St Vincent's House Care Home – Care UK

What families say

Based on 40 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2020-01-22 · Report published 2020-01-22 · Inspected 10 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the December 2024 assessment. This is an improvement from the home's previous Requires Improvement rating, which suggests meaningful work was done to address earlier concerns. The published findings do not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, falls records, or infection control practices. A registered manager is in post, which is a basic but important structural requirement. No concerns are flagged in the available published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is reassuring, but it is worth understanding what was inspected rather than assuming all risks are uniformly low. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips in care homes, yet night staffing ratios are not detailed in the published findings here. Our family review data also shows that families cite staff attentiveness as a concern in around 14% of reviews, often without realising it is connected to staffing levels rather than individual staff character. Because this home improved from Requires Improvement, it is reasonable to ask the manager directly what the earlier concerns were and what specifically changed. That conversation will tell you whether the improvement is structural or surface level.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies agency staff reliance as one of the most consistent predictors of safety problems, because agency workers do not know residents well enough to notice subtle changes in behaviour or health. Asking about agency usage is therefore one of the most important safety questions you can ask.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from last week, not the template. Count how many permanent staff were on the dementia unit overnight, and ask what percentage of shifts in the past month were covered by agency staff."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the December 2024 assessment. This covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutritional care. The published summary does not include specific evidence about how care plans are written or reviewed, what dementia training staff receive, how GP or specialist access is arranged, or how food and hydration needs are managed. The rating itself confirms these areas met the required standard at the time of inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a care home means your parent's care plan genuinely reflects who they are, not just their diagnosis. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated after every significant health change and reviewed with families at least every three months. The inspection confirmed the Effective domain met the Good standard, but it did not publish the detail that would let you judge how close to best practice the home sits. Food quality is a particularly useful window into genuine care: homes that know their residents well tend to get food preferences right, including texture, temperature, and cultural background. Ask about this specifically, as it is one of the harder things to fake on inspection day.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that dementia-specific training, when it goes beyond basic awareness to cover communication, behaviour as expression of need, and person-centred approaches, significantly improves both safety outcomes and resident wellbeing. Ask what training all staff receive, including domestic and kitchen staff, not just carers.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if needed) and check whether it includes the person's life history, preferred name, daily routines, and communication preferences. A care plan that reads like a medical record rather than a description of a real person is a warning sign."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the December 2024 assessment. This covers warmth, dignity, respect, and how well staff support independence. The published findings do not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives about how they feel, or specific examples of dignity practices such as knocking before entering rooms or using preferred names. The Good rating confirms these standards were met.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned by name in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not soft extras; they are the core of what families remember and what shapes daily life for your parent. The inspection confirmed the Caring domain is Good, but because no specific observations or quotes are published, you cannot assess the texture of daily interactions from this report alone. Good Practice research shows that how staff communicate matters as much as what they do, particularly for people living with dementia who may not be able to report poor treatment verbally. On your visit, watch whether staff greet your parent by name, whether they crouch to eye level, and whether they move without visible hurry.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including tone of voice, eye contact, and physical positioning, has a measurable effect on anxiety and distress in people living with dementia, often more so than verbal reassurance. This is something you can observe in two minutes on a corridor walk.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch what happens when a member of staff passes a resident in the corridor. Do they make eye contact, use the person's name, and pause briefly? A home where staff walk past without acknowledgement is showing you something important about its culture, regardless of what the paperwork says."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the December 2024 assessment. This covers activities, engagement, individuality, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The published findings do not include detail about the activity programme, how the home caters for residents who cannot join group sessions, how complaints are handled, or how end-of-life wishes are recorded and respected. The rating confirms the standard was met at inspection.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is referenced in 27.1% of positive family reviews in our data, and activities are cited in 21.4%. Both depend not just on having an activities programme but on whether it reaches every resident, including those living with advanced dementia, those who are anxious in groups, and those who are bed-bound for part of the day. Good Practice research consistently finds that one-to-one engagement, including simple household tasks, music, and sensory activities tailored to the individual's history, produces better outcomes than group sessions alone. This is one of the hardest things to assess from a report, so it is worth asking directly. Ask to see last week's actual activity records, not the planned schedule, and ask what the activities coordinator does for residents who cannot come to the lounge.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and life-history-informed activities, where tasks connect to a person's past work, hobbies, or daily routines, reduce agitation and improve mood in people living with dementia more reliably than generic entertainment-style activities.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records from the past two weeks, not the planned schedule on the wall. Check whether any activities are recorded for residents who are in their rooms or on a nursing unit, and ask how many hours per week each resident receives one-to-one engagement."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the December 2024 assessment. A named registered manager, Ms Kerry Ivane Cia Reyes, is in post, and a nominated individual, Ms Rachel Louise Harvey, is recorded. The home is operated by Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating suggests governance and leadership addressed earlier shortfalls. The published findings do not include detail about the manager's tenure, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how the home uses audit and incident data to drive improvement.","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 improved its rating has demonstrated the ability to identify and fix problems, which is genuinely encouraging. However, 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data specifically mention management as a factor in satisfaction, and what families notice most is whether the manager is visible on the floor and known to residents by name, not just present in meetings. Because the home previously held a Requires Improvement rating, it is entirely reasonable to ask the manager directly what the concerns were and how they were resolved. The answer will tell you whether the improvement reflects a real cultural shift or a focused effort to pass inspection.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies bottom-up empowerment, specifically whether care staff feel able to raise concerns without fear and whether their observations about individual residents inform care decisions, as a reliable marker of sustainable quality. Ask staff, not management, whether they feel listened to.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager how long they have been in post and what the main concerns were at the previous inspection. Then, separately, ask a member of care staff the same question. If the answers feel very different, that gap is worth exploring before you make a decision."}

  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 teams here support residents with dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. They create individualised activity programmes that match each person's interests and abilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the staff provide consistent daily support with a focus on maintaining routines and encouraging participation in activities that feel meaningful to each individual. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.