Sandstones care home, Wallasey

What families say

Based on 2 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth82
• Compassion & dignity88
• Cleanliness68
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality60
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness72

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-09-18 · Report published 2019-09-18 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The inspection rated safety as Good at Sandstones. This indicates that inspectors were satisfied with safeguarding arrangements, staffing, medicines management, and infection control at the time of the July 2019 inspection. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement, so achieving Good in Safe represents a genuine improvement in this area. No specific concerns about falls, medicines errors, or staffing gaps are recorded in the published summary. However, the published report provides no specific staffing numbers, night ratios, or detail about agency staff reliance.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating means inspectors found no significant gaps in how your parent would be protected at Sandstones. For a 35-bed dementia home, what matters most to families in our data is staff attentiveness u2014 knowing someone will notice if your mum or dad is unwell, distressed, or at risk of a fall. The improvement from Requires Improvement is reassuring, but the inspection is now over five years old. Good Practice research consistently shows that safety risks in dementia homes most commonly emerge at night, when staffing is thinner and managers are less visible. You should specifically ask how many staff are on duty overnight and whether the same people tend to work those shifts u2014 familiar faces matter enormously to someone with dementia who wakes in the night disoriented.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University (2026) found that night staffing ratios and agency staff consistency are the two factors most strongly associated with avoidable safety incidents in dementia residential care. Homes that rely heavily on agency staff at night show measurably worse outcomes on falls and medication errors.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How many staff are on duty between 10pm and 7am, and what proportion of those are permanent employees rather than agency or bank staff?' Then ask to see the falls register for the past three months u2014 a well-run home will show you this willingly."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effectiveness was rated Good, meaning inspectors were satisfied with staff training, care planning, healthcare access, and how the home meets residents' needs in practice. For a specialist dementia home, this encompasses dementia-specific training, the quality of care plans as working documents, and access to GPs and other health professionals. The published summary does not detail the content of dementia training, how frequently care plans are reviewed, or how the home manages complex health needs. The home is operated by Anchor Hanover Group, which has group-wide training frameworks, but local implementation matters as much as policy.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good in effectiveness means the basics were in place when inspectors visited u2014 staff had training, care plans existed, and health needs were being addressed. For your parent with dementia, what this means in practice depends heavily on detail that the published summary doesn't provide. Good Practice evidence is clear that care plans for people with dementia need to be genuinely individual u2014 capturing not just medical needs but personal history, preferences, communication style, and what brings comfort. Ask to see a sample care plan structure. Ask how often your parent's plan would be reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute. Ask what dementia training staff have completed and when they last updated it.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (2026) found that dementia training which includes communication techniques, person-centred approaches, and understanding of behavioural expressions of unmet need produces measurably better resident outcomes than generic training u2014 but many homes pass inspection with training that meets compliance thresholds rather than best-practice standards.","watch_out":"Ask: 'What dementia training has your care staff completed in the last 12 months, and does it cover how to communicate with someone who can no longer use words?' A good answer will go beyond a training course name and describe what staff actually do differently as a result."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"Caring was rated Outstanding u2014 the highest possible grade. This is a rare and significant finding: fewer than 5% of care homes in England achieve Outstanding in any domain. To award this rating, inspectors must observe and record specific, compelling evidence that staff treat residents with exceptional kindness, dignity, and respect, and that residents' independence and individuality are actively promoted. The caring domain directly reflects the two themes families weight most highly in our data: staff warmth (57.3% weighting) and compassion and dignity (55.2% weighting). The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement inspection makes this result even more notable.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"This is the finding that matters most to families choosing a dementia home, and it is very strong. Our data from 3,602 family reviews across UK care homes shows that staff warmth and genuine compassion are cited in over half of all positive reviews u2014 they are what families remember and what residents with dementia feel even when they can no longer articulate it. An Outstanding in caring tells you that when inspectors visited, they saw something genuinely different here: interactions that went beyond task-completion, staff who knew the people they were caring for, and an atmosphere of real respect. Good Practice research confirms that for people with dementia, non-verbal warmth u2014 tone of voice, unhurried pace, eye contact u2014 matters as much as verbal communication, and this is what Outstanding caring assessments are designed to capture. The main caveat is that this inspection was in 2019: ask whether the staff team has remained stable since then.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett (2026) found that in dementia care, perceived staff warmth is the single strongest predictor of family satisfaction and resident wellbeing, operating independently of staffing ratios or clinical outcomes. Non-verbal attunement u2014 matching pace, tone, and expression to the resident u2014 is identified as a trainable, observable skill that distinguishes Outstanding from Good caring environments.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch what happens in corridors and communal areas when a member of staff passes a resident u2014 do they stop, make eye contact, use your parent's preferred name, and take a moment? Or do they walk through without connecting? This unhurried, spontaneous warmth is the hallmark of genuinely Outstanding caring and cannot be staged for a brief tour."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsiveness was rated Good, meaning the inspection found that the home addressed residents' individual needs, offered activities, and handled complaints appropriately. For a dementia specialist home, responsiveness covers whether activities are genuinely tailored to individuals u2014 including those with advanced dementia who cannot join group sessions u2014 and whether the home responds promptly when someone's needs change. The published summary provides no specific detail about the activities programme, one-to-one engagement, or how the home supports residents at the end of life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good in responsiveness means the basics were in place, but activities and meaningful engagement are where care homes most often fall short of their potential, even when they pass inspection. Our family review data shows that activities and engagement matter to 21.4% of reviewers, and resident happiness u2014 which depends heavily on stimulation and purpose u2014 features in 27.1% of positive reviews. For your mum or dad with dementia, the question is not whether there is an activities board on the wall, but whether someone will sit with them one-to-one when they can't participate in a group, whether familiar domestic tasks are woven into the day, and whether staff know what your parent used to love. Good Practice evidence supports Montessori-based and life-history approaches that create moments of genuine engagement even in advanced dementia.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett review (2026) found strong evidence that individual, tailored activities u2014 particularly those drawing on occupational identity and life history u2014 reduce distress and improve wellbeing in people with dementia more effectively than group programmes alone. Homes rated Good in responsiveness vary significantly in whether they implement this in practice.","watch_out":"Ask: 'If my parent with dementia can't join a group activity, what would a member of staff do with them one-to-one on a Tuesday afternoon?' A confident, specific answer u2014 naming activities, not just principles u2014 is a good sign. Vagueness or a redirect to the group programme should prompt further questions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Leadership was rated Good, meaning the inspection found effective management, a positive staff culture, and appropriate governance systems in place. The home is run by Anchor Hanover Group, and the registered manager at the time of inspection was Mr Benjamin Kenneth Lloyd, with Mr Daniel Ryan as nominated individual. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains indicates that leadership made meaningful changes between inspections. The published summary provides no detail about manager tenure since 2019, staff turnover, or how the home has developed since the inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good in leadership matters because the quality of everything else u2014 staffing, training, caring culture u2014 ultimately flows from who is running the home day-to-day and whether they create an environment where staff feel supported to do their best work. Anchor Hanover Group is a large, established not-for-profit provider with governance infrastructure, which provides some structural stability. However, Good Practice research is clear that local leadership stability u2014 specifically how long the registered manager has been in post u2014 is a stronger predictor of day-to-day quality than provider size. A home can perform well under a strong local manager and deteriorate when that person leaves. Given that the inspection was in 2019, finding out who is currently managing the home and how long they have been there is one of your most important questions.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett (2026) found that registered manager tenure is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes: homes where the manager has been in post for more than two years consistently outperform those with recent leadership changes, even when headline ratings are identical.","watch_out":"Ask directly: 'How long has the current registered manager been in post, and has there been significant turnover in senior care staff in the last two years?' If the manager who achieved the Outstanding caring rating has since moved on, ask what has been done to sustain that culture under new leadership."}

  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 team specialises in dementia care and supports adults over 65. They work to understand each person's individual needs and preferences.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff at Sandstones are trained in dementia care approaches that help residents feel secure and valued. The home creates routines and environments that support those living with memory challenges. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.