St Pauls Care Centre

What families say

Families consistently mention how their loved ones are treated with real dignity here. The atmosphere feels settled and calm, with residents able to move at their own pace without feeling rushed. Special occasions bring everyone together — from Christmas celebrations to VE Day events that connect residents with the wider community.

Based on 37 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement88
• Food quality60
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership88
• Resident happiness72

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-05-08 · Report published 2020-05-08

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"St Pauls Care Centre received a Good rating for Safe at its February 2020 inspection. A Good Safe rating indicates that inspectors were satisfied with how risks were managed, how medicines were handled, and how staffing was arranged. The home cares for 88 people across a range of needs including dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment, which makes safe care more complex than in a standard residential setting. The published text does not provide specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, or falls management.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Safe rating is reassuring but it is not the same as Outstanding, and the published text does not give enough detail to confirm exactly what safety looks like here day to day. For families of people with dementia, the biggest safety concerns in our review data are night staffing levels and consistency of staff, as unfamiliar faces at night can increase distress and falls risk. Good Practice research consistently shows that homes with low agency staff use and stable night teams have better safety outcomes. You cannot assess this from the inspection report alone, so ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and that high agency use undermines the consistency that people with dementia need to feel safe.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota, not the planned template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear on the night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is if someone calls in sick at short notice."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The home received a Good rating for Effective at its February 2020 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, nutrition, and access to healthcare. St Pauls Care Centre lists dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors would have considered whether staff training and care approaches are appropriate for that group. However, the published inspection text does not describe specific training programmes, care plan formats, or how the home works with GPs and other health professionals.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good Effective rating tells you that inspectors were satisfied with the fundamentals, but it does not tell you whether care plans are genuinely personal or whether they are updated when your parent's needs change. Our family review data shows that food quality is mentioned positively in 20.9% of reviews, suggesting mealtimes matter greatly to families. The Good Practice evidence base confirms that care plans should be treated as living documents, reviewed with family involvement at least every three months. None of this detail is available in the published text, so you will need to ask about it on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that care plans functioning as living documents, updated with family input and reviewed regularly, are one of the strongest predictors of whether care genuinely reflects the person rather than the system.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if needed) and ask how often plans are formally reviewed. Find out whether families are invited to review meetings and how the home communicates changes in your parent's care between reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"St Pauls Care Centre received a Good rating for Caring at its February 2020 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether people are supported to remain as independent as possible. A Good rating indicates inspectors found these qualities present. The published text does not include direct observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives, or specific examples of how dignity and respect were demonstrated in practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews by name. Compassion and dignity together account for 55.2%. A Good Caring rating is a positive signal, but without specific observations or resident testimony in the published text, you cannot know from the report alone whether the warmth inspectors found is consistent across shifts and units. Good Practice research shows that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal kindness for people with dementia, particularly in advanced stages. Observe this yourself: watch how staff greet your parent when you arrive for a visit, and notice whether they use their preferred name without being prompted.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care for people with dementia depends on staff knowing the individual well, including their history, preferences, and communication style, not just their diagnosis and physical needs.","watch_out":"When you visit, walk a corridor at a busy time such as before lunch. Notice whether staff make eye contact with residents, whether they pause to speak rather than rushing past, and whether they address people by the name that person prefers rather than a generic term."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"St Pauls Care Centre received an Outstanding rating for Responsive at its February 2020 inspection. This is the highest possible rating and requires inspectors to find strong, specific evidence that care is tailored to individual needs, that activities are meaningful and varied, and that the home responds well when people's needs change. Outstanding Responsive also covers how the home supports people at the end of life and how it handles complaints. The published text confirms the rating but does not provide the specific observations or examples that would illustrate what this looks like in daily life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An Outstanding Responsive rating is genuinely significant. Only a small proportion of care homes in England achieve this, and it means inspectors saw real evidence of individualised care, not just a printed activities schedule on a noticeboard. Our family review data shows that activities and engagement are mentioned positively in 21.4% of reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. Good Practice research highlights that for people with dementia, everyday household tasks, such as folding laundry or helping to lay a table, can be as meaningful as formal activities, and that one-to-one engagement is essential for those who cannot participate in group sessions. Ask the home to explain how they meet that need.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-focused individual activities, not group programmes alone, produce the strongest outcomes for wellbeing in people living with dementia, particularly in moderate to advanced stages.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activity record for the past two weeks, not just the planned programme. Ask specifically what happens for your parent on a day when they do not want to join a group session, and who provides one-to-one time and how often."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"St Pauls Care Centre received an Outstanding rating for Well-led at its February 2020 inspection. This is the highest possible rating and requires inspectors to find evidence of stable, visible leadership, a positive culture in which staff feel able to speak up, robust governance and quality monitoring, and a track record of learning from incidents and feedback. The registered manager listed at the time of inspection was Mrs Yasmin Fatima. The nominated individual was Dr Sanjiv Patel. The published text confirms the Outstanding rating but does not provide detail about how these qualities were evidenced.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Outstanding Well-led is the rating that most predicts long-term quality. Our family review data shows that management visibility and communication account for 23.4% and 11.5% of positive reviews respectively. Good Practice research is clear that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory: homes with long-serving, visible managers tend to perform better over time and recover faster when problems arise. The inspection took place in February 2020, which means more than four years have passed. Staff and management can change significantly in that time, and a home that was Outstanding in 2020 may look different now. Confirming that Mrs Fatima is still in post, or understanding who replaced her and when, is one of the most important checks you can make.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that leadership stability and a culture in which staff feel genuinely empowered to raise concerns are the two leadership factors most strongly associated with sustained quality in care homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post, whether there have been significant staff changes in the past 12 months, and what they did most recently when an incident led to a change in practice. A good manager will answer the last question without hesitation."}

  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 welcomes adults under 65 as well as older residents, supporting people with physical disabilities and sensory impairments alongside those living with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on Community healthcare professionals have noted the person-centred approach to dementia care here, with activities thoughtfully adapted to individual interests and abilities. Staff understand that each person's experience of dementia is unique. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.