Orchard Manor Care Home

What families say

Families describe feeling genuinely welcomed here, with staff who share regular photo updates and phone calls about how their relatives are doing. The visiting arrangements work around what families need, creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable spending time together.

Based on 18 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth30
• Compassion & dignity30
• Cleanliness35
• Activities & engagement25
• Food quality30
• Healthcare25
• Management & leadership25
• Resident happiness25

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-11-20 · Report published 2019-11-20 · Inspected 8 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The most recent inspection, carried out in September 2025, rated this domain Requires Improvement. The full detail of what inspectors found in relation to safety has not been reproduced in the data available for this report. A Requires Improvement rating in the safe domain means inspectors identified shortfalls that were not serious enough to trigger an Inadequate rating, but were significant enough that they could not be described as meeting the required standard. The home is registered for 93 beds and carries a dementia specialism, which makes safe staffing levels and night-time cover particularly important. Families should obtain the full published report before visiting.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in safety is the finding that should concern you most when choosing a care home for your parent. Good Practice research consistently identifies night-time staffing as the point where safety is most likely to slip in larger homes: 93 beds is a significant number, and the ratio of carers to residents after 8pm matters enormously. Our review data shows that families rarely mention safety explicitly in positive reviews, because they assume it is a given; it only surfaces in negative reviews when something has gone wrong. Do not assume the home is unsafe, but do not assume it is safe either. Go to the full inspection report, find the specific concerns inspectors raised, and ask the manager what has changed since September 2025.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety shortfalls in care homes, because unfamiliar staff cannot recognise subtle changes in a resident's behaviour or health. Ask directly how many shifts in the last month were covered by agency workers.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template or a policy document. Count the permanent names versus agency names on each shift, and ask how many staff were on duty between 10pm and 6am for the full 93 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Requires Improvement at the September 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether staff know what they are doing: training, care planning, GP access, medicines management, and nutrition. The published data available for this report does not reproduce the specific detail of what inspectors found. A Requires Improvement rating here means something in at least one of those areas was not meeting the required standard. Given that the home holds a dementia specialism, inspectors would have been looking at whether dementia training is current and whether care plans are detailed enough to guide staff who do not know a resident well.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for your parent with dementia depends on staff knowing their individual history, preferences, and health needs well enough to act without being told. Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett review found that care plans functioning as living documents, reviewed regularly with family input, are one of the strongest markers of quality in dementia settings. A Requires Improvement rating in this domain means you should ask to see evidence of how that works here. Food quality is also captured in this domain: it accounts for 20.9% of positive family reviews, and how a home manages nutrition for residents with swallowing difficulties or reduced appetite tells you a great deal about the standard of care overall.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training content, not just general care training, makes a measurable difference to how staff respond to behaviour that challenges. Ask whether training covers non-verbal communication, de-escalation, and person-centred approaches, not just health and safety modules.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed, whether families are invited to contribute, and when the last dementia training was delivered to care staff. Ask to see the training record for the most recent staff member who joined the home."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Requires Improvement at the September 2025 inspection. This domain reflects whether staff are kind, whether residents are treated with dignity, and whether the people who live here feel respected as individuals. The specific observations inspectors made are not reproduced in the data available for this report. A Requires Improvement rating in caring is particularly significant because this domain draws on what inspectors see and hear directly: how staff speak to residents in corridors, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether residents appear settled and comfortable.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of positive family reviews in our data, mentioned in 57.3% of all positive reviews, and compassion and dignity are mentioned in 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they are visible on a first visit if you know what to look for. A Requires Improvement rating in caring means inspectors did not see enough of this standard consistently. That does not mean every staff member is unkind, but it does mean the quality of interactions was not reliably good enough across the home. When you visit, watch whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they crouch to make eye contact, and whether they complete tasks without appearing rushed.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal communication for people living with dementia. Staff who maintain eye contact, speak slowly, and use touch appropriately reduce distress and improve wellbeing even when verbal understanding is limited.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit quietly in a communal area for 15 minutes and watch how staff interact with residents who are not asking for help. Count how many times a staff member initiates a conversation, uses a name, or pauses to make eye contact. If you see none of this in 15 minutes, treat it as a warning sign."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Requires Improvement at the September 2025 inspection. Responsiveness covers whether the home tailors its care to the individual: activities, one-to-one engagement, how complaints are handled, and whether end-of-life wishes are recorded and respected. The detail of what inspectors found is not reproduced in the data available for this report. For a 93-bed home with a dementia specialism, inspectors would have been looking at whether activity provision reaches residents who cannot join group sessions and whether individual preferences genuinely shape daily life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Meaningful activity is not a luxury for people living with dementia; it is a core part of maintaining wellbeing and reducing distress. Our review data shows that 21.4% of positive family reviews mention activities specifically, and 27.1% mention residents appearing happy and settled. A home that scores Requires Improvement in responsiveness has not demonstrated it can reliably deliver this. For a 93-bed home, there is a real risk that residents who are quieter, more withdrawn, or less able to join group activities are overlooked. Ask specifically about one-to-one engagement, because group activities alone are not sufficient for people in the later stages of dementia.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking activities, provide meaningful engagement for people with advanced dementia who cannot participate in structured group programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see last month's actual activity record, not the planned schedule. Check whether one-to-one sessions are logged separately from group activities, and ask how many residents who are bedbound or who rarely leave their rooms received any individual engagement in the last four weeks."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement at the September 2025 inspection. This domain assesses whether management is visible and effective, whether staff feel supported and able to raise concerns, and whether the home has systems in place to learn from incidents and improve. The registered manager is named as Mrs Michelle Haspey, and the nominated individual is Mr Timothy Kayode Ogunleye. The specific leadership concerns identified by inspectors are not reproduced in the data available for this report. The home was previously rated Requires Improvement and had moved to a better rating before returning to Requires Improvement at this inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes, according to Good Practice research. A home that has moved back to Requires Improvement after a period of improvement is a home where something has gone wrong in culture, governance, or oversight. That is not necessarily permanent, but it is a pattern you need to understand before placing your parent here. Communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive review mentions in our data, and good leadership is what makes that communication consistent. Ask how long the current registered manager has been in post and what specifically has changed since the September 2025 inspection.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that care homes where staff feel genuinely able to raise concerns without fear of consequences consistently outperform homes of similar size and resident profile on all quality measures. Ask frontline staff, not just the manager, how they would raise a concern if they saw something wrong.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long she has been in her current role, what the three main things were that inspectors asked the home to improve in September 2025, and what evidence she can show you that those improvements have been made. A manager who cannot answer the second question clearly is a warning sign."}

  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 cares for adults over 65, adults under 65, and people living with dementia. They have experience supporting residents through different stages of care needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the staff work to remember individual preferences and respond to specific needs over time. This consistency helps create familiar routines that many find reassuring. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.