Stocks Hall Nursing Home Burscough

What families say

Based on 6 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
• Healthcare72
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2018-01-09 · Report published 2018-01-09 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"Inspectors rated the Safe domain as Good at the January 2022 inspection. A monitoring review in July 2023 found no evidence to change this. Beyond the rating itself, the published report does not include specific detail about staffing numbers, medicines management, falls recording, infection control practices, or how incidents are reviewed. The home provides nursing care, which means qualified nurses should be part of the staffing model around the clock, but this is not confirmed in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring, but safety is also where the biggest gaps in the published evidence sit. Our Good Practice evidence base (61 studies, March 2026) consistently identifies night staffing as the period when safety is most at risk, particularly in homes caring for people with dementia. Agency staff reliance is a second red flag, because unfamiliar faces make it harder for staff to notice when your parent is not quite themselves. The published report gives you no visibility on either of these questions, which is why asking to see last week's actual rota is one of the most important things you can do on a visit.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that safety incidents, particularly falls and medication errors, are more likely to occur on night shifts and in homes with high agency staff turnover. A home that learns visibly from incidents, through documented reviews and changed practice, is a strong predictor of sustained safety.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the staffing rota for the past seven days, not a template. Specifically ask: how many permanent staff work the night shift on the dementia unit, and how often has an agency worker covered a shift in the last month?"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The home is registered to provide nursing care and rehabilitation support, and dementia is listed as a specialism. The published inspection text does not provide specific detail about care plan quality, GP access, how dementia training is delivered, or how food and nutrition are managed for people with complex needs. The monitoring review in July 2023 did not identify concerns.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that lists dementia as a specialism and also provides rehabilitation after illness or injury, the Effective domain covers a wide range of needs. Food quality accounts for 20.9% of what families mention in positive reviews, and our Good Practice evidence base highlights it as a marker of genuine care: homes that get food right tend to get other things right too. Care plans should be living documents, updated after every significant change, and your parent should be able to see their own history and preferences reflected in how staff interact with them daily. None of this can be confirmed from the published text alone.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training significantly improves the quality of care interactions, but only when training is practical and regularly refreshed rather than a one-off online module. Homes that involve families in care plan reviews produce more accurate, person-centred plans.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan (anonymised if necessary) and ask when it was last reviewed and who was involved in that review. Also ask: what does dementia training for care staff actually consist of, and how recently did the team complete it?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The published report does not include any direct observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives, or examples of how staff protect dignity during personal care. There is no detail about whether residents are addressed by preferred names, whether staff move at an unhurried pace, or how the home responds when someone with dementia becomes distressed.","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 across 5,409 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. What families describe in their own words is not a policy commitment but something observable: a carer who crouches to eye level, uses a preferred name, and does not rush. You cannot assess this from an inspection report with limited detail. You can assess it in person, by watching a corridor interaction for ten minutes or arriving at a mealtime unannounced.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies non-verbal communication as equally important as verbal communication in dementia care. Staff who slow their pace, use touch appropriately, and respond to emotional cues rather than only spoken requests produce measurably better outcomes for residents with advanced dementia.","watch_out":"On your visit, stand near the lounge or a corridor for ten minutes without introducing yourself immediately. Watch how staff address your parent's potential future neighbours: do they use names, make eye contact, and move without urgency? This is the most reliable indicator of daily caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. The home is registered to care for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and rehabilitation needs, which suggests an expectation of individualised care. The published report includes no detail about the activities programme, whether one-to-one engagement is offered to people who cannot join groups, how complaints are handled, or whether end-of-life care planning is in place.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness accounts for 27.1% of what families mention in positive reviews, and activities are named in 21.4%. For someone living with dementia, especially in the later stages, group activities may not be accessible. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that individualised, one-to-one engagement, including everyday household tasks like folding, sorting, or simple gardening, produces better wellbeing outcomes than a shared activities calendar alone. The published inspection gives no visibility on whether this home offers that level of individual attention.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-focused individual activities, rather than group entertainment sessions, are among the most effective approaches for people with moderate to advanced dementia. Homes that distinguish between planned group activities and individual engagement tend to produce higher resident wellbeing scores.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what they would do for a resident with advanced dementia who cannot follow a group activity. Ask to see the activities record for one resident over the past two weeks, not the general programme poster."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2022 inspection. Mrs Janet Molyneux is the registered manager, and Mrs Susan Lace is the nominated individual for the provider, Stocks Hall Care Homes Limited. The published report does not include any detail about the manager's visibility on the floor, how long she has been in post, whether staff feel supported to raise concerns, or how governance and quality assurance are carried out day to day.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership account for 23.4% of positive family reviews, and communication with families accounts for a further 11.5%. Our Good Practice evidence base is clear that leadership stability predicts quality trajectory: a manager who has been in post for several years and is known by name to residents tends to lead a more consistent team. A registered manager is also a family's main point of contact when something goes wrong, so knowing how accessible and responsive she is matters as much as the formal rating.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that homes where staff feel genuinely able to raise concerns without fear of reprisal produce fewer serious incidents and respond more quickly when standards slip. Leadership that is visible on the floor, rather than confined to the office, is consistently associated with better staff retention and resident outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask specifically: how long has Mrs Molyneux been the registered manager at this home? Then ask: if my parent's condition changed overnight, who would call me, when would they call, and is there a written process for that? The quality of the answer tells you as much as the answer itself."}

  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 of all ages, with particular expertise in dementia support and physical disability care. They have experience supporting both younger adults under 65 and older residents with complex nursing needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home provides specialist dementia care, with dedicated units set up to support residents with different stages and types of dementia. Staff have experience caring for people with dementia alongside physical health needs. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.