Stobars Hall

What families say

Visitors often comment on finding residents looking content and well-settled. The atmosphere feels calm, with staff who come across as approachable and genuinely interested in the people they support.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement65
• Food quality65
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-11-15 · Report published 2019-11-15 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the last full inspection. This represents an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating, suggesting that safety concerns identified earlier were addressed. No specific detail about medication management, falls records, infection control, or staffing ratios is included in the published summary. The home has been registered continuously and is not dormant.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating in Safe is reassuring, but the absence of specific detail means you cannot rely on the published report alone to judge how safe your parent would be here. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes. You need to ask directly how many staff are on duty overnight and whether those are permanent staff or agency workers. Our family review data shows that families notice safety through proxy signals: call bells answered promptly, no unexplained bruises, and staff who know your parent's routines without needing to check a folder.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of inconsistent safety in care homes, particularly for people with dementia who rely on familiar staff to feel secure.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota for the overnight shift, not a template. Count how many of those names are permanent employees and how many are agency staff."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good. This domain typically covers training, care plan quality, healthcare access, nutrition, and hydration. No specific information about the content of staff training, how often care plans are reviewed, or how the home manages GP and specialist referrals is included in the published text. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means the home is expected to demonstrate dementia-specific competence.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, a Good Effective rating means inspectors were satisfied that the basics of care planning and healthcare were in place. What it cannot tell you is whether the care plan would actually reflect who your parent is: their preferred name, the music they love, or how they like their tea. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated regularly with family input, not paperwork completed at admission and rarely revisited. Food quality, which 20.9% of positive family reviews mention specifically, is also assessed under this domain, but there is no detail here about menu choice or how the home supports people with swallowing difficulties or specialist diets.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, when it goes beyond basic awareness to include communication techniques and behaviour understanding, has a measurable positive effect on the quality of daily interactions between staff and residents.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan for a current resident (anonymised is fine) and check whether it includes the person's life history, preferred routines, and the date it was last reviewed. Then ask when families were last involved in a care plan review."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good. This is the domain most directly concerned with how staff treat the people who live here: whether they are kind, unhurried, and respectful of dignity and privacy. No specific inspector observations, quotes from residents, or quotes from relatives are included in the published summary available for this report.","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 together account for a further 55.2%. These are the qualities families find hardest to assess from a report and easiest to see in person. A Good Caring rating tells you inspectors did not find evidence of poor treatment, but the absence of specific quotes or observations means you cannot know from this text whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, or whether they slow down during personal care. These are the details that matter most for someone with dementia.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication, including touch, eye contact, and unhurried movement, matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia. Inspectors who record these observations in detail provide much stronger assurance than a rating alone.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff interact with residents in communal areas and corridors when they think no one important is looking. Are they making eye contact, using names, and moving without rushing? These unscripted moments tell you more than any tour."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good. This domain covers whether the home tailors care to individual needs, provides meaningful activities, responds to complaints, and plans for end of life. No specific information about the activities programme, how the home supports people who cannot join group activities, or how it handles complaints is included in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For your parent, being responsive means more than having a bingo session on a Tuesday. Our family review data shows that resident happiness, which includes being engaged and settled, accounts for 27.1% of what drives positive reviews. Good Practice research is clear that people with dementia benefit most from activities tailored to their individual history, including household tasks, music from their past, and one-to-one time, not just group activities. With 38 beds and a mix of residents including people with learning disabilities and physical disabilities, you want to understand how the home ensures your parent, with their specific interests and abilities, would have a meaningful day.","evidence_base":"The rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and life-history approaches to activity, where tasks are matched to the individual's retained abilities and past roles, produce significantly better outcomes for engagement and mood in people with dementia than standard group activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask what would happen on a typical afternoon for a resident who cannot participate in group activities. Who would spend time with them, what would they do, and how is that recorded? If the answer is vague, that is an important signal."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good, and this represents an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. The home is operated by The Franklyn Group Limited, and Mrs Helen Emerson is named as the Nominated Individual. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence requiring a reassessment of the current Good rating. No detail about the manager's tenure, staff culture, or governance systems is included in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"The improvement in the Well-led domain is probably the most encouraging single data point in this report. Good Practice research shows that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a home's quality trajectory: when leadership is consistent and staff feel able to speak up, quality tends to stay good or improve. Our family review data shows that communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive reviews, meaning families value being kept informed and feeling that someone is genuinely in charge. What this report cannot tell you is whether the current manager is the same person who drove the improvement, how long they have been in post, or whether staff feel supported.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that homes where frontline staff feel empowered to raise concerns without fear of negative consequences show consistently better outcomes for residents, and that this culture is directly shaped by the stability and approach of the registered manager.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post and whether they were managing the home during the period when it improved from Requires Improvement to Good. A manager who led that turnaround and is still present is a strong positive sign."}

  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 here supports adults across different age groups, including those under 65 with physical or learning disabilities. They also provide specialist dementia care, adapting their approach to meet each person's individual needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home provides dedicated support within their wider care community. The team works to maintain familiar routines while ensuring safety and comfort as needs change. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.