Purley Gardens Care Home – Avery Collection

What families say

Visitors frequently mention the friendly approach of staff across different departments. Many families describe feeling welcomed when they arrive, with staff taking time to chat and show them around. The atmosphere during activities often feels lively, with residents appearing content and occupied throughout the day.

Based on 47 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-07-04 · Report published 2018-07-04

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the May 2018 inspection. This indicates that inspectors judged the home's approach to medicines management, staffing, safeguarding, and infection control to be satisfactory at that time. No specific observations, incidents, or staffing ratios are recorded in the published summary. The home accommodates up to 119 people, including those living with dementia, so safe staffing at night is a particularly important consideration. The inspection is now several years old and the published findings do not allow a detailed assessment of current safety practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating is reassuring as a starting point, but the absence of specific detail in the published findings means you cannot rely on it alone. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night-time staffing is the area where safety most commonly slips in homes of this size. For a 119-bed nursing home with a dementia specialism, the question of how many staff are on overnight, and whether they are permanent or agency, is one of the most important you can ask. Families in our review data who later raised concerns about safety most often point to gaps in overnight supervision and inconsistent staff. Ask the home directly for last week's actual rota, not just the staffing model on paper.","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 safety incidents in care homes. Consistent, named staff who know residents individually are better placed to detect early signs of deterioration.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the last two weeks, covering nights and weekends. Count how many shifts were filled by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask what the minimum number of carers on duty overnight is for the 119 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the May 2018 inspection. Dementia is listed as a registered specialism, which means the home is expected to demonstrate appropriate training and care planning for people living with dementia. No specific detail about training content, GP access arrangements, medication reviews, or care plan quality is included in the published summary. A Good rating in this domain indicates inspectors were satisfied that the home met the required standards at the time, but the evidence base available to families is thin.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone with dementia means more than ticking compliance boxes. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed regularly with family input, and training in dementia-specific communication as a marker of genuine specialism. At 119 beds, the risk is that care plans become standardised rather than individual. Food quality is also assessed under this domain. Our family review data shows that food is mentioned in 20.9% of positive reviews, and families frequently flag texture, choice, and whether staff understand the eating difficulties that can accompany dementia. None of this detail is in the published inspection findings, so you will need to ask and observe directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia training which covers non-verbal communication and behavioural recognition, not just mandatory e-learning, is associated with better outcomes for residents and fewer incidents. Ask what the training actually covers, not just how many hours staff receive.","watch_out":"Ask the activities or care manager to show you one anonymised care plan for a resident with dementia. Check whether it records preferred name, life history, food preferences, and how the person communicates distress. Ask when it was last updated and whether family contributed to the review."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the May 2018 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, privacy, respect, and whether residents are supported to maintain independence. No direct inspector observations, resident quotes, or family testimonials are included in the published summary. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied with the standard of caring interactions at the time of the visit. Given that this is the domain families weight most heavily in our review data, the absence of specific evidence is particularly notable.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important factor in our family review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are the things families remember and the things that make the difference to your parent's daily life. The inspection confirms a Good standard was reached, but without specific observations it is hard to know what that looked like in practice. When you visit, pay attention to whether staff use your parent's preferred name without being prompted, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether interactions feel unhurried. These small behaviours are the most reliable signals of genuine caring culture. Our Good Practice evidence confirms that non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and eye contact, matters as much as words for people living with dementia.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies person-led care as requiring staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. Homes where staff can describe what a resident was like before dementia, their work, their family, their habits, consistently score higher on dignity and happiness measures.","watch_out":"During your visit, introduce yourself to a carer on the floor and ask them to tell you a little about one of the residents they care for. Listen for whether they describe the person as an individual with a history, or whether they describe care tasks. That tells you more about caring culture than any rating."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the May 2018 inspection. This domain covers whether the home provides activities and engagement suited to individuals, responds to complaints, and plans for end of life. No specific detail about the activity programme, individual engagement, or complaint handling is included in the published summary. For a home with a dementia specialism and 119 beds, the range and individualisation of activities is particularly important, as group programmes alone do not meet the needs of people at more advanced stages of dementia.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and meaningful engagement are mentioned in 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness in 27.1%. For your parent with dementia, the question is not just whether the home has an activities programme, but whether there is someone who will sit with your parent individually if they cannot join a group. Our Good Practice evidence identifies Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches, helping fold laundry, tending plants, handling familiar objects, as more effective for people with advanced dementia than scheduled group events. The inspection does not tell us whether Purley Gardens uses these approaches. This is a direct question to ask the manager or activities coordinator.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that one-to-one engagement, even in short regular bursts, significantly reduces agitation and low mood in people with moderate to advanced dementia. Homes that rely solely on group activities leave the most vulnerable residents without meaningful stimulation for large parts of the day.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator what happens for a resident who cannot leave their room or cannot engage with a group. Ask to see the schedule for last week and check whether any individual one-to-one sessions are recorded alongside the group activities."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the May 2018 inspection. A named registered manager and a nominated individual were both recorded as in post at the time. Well-led covers governance, staff culture, complaint handling, and whether the home learns from incidents and audits. No specific information about manager tenure, staff culture, audit results, or governance processes is included in the published summary. Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes, and this is an area where direct questioning on a visit is essential given the age of the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Our family review data shows that management quality is mentioned in 23.4% of positive reviews, and communication with families in 11.5%. Families who feel well informed and who can reach a manager quickly are consistently more satisfied, even when things go wrong. Our Good Practice evidence identifies leadership stability as a key predictor of quality over time. The inspection was in 2018, and it is entirely possible that management has changed since then. A home of 119 beds under a new or interim manager may look very different from the one inspectors visited. Ask directly how long the current registered manager has been in post and whether there have been significant staffing changes in the last 12 months.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear, and where managers are regularly visible on the floor rather than office-based, demonstrate better outcomes for residents and higher staff retention. Ask staff directly whether they feel their manager is approachable.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post, and ask the same question of a senior carer you meet on the floor. If the answers differ significantly, or if the manager is new, ask what has changed in the last year and how the home is managing the transition."}

  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 and has specific provisions for supporting people living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the home provides dedicated support within their care framework. Families considering dementia care here should have detailed conversations about security measures and staff training to ensure the approach matches their loved one's specific needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.