Magdalen House Care Home

What families say

Several families mention how friendly the staff are, with one person noting their stepfather with dementia has been extremely well looked after. The team seems to build real relationships with residents, and at least one family has trusted them for five years.

Based on 12 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity58
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement52
• Food quality52
• Healthcare58
• Management & leadership35
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-06-22 · Report published 2023-06-22 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This rating typically reflects that staffing levels were considered adequate, medicines were managed appropriately, and infection control met the required standard. However, the published text does not include specific details about staffing ratios, night cover, falls management, or how the home responds to safety incidents. The absence of published detail means this rating should be treated as a baseline, not a guarantee.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe is the minimum you would expect, but it does not tell you whether your parent would be safe at 3am on a Sunday when staffing is typically at its thinnest. Good Practice research highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff can undermine the consistency of care that people with dementia particularly need. For a 53-bed home with a dementia specialism, knowing the exact night staffing numbers and how often agency staff are used is essential information that the published report does not provide. Cleanliness and safe environments account for a meaningful share of what families value most in our review data (24.3% of positive reviews mention cleanliness specifically), so observe the premises carefully on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff consistency as two of the most important and most frequently overlooked safety factors in dementia care settings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear, especially on night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for the dementia unit."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This covers care planning, staff training, access to healthcare professionals, and how well the home meets nutritional needs. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which implies some level of dementia-specific training and care planning. Beyond the rating itself, the published report does not describe specific training programmes, GP access arrangements, care plan review frequencies, or food quality observations.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective tells you that inspectors did not find care planning or healthcare access to be falling short. What it does not tell you is whether your parent's care plan would genuinely reflect who they are as a person: their food preferences, their daily routines, what comforts them when they are anxious, and what matters to them at the end of life. Good Practice research is clear that care plans only work as living documents when families are actively involved in reviewing them. Food quality is something families feel strongly about (20.9% weight in our review data), and there is no detail in the published findings about mealtimes, choice, or how dietary needs are managed for people with dementia who may need support to eat.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that require regular family input to remain accurate, and notes that dementia-specific training quality varies considerably even within homes that hold a Good Effective rating.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, whether families are invited to contribute, and what dementia training staff have completed in the last 12 months. Ask to see an anonymised example of what a care plan actually looks like in practice."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers the warmth and respect shown by staff, whether people are treated with dignity, and whether independence is supported. A Good rating indicates inspectors did not find serious concerns in this area. The published report does not include any specific inspector observations of staff interactions, resident testimony about how they feel treated, or examples of how dignity is maintained in personal care.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in whether staff knock before entering a room, whether they use your parent's preferred name without being reminded, and whether they move through the home without hurry. A Good rating for Caring is encouraging, but the absence of specific published observations means you cannot verify from the report alone what warmth looks like here day to day. This is one you will need to see for yourself on a visit, ideally by arriving unannounced or at a time that has not been pre-arranged.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research from IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University (2026) emphasises that non-verbal communication, including pace, eye contact, and physical proximity, matters as much as verbal communication for people with dementia, and that person-led care requires staff to genuinely know the individual, not just their care plan.","watch_out":"When you visit, stand in a communal area for at least 15 minutes without engaging staff. Watch whether staff make eye contact with residents as they pass, whether they use names, and whether any interactions feel hurried. These small details are more reliable than anything a manager will tell you in a formal meeting."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2023 inspection. Responsive covers whether the home meets each person's individual needs, including activities, engagement, and end-of-life planning. The home cares for people with dementia, which makes individual responsiveness particularly important. The published report does not describe the activity programme, how one-to-one engagement is provided to people who cannot join group sessions, or how end-of-life care is planned and discussed with families.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness accounts for 27.1% of what drives positive family reviews in our data, and activities and engagement contribute a further 21.4%. For someone living with dementia, an activity programme that only offers group sessions in a lounge is unlikely to be enough. Good Practice research highlights the value of individual, everyday activities, such as folding laundry, watering plants, or looking through familiar photographs, for people who can no longer participate in structured group events. The published findings give no detail on whether Magdalen House provides this kind of one-to-one engagement, so it is one of the most important things to explore directly.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies individually tailored activities, including Montessori-based approaches and familiar household tasks, as significantly more effective than group-only programmes for people living with dementia, particularly at more advanced stages.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe a typical week for a resident with moderate to advanced dementia who cannot join group sessions. Ask specifically what one-to-one engagement looks like, who delivers it, and how often it happens. Then ask to see the activity records for one named resident from last week."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the April 2023 inspection. This is the one domain where inspectors found the home was not meeting the Good standard. Well-led covers the quality of management, whether staff are supported and able to raise concerns, whether governance systems are working, and whether the home has a culture of learning and improvement. The published report does not specify exactly which aspects of leadership fell short, which makes it harder to assess how serious the concerns are or what progress has been made since.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"This is the finding that deserves the most attention in your decision-making. Management quality is one of the strongest predictors of whether a care home maintains safe, kind care over time, particularly during periods of change or pressure. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory, and that staff who cannot speak up about concerns are a warning sign for the whole organisation. The Well-led concern also matters because the published report is so brief: when leadership and governance are weak, it is harder for families to get consistent, honest information. Good Practice research identifies communication with families (11.5% of positive review mentions) as something that tends to suffer first when management is struggling.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, and notes that bottom-up staff empowerment, where care workers feel able to raise concerns without fear, is a distinguishing feature of consistently high-performing homes.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager directly: what were the specific concerns raised in the Well-led inspection, what actions have been taken since June 2023, and what evidence can they show you that those actions are working? Also ask how long the current manager has been in post and whether there have been any senior leadership changes in the last 12 months."}

  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 welcomes adults under 65 as well as older residents, with particular experience in dementia care.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff here seem to have a real understanding of dementia care, with families specifically mentioning how well their loved ones with dementia are looked after. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.