Milford Lodge Care Home

What families say

Families visiting here often comment on how settled their relatives seem. There's a calmness about the place that puts people at ease.

Based on 8 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership42
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-07-26 · Report published 2019-07-26 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This covers areas including staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to and learns from incidents. No specific findings, inspector observations, or staffing numbers are reproduced in the published summary available at this time. The previous overall rating of Requires Improvement suggests there were earlier concerns, and the improvement to Good in this domain is a positive change. The published text does not describe what specific safety improvements were made.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Safe means inspectors did not find immediate or serious safety concerns at the time of the visit. However, the lack of published detail means we cannot tell you, for example, how many permanent staff are on at night, or how the home logs and acts on falls. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in residential dementia care. With 60 beds and a dementia specialism, knowing the overnight staffing ratio is one of the most important questions you can ask before making a decision.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance and low night-staffing ratios are among the strongest predictors of preventable safety incidents in residential dementia care. A Good rating is reassuring, but ask for the numbers.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count the number of permanent carers versus agency staff on night shifts, and ask what the minimum overnight staffing level is for the dementia unit specifically."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff training, the quality and personalisation of care plans, access to healthcare professionals including GPs, nutrition and hydration, and how well the home supports people living with dementia. No specific findings from this domain are reproduced in the published summary. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which sets an expectation for specific training and environment design. Without published detail, it is not possible to confirm what dementia training staff have completed or how frequently care plans are reviewed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective tells you that inspectors were broadly satisfied with how the home translates care plans into daily practice. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that care plans should be living documents, updated when your parent's needs or preferences change, and that families should be actively involved in those reviews. Food quality, often a reliable signal of how genuinely the home understands and responds to individual needs, is part of this domain, but no specific observations about food were published. Visit at a mealtime if you can.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews are one of the most consistent markers of effective dementia care. Homes where families are treated as partners, rather than visitors, tend to produce better outcomes for the person living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, how you would be notified of a review, and whether you can sit in on one before your parent moves in. Also ask what specific dementia training staff complete, and how recently it was updated."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether the home supports independence. Staff warmth is the single highest-weighted theme in our family review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. The published summary does not reproduce specific inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimony from this domain. Without that detail, the Good rating is the main signal available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the thing families mention most often in positive reviews of care homes, and dignity and respect come a close second. What this means in practice is whether staff knock before entering a room, use your parent's preferred name, move at an unhurried pace, and respond calmly when someone becomes distressed. A Good rating for Caring suggests inspectors observed these behaviours, but because no specific examples are published, you should treat a visit as your opportunity to check this yourself. Watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas, not just when they know they are being observed.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication, tone of voice, pace, and touch, matters as much as what staff say, particularly for people with advanced dementia who may have lost verbal communication. Homes where staff receive training specifically in non-verbal approaches tend to show measurably lower levels of distress behaviours.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch what happens in an unscripted moment: a resident calling out, someone walking towards the exit, or a spill at a mealtime. The spontaneous response tells you more than any planned introduction. Ask staff to tell you your parent's preferred name and two personal facts about them from their care plan."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2021 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors its service to individual needs, the variety and quality of activities, how it supports people who cannot join group activities, and end-of-life care planning. No specific detail about activities, individual engagement, or end-of-life arrangements is reproduced in the published summary. For a home with a dementia specialism and 60 beds, the depth and personalisation of the activity programme is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness together account for around 48% of the weight in our family satisfaction data, and Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not enough for people with moderate or advanced dementia. Individual, one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks, music from personal history, or simply sitting with someone, is what maintains wellbeing and reduces distress. A Good rating for Responsive is encouraging, but whether the home has a dedicated activity coordinator and what the programme looks like on a quiet Wednesday afternoon is something you will only find out by asking and visiting.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual activities, things like folding, sorting, or simple cooking, produce measurable improvements in engagement and mood for people with dementia, and that homes relying primarily on group entertainment show lower wellbeing scores.","watch_out":"Ask to see last week's actual activity register, including who attended and who received one-to-one time. A planned programme on a noticeboard is not the same thing. Ask specifically what happens for a resident who is unable to leave their room or who finds group settings distressing."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the January 2021 inspection. This is the one area where inspectors found the home did not yet meet the standard required. Well-led covers management visibility, governance systems, how the home monitors and improves quality, staff culture, and whether leaders act on feedback. The registered manager is named as Miss Lindsey Margaret Richmond, with Mrs Rachel Ann Rodgers listed as the nominated individual for the provider, Colleycare Limited. The published summary does not describe what specific leadership or governance failures led to the Requires Improvement rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in Well-led is the finding that should most directly shape your questions on a visit. Good Practice research is consistent on this point: leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to speak up are among the strongest predictors of whether a home maintains or improves its quality over time. The previous overall rating of Requires Improvement, combined with an ongoing Requires Improvement in Well-led even after the overall rating improved, suggests that governance and management oversight were the root of earlier problems and may not yet be fully resolved. Our family review data shows that 23.4% of positive reviews specifically mention visible, responsive management, which reflects how much families notice and value consistent leadership.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes with stable, visible management and staff who feel empowered to raise concerns without fear consistently outperform homes where leadership is distant or reactive. A Requires Improvement in Well-led at a time when all other domains are Good is a pattern that warrants specific questions.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: what specific actions did you take in response to the Requires Improvement finding in Well-led, and how would you know if the same problems were returning? Also ask how long the current registered manager has been in post, and whether there have been any changes to senior management since the January 2021 inspection."}

  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 provides specialist dementia care alongside general support for older people.. Gaps or open questions remain on While the home offers dementia care as one of its specialisms, families often focus more on the overall peaceful atmosphere when describing what matters most to them here. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.