living with dementia, the Good Practice evidence is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient. People who cannot easily join a group need one-to-one engagement built into their daily routine. The published findings do not confirm whether Hourigan House provides this. Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical day for someone who does not join group sessions, and ask whether staff use approaches like reminiscence, music, or everyday household tasks to provide meaningful engagement.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches, such as folding, sorting, or simple gardening, are among the most effective ways to provide meaningful engagement for people living with moderate to advanced dementia who cannot easily participate in structured group activities.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to show you the activity records for one resident living with dementia over the past two weeks, including what happened on days when no group session ran. This will tell you whether one-to-one engagement is genuinely planned or relies on staff having spare time."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The inspection rated the Well-led domain as Good at the December 2025 assessment. This domain covers the quality of management, governance, culture, and accountability. The home has a named registered manager, Mrs Joanne Maureen Nelson, and a nominated individual, Mr Paul Nicholls, representing the provider organisation Croftwood Care UK Limited. The published summary does not include detail on how long the manager has been in post, how staff describe the culture, or what governance systems are in place.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality is confirmed as Good, and having a named registered manager in post is itself a meaningful marker of stability. Our family review data shows management features in 23.4% of positive reviews, and the Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality over time. What you cannot tell from the published findings is how long Mrs Nelson has been in post or whether staff feel they can speak up when something is wrong. These questions are worth asking directly, because a home that is growing in occupancy or has recently changed management can show a temporary Good rating while culture is still settling.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that leadership stability, specifically a manager who has been in post for more than 18 months, is one of the most reliable predictors of consistent care quality in residential dementia settings.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly how long she has been in post at Hourigan House, and ask whether the staff team has been stable over the past year or whether there has been significant turnover. A high turnover rate, even in a Good-rated home, is a warning sign worth taking seriously."}
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 provides residential care for adults over 65, younger adults who need support, and people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on With dementia care as one of their specialisms, the team understands the importance of emotional support and maintaining familiar routines for residents living with the condition. — 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.
DCC Family Score
Hourigan House received a Good rating across all five inspection domains in its December 2025 assessment, which is a positive baseline. However, the published report text does not include specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or detailed evidence, so scores reflect a confirmed Good rating without the granular detail that would push them higher.
Homes in North West typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
Families describe walking into a clean, bright environment where staff show real warmth towards residents. The caring approach comes through in daily interactions, with team members taking time to offer emotional support when people need it most.
What inspectors have recorded
The manager stays accessible and responsive, particularly when families face emergencies or difficult moments. However, families have noticed that day-to-day requests can take longer than expected to action, and some aspects like laundry sorting and individual care preferences around bathing routines could use closer attention to ensure everyone's needs are properly met.
How it sits against good practice
While operational details sometimes need fine-tuning, the genuine care from staff creates a supportive atmosphere for residents facing different challenges.
Worth a visit
Hourigan House Residential Care Home, on Myrtle Avenue in Leigh, was assessed on 29 December 2025 and rated Good across all five inspection domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. The home is registered to care for up to 40 people, including those living with dementia, and is run by Croftwood Care UK Limited with a named registered manager, Mrs Joanne Maureen Nelson, and a nominated individual, Mr Paul Nicholls. A Good rating across every domain is a meaningful baseline and indicates that inspectors found no significant concerns in any area of the home's operation. The main limitation of this report is that the published inspection text does not include specific inspector observations, resident or family quotes, or the detailed evidence that would allow a fuller picture. A Good rating tells you the home met the required standard; it does not tell you whether your mum would feel genuinely at ease there or whether the activity programme would suit your dad's interests. Before deciding, visit in person at a mealtime or during the afternoon activity period, ask to see last week's actual staffing rota including overnight shifts, and find out how dementia-specific the care genuinely is beyond the registered specialism.
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In Their Own Words
How Hourigan House Care Home – Minster Care Group describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Caring staff create warmth in this traditional Leigh care home
Compassionate Care in Leigh at Hourigan House Residential Care Home
When families visit Hourigan House Residential Care Home in Leigh, they're struck by how genuinely the staff care about each resident. This established home supports people living with dementia alongside younger adults who need residential care, creating a diverse community where emotional support really matters.
Who they care for
The home provides residential care for adults over 65, younger adults who need support, and people living with dementia.
With dementia care as one of their specialisms, the team understands the importance of emotional support and maintaining familiar routines for residents living with the condition.
Management & ethos
The manager stays accessible and responsive, particularly when families face emergencies or difficult moments. However, families have noticed that day-to-day requests can take longer than expected to action, and some aspects like laundry sorting and individual care preferences around bathing routines could use closer attention to ensure everyone's needs are properly met.
The home & environment
The home maintains high cleanliness standards throughout, with families particularly noting how bright and welcoming the spaces feel. Recent changes to the layout suggest ongoing improvements to the physical environment.
“While operational details sometimes need fine-tuning, the genuine care from staff creates a supportive atmosphere for residents facing different challenges.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
