Oaktree Hall & Lodge Care Home

What families say

Visitors have noticed how staff take time to make visits meaningful, helping families connect with their loved ones in comfortable ways. The care team shows genuine interest in making sure residents feel settled and families feel welcomed.

Based on 6 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 & leadership78
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-08-13 · Report published 2022-08-13 · Inspected 10 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the February 2024 inspection, representing an improvement on the previous rating. This means inspectors were satisfied with how the home manages risk, staffing, medicines, and infection control. No specific observations, staffing ratios, or incident data are reproduced in the available published summary. The home supports people with dementia and physical disabilities across 78 beds, which makes night staffing levels and consistency of permanent staff particularly important. The improvement from the previous rating suggests that earlier safety concerns have been addressed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, a Good Safe rating means inspectors found no significant concerns about risk management or medicines at the time of the visit. However, the published findings do not tell you the actual staffing numbers on nights, which is where safety most often slips in care homes according to the Good Practice evidence base. Our review data shows that staff attentiveness is mentioned in 14% of positive family reviews, and families notice very quickly whether staff are stretched. The home's track record of improvement is encouraging, but you should treat staffing numbers and agency reliance as specific questions to ask rather than assumptions to make.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that night staffing is consistently the point where safety weakens in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency of care that people with dementia particularly need.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the planned template. Count how many shifts across nights and weekends were covered by agency staff rather than permanent carers, and check the ratio of care staff to residents after 10pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the February 2024 inspection. This covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans reflect individual needs, whether healthcare professionals are accessed appropriately, and whether food meets residents' needs. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means inspectors would have looked at dementia-specific training and care planning. No specific examples of care plan content, training programmes, GP access frequency, or mealtime observations are reproduced in the available published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating suggests your parent's care plan should be based on their individual history, preferences, and health needs rather than a generic template. For people with dementia, care plans that capture personal history and communication preferences are especially important as the evidence base consistently shows they reduce distress and improve daily quality of life. Food quality, which 20.9% of positive family reviews mention, is also assessed under this domain, but the published findings give no detail on menu choice or mealtime experience. Ask to see a sample care plan and ask specifically how the home updates it when your parent's needs change.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review from IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University found that care plans function as living documents when staff are trained to update them regularly and when families are actively included in reviews, and that this is especially important for people with dementia whose needs can change quickly.","watch_out":"Ask how frequently your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute. Ask to see the training records for dementia care: specifically, what the training covers and when staff on the dementia unit last completed it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the February 2024 inspection. This domain covers whether staff treat residents with warmth, dignity, and respect, whether residents' independence is supported, and whether privacy is maintained. A Good rating here requires inspectors to have found positive evidence of staff interactions and respectful practice. No direct quotes from residents or relatives and no specific inspector observations of staff behaviour are reproduced in the available published summary.","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 follow closely at 55.2%. A Good Caring rating is a meaningful signal, but the published findings do not show you the specific behaviours that earned it. When you visit, pay attention to whether staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, whether interactions in corridors feel unhurried, and whether staff make eye contact with residents rather than talking over them. These small, observable details are more revealing than any rating on their own.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, unhurried pace, and physical proximity at the resident's level, matters as much as verbal interaction for people with dementia, particularly those who have lost reliable speech.","watch_out":"When you visit, sit quietly in a communal area for 15 minutes and watch how staff respond when a resident becomes unsettled or calls out. Note whether the response is prompt and calm, and whether the staff member crouches to the resident's level or speaks from a standing distance."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the February 2024 inspection. This covers whether residents have meaningful activities, whether the home responds to individual preferences and complaints, and whether end-of-life care is planned. The home supports people with dementia and physical disabilities, which places particular demands on the activities programme since group activities are not always accessible to everyone. No specific examples of activities, individual engagement plans, or end-of-life planning approaches are reproduced in the available published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Whether your parent will have a real life here, not just a safe one, depends heavily on what the activities programme looks like in practice. Our review data shows resident happiness is referenced in 27.1% of positive family reviews, and activities are mentioned in 21.4%. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that people with dementia need individually tailored engagement, not just group sessions, and that familiar everyday tasks such as folding, gardening, or simple cooking can provide genuine purpose. The published findings do not tell you whether this home offers that level of individualisation. This is the area where asking specific questions on your visit will matter most.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks used as structured activities significantly improve wellbeing for people with dementia, and that group-only activity programmes leave those with more advanced dementia without meaningful engagement for large parts of the day.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe specifically what would happen for your parent on a day when they could not or did not want to join a group session. Ask to see the activity records for a resident with a similar level of need to your parent's, and check whether one-to-one time is actually recorded rather than just planned."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the February 2024 inspection, and the home's overall improvement from Requires Improvement to Good represents a meaningful shift in governance and accountability. A named registered manager, Mrs Mary Anne Claire Moran, and a nominated individual, Mrs Joanne Fogg, are both confirmed in post. Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. The published summary does not detail the specific governance changes made since the previous inspection, but the improvement across all five domains in a single cycle is an encouraging sign.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For you as a family member, a stable and visible manager matters enormously. Our review data shows management quality is mentioned in 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families accounts for a further 11.5%. The fact that this home moved from Requires Improvement to Good suggests that whoever is leading it now is taking quality seriously. What you cannot tell from the published findings is how long the current manager has been in post, whether staff feel supported to raise concerns, or how the home communicates with families when something goes wrong. These are the questions that reveal whether a Good rating reflects a genuine culture or a successful inspection preparation.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as the strongest single predictor of quality trajectory in care homes, and finds that homes where staff feel able to speak up without fear consistently maintain higher standards between inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post and what the main changes were that moved the home from Requires Improvement to Good. Then ask a member of care staff the same question separately. If the answers align, that is a good sign. If they differ significantly, ask why."}

  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 support for adults both under and over 65, including those with physical disabilities. They welcome residents at different life stages, creating an inclusive community.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team works to maintain daily routines that support wellbeing and contentment. They understand the importance of familiar patterns and gentle care. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.