Raunds Lodge Nursing & Residential Home

What families say

Families describe a real team spirit here, with staff from every department working together to understand each resident. They notice how well the team handles the behavioural changes that can come with dementia, adapting their approach as needs shift day by day.

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

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-12-15 · Report published 2021-12-15 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The safe domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This represents an improvement from the previous rating. However, the published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management practices, falls recording, infection control procedures, or agency staff usage. The Good rating confirms that inspectors did not find significant safety concerns at the time of the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring after a previous Requires Improvement, but the published text gives you very little to go on in specific terms. Good Practice research from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (March 2026) identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and agency staff reliance as a factor that undermines consistency. Neither is addressed in the published findings here. Our family review data shows that safe environment concerns appear in around 11.8% of positive reviews, meaning families notice and value visible safety measures. Ask directly about both of these areas before making your decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies that night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are among the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes. A Good inspection rating does not automatically confirm adequate provision in these specific areas.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the scheduled template. Count the number of permanent staff versus agency staff on night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for 33 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The effective domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. The home is registered to provide care for people with dementia and physical disabilities, which requires specific training and care planning approaches. The published report does not include detail on care plan content, review frequency, dementia training provision, GP access arrangements, or how food and nutrition needs are managed. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the overall standard of effectiveness.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that specialises in dementia care, what matters most in the effective domain is whether staff have genuinely up-to-date dementia training and whether care plans are treated as living documents that are updated as your parent's needs change. Our review data shows that dementia-specific care features in around 12.7% of positive family reviews. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that regular, meaningful GP access and care plans that include personal history and preferences are markers of genuine effectiveness. None of this is described in the published text, so you need to ask about it directly on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans functioning as living documents, updated with family input and reviewed at least monthly, are one of the strongest indicators of person-centred care quality in dementia settings.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (with personal details removed) and ask how often care plans are formally reviewed. Ask whether families are invited to take part in reviews, and how the home captures your parent's personal history, preferences, and communication style."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The caring domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether people are treated as individuals. The published report does not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives, or specific examples of how dignity and privacy are maintained. The Good rating indicates inspectors found the standard of caring satisfactory.","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 features in 55.2%. These are the things families notice most and remember longest. A Good rating in the caring domain is a positive signal, but without specific inspector observations or resident testimony in the published text, you cannot verify what warmth looks like in practice at this home. Good Practice research confirms that non-verbal communication, how staff move, make eye contact, and respond to distress, matters as much as words for people living with dementia. Observe this yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research identifies that for people with advanced dementia, non-verbal communication from staff, including unhurried movement, gentle tone, and consistent familiar faces, has a measurable impact on wellbeing and levels of distress.","watch_out":"On your visit, spend time in a communal area at a quieter time of day. Notice whether staff address residents by their preferred name, whether interactions feel unhurried, and how a member of staff responds if a resident seems unsettled or confused."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The responsive domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether people have a meaningful life at the home, including activities, individual engagement, and end-of-life planning. The published report does not include any detail on the activities programme, whether one-to-one engagement is available for people who cannot join group activities, or how end-of-life preferences are recorded and honoured. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with responsiveness to individual needs.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness and engagement appear in 27.1% of positive family reviews in our data, and activities feature in 21.4%. For someone living with dementia, group activities may not always be accessible or meaningful. Good Practice research, including studies drawing on Montessori-based approaches, shows that individual, familiar, everyday tasks, folding, sorting, tending plants, are often more beneficial than formal group sessions. The published findings here give no detail on whether this home provides that level of individual engagement. This is an important area to explore directly, particularly if your parent is in a later stage of dementia.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that individual, task-based activities grounded in a person's life history, rather than group entertainment programmes, produce the strongest positive outcomes for people with dementia, including reduced agitation and improved sense of purpose.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator) what would happen on a typical afternoon for your parent if they were unable or unwilling to join a group session. Ask for a specific example of a one-to-one activity that has been done with a current resident."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection, and a monitoring review in July 2023 found no reason to reassess this. The registered manager, Mrs Belinda Jane Whitney, and the nominated individual, Mr Chandravadan Patel, are both named in the registration records. The published report does not include specific detail on manager visibility, staff culture, how complaints are handled, or how the home learns from incidents. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains suggests meaningful leadership progress.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management leadership accounts for 23.4% of the weighting in our family satisfaction data. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory: homes where the registered manager has been in post for more than a year and is known by name to both residents and staff tend to sustain quality more reliably. The move from Requires Improvement to a consistent Good is a genuinely positive signal about leadership, but communication with families, which features in 11.5% of positive reviews, is not addressed in the published text at all. Ask specifically how the home would contact you if your parent's health changed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care homes with stable, visible leadership, where staff felt able to raise concerns without fear, showed the most consistent quality outcomes. Bottom-up empowerment of care staff was identified as a key leadership marker.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post, and ask what changes they made when the home was previously rated Requires Improvement. Ask how they would contact you if your parent had a fall or a health change overnight, and how quickly you would be informed."}

  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 both under and over 65, including those with physical disabilities and dementia. They also offer respite care alongside their long-term places.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team here clearly understands dementia care. Families particularly value how staff recognise and respond to the changing behaviours and needs that dementia brings, keeping residents settled and content. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.