The Knells Country House

What families say

Visitors regularly comment on the friendly, welcoming nature of the staff. There's a consistent warmth that families notice, with carers taking time to be genuinely caring in their approach.

Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-06-13 · Report published 2023-06-13 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for safety at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how risks to residents are identified and managed. The home specialises in dementia care for 24 residents, which means safe staffing at all hours is critical. No specific observations, quotes, or data points about safety practices appear in the published text. The rating represents a significant improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, particularly given the previous Requires Improvement, but the absence of specific published detail means you cannot rely on the rating alone to answer your most pressing questions. Our Good Practice evidence base, drawing on 61 studies, consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in smaller care homes. For a 24-bed dementia home, knowing how many permanent carers are present after 8pm matters enormously. The shift from Requires Improvement to Good suggests real progress, but it is worth asking what specifically changed and whether the improvements have been sustained.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in dementia care settings, because unfamiliar staff are less able to recognise changes in a resident's usual behaviour or presentation.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template. Count the permanent staff names against agency names, and check how many staff are on the dementia unit between 10pm and 6am."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for effectiveness at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers how well staff know each resident's care needs, the quality of care planning, access to GP and healthcare services, dementia-specific training, and food and nutrition. The home is registered as a dementia specialist, so the effectiveness of care planning and staff training is particularly significant. No specific examples, quotes, or observations relating to effectiveness appear in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care home is about whether staff genuinely know your parent as an individual, not just as a list of needs on a care plan. Our Good Practice evidence base found that care plans function as living documents only when staff read them, contribute to them, and update them as the person changes. Food quality, which drives 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, is also part of this domain. You cannot assess any of this from the published report, so a visit that includes a mealtime observation and a conversation with the care manager about a specific resident's recent care plan review is essential.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training content matters as much as training hours. Staff who understand the behavioural expressions of unmet need, rather than simply completing a tick-box course, deliver measurably better outcomes for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager to walk you through how a care plan is updated when your parent's needs change. Specifically ask: who writes the update, how quickly it happens after a change is noticed, and whether families are involved in reviewing it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for caring at the April 2023 inspection. This domain reflects how staff interact with residents: whether they are kind, respectful, unhurried, and whether they protect residents' dignity and promote independence where possible. For a dementia specialist home, this domain also reflects how well staff communicate with people who may have limited verbal ability. No direct quotes from residents, relatives, or inspector observations about staff kindness or dignity appear in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity together appear in 55.2%. These are the things families notice first on a visit and remember longest. The published Good rating for caring tells you inspectors were satisfied, but you need to see it yourself. Watch how staff speak to residents when they are not aware of being observed, whether they use preferred names, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether conversations feel genuine rather than functional.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication is as significant as verbal interaction for people living with dementia. Staff who make eye contact, move unhurriedly, and respond to emotional cues rather than words alone produce measurably lower levels of distress in residents.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens when a resident appears anxious or confused in a communal area. Do staff pause and respond calmly, or does the interaction feel rushed? This is more revealing than any conversation with management."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for responsiveness at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether the home meets individual residents' needs, whether activities are meaningful and varied, how complaints are handled, and whether end-of-life care is planned appropriately. No specific information about the activity programme, individual engagement, complaint handling, or end-of-life planning appears in the published text. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied across these areas.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement drive 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness appears in 27.1%. For someone living with dementia, activities are not optional extras: they are a primary means of maintaining wellbeing, reducing anxiety, and preserving a sense of self. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that group activities alone are insufficient, and that people in later stages of dementia particularly benefit from one-to-one engagement and familiar household tasks. The published report tells you nothing specific about what a typical day looks like at Knells Country House.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household task participation, such as folding, sorting, or simple food preparation, significantly reduce agitation and improve mood in people with moderate to advanced dementia, more so than structured group activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for the past two weeks, not just the planned programme. Check whether people who cannot join group sessions are recorded as receiving any one-to-one engagement, and ask who is responsible for individual activity when the activities coordinator is not on shift."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for well-led at the April 2023 inspection. The registered manager is named as Mr Gary Phillip Jones, with Mr Jamil Mohammed listed as the nominated individual representing the provider, Horizon Residential Homes Limited. A Good Well-led rating indicates inspectors found adequate governance, accountability structures, and a positive culture. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains suggests the current leadership has driven meaningful change. No specific examples of governance practices, staff feedback mechanisms, or quality monitoring appear in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management visibility and communication with families account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews respectively in our data. A named, stable registered manager is a positive sign: our Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained care quality. The improvement from Requires Improvement makes leadership continuity particularly important now. Ask how long the registered manager has been in post and what the main changes were that led to the improved rating. If the manager who drove the improvement is still in place, that matters.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear of consequences consistently outperform those where a top-down culture prevails, and that leadership stability over at least 18 months is associated with sustained quality improvements rather than temporary inspection-driven changes.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly: how long have you been in this role, and what were the two or three specific changes you made that moved the home from Requires Improvement to Good? A confident, specific answer is a good sign. Vagueness or deflection is worth noting."}

  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 Knells Country House provides residential care for people over 65, including those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team here has experience supporting residents with dementia, creating an environment where people at different stages of their journey can feel settled and secure. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.