Tadworth Grove Care Home – Bupa

What families say

Visitors describe a warm atmosphere where staff take time to chat and connect. Families mention feeling welcomed and included in care discussions, with staff who seem to genuinely enjoy their work. The home feels lively, with residents taking part in various activities throughout the day.

Based on 13 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
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-07-08 · Report published 2022-07-08 · Inspected 8 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, medicines management, infection control practices, or falls monitoring at Tadworth Grove. The home provides nursing care, which means registered nurses are required on duty, but no information about night staffing numbers or agency staff usage is available from the published findings. The previous Requires Improvement rating means safety was a concern at an earlier point, and the improvement to Good suggests those concerns have been addressed, though the basis for that judgement is not described in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that previously required improvement, a Good safety rating is reassuring, but it does not tell you the detail you need. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most often slips in care homes, and agency reliance as a driver of inconsistency. Because Tadworth Grove offers nursing care, including for people with dementia, you should ask specifically how many registered nurses are on duty overnight and what proportion of shifts are covered by agency staff rather than the permanent team. The improvement from the previous rating is a positive signal, but you should ask the manager directly what changed and how they can demonstrate that.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that learning from incidents, such as falls and medication errors, is one of the clearest markers of a genuinely safe home, and that homes which document and act on near-misses tend to maintain safer environments over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template rota. Count how many night shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask how many registered nurses are present overnight for the 45 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report does not include specific observations about care plan quality, GP access, dementia training content, or food provision at Tadworth Grove. The home specialises in dementia care alongside general nursing, which means staff training in dementia-specific approaches is particularly important, but no detail about the content or frequency of that training appears in the available text. A Good rating in this domain indicates inspectors were satisfied, but the evidence behind that judgement is not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For families choosing a dementia nursing home, effectiveness is about whether staff genuinely understand how dementia changes a person and whether care plans are kept up to date as your parent's needs change. Our Good Practice evidence base, drawn from 61 studies, shows that care plans function as living documents in the best homes, reviewed regularly and written with input from the person and their family. Food quality is also a meaningful indicator of genuine care: research shows that choice, texture modification, and individual preferences at mealtimes matter significantly for people with dementia. None of this is described in the available findings, so these are essential questions for your visit.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that dementia-specific training, particularly training that covers non-verbal communication and behavioural responses to unmet need, is associated with measurably better outcomes for people living with dementia in nursing home settings.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan, with personal details removed if needed, and check whether it records your parent's life history, preferred routines, and communication preferences, not just medical needs. Ask how recently it was reviewed and whether the family was involved."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. No specific observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, responses to distress, or the pace of care are included in the published report. A Good caring rating suggests inspectors were satisfied with how staff treated the people living at Tadworth Grove, but without direct quotes from residents or family members, or descriptions of what inspectors observed, it is not possible to describe the texture of daily care from the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract values; they show up in specific observable moments: whether a staff member knocks before entering a room, whether they use your parent's preferred name without being reminded, whether they sit at eye level during a conversation, and whether they move without rushing. A Good rating here is encouraging, but you can only verify it by watching how staff behave when they do not know you are paying attention. Good Practice research shows that non-verbal communication matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that person-led care, specifically knowing a resident's individual history and preferences, is more predictive of wellbeing outcomes than any single clinical intervention, and that this knowledge comes from consistent staffing rather than care plan documents alone.","watch_out":"On your visit, spend time in a communal area and watch how staff greet the people who live there. Do they use names? Do they crouch or sit when speaking to someone in a chair? Do they appear unhurried? These behaviours are visible within minutes and tell you more than any policy document."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The published report does not describe the activity programme, whether one-to-one engagement is available for people who cannot join group activities, how individual preferences are recorded and acted upon, or whether end-of-life care planning is in place. The home's dementia specialism makes responsiveness to individual need particularly important, but no specific examples are available from the published findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is mentioned positively in 27.1% of family reviews across our dataset, and activities and engagement are cited in 21.4%. For people living with dementia, the research is clear that group activities alone are not enough: those with more advanced dementia need one-to-one engagement, and activities rooted in familiar everyday tasks, such as folding, gardening, or simple cooking activities, tend to produce better wellbeing outcomes than formal structured programmes. A Good rating is a starting point, but you should visit during an activity session and ask specifically what happens for your parent on a day when they cannot or do not want to join a group.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches to activity, tailored to the individual's remaining abilities and life history, are associated with reduced agitation and improved sense of purpose in people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident with moderate dementia who prefers not to join groups. If the answer is vague or defaults to the group schedule, that is a gap worth probing further."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated this domain Good. The home is managed by Mrs Soonita Shaw as registered manager and is run by Bupa Care Homes (CFChomes) Limited, with Mr Donald Day named as the nominated individual. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating to Good across all domains suggests the management team has made meaningful changes, though the published report does not describe what those changes were, how long the current manager has been in post, or how staff experience the leadership culture.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time. Our Good Practice evidence base shows that leadership continuity, particularly a manager who is visible on the floor rather than office-bound, correlates with better staff retention and more consistent care. The improvement from Requires Improvement is genuinely positive and suggests someone has driven real change. However, you should find out how long Mrs Shaw has been in post and whether the improvement has been sustained under her leadership or was driven by a previous manager. Communication with families is mentioned positively in 11.5% of our review data, so ask how the home keeps families informed when something changes.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review found that leadership stability, specifically manager tenure of more than two years, is associated with lower staff turnover and better continuity of care for residents, and that bottom-up staff empowerment, where carers feel able to raise concerns, is a distinguishing feature of consistently high-performing homes.","watch_out":"Ask Mrs Shaw directly: how long have you been manager here, what was the main reason for the previous lower rating, and what specific changes did you make? A manager who can answer this clearly and without defensiveness is a 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 home cares for adults both under and over 65, creating an intergenerational environment. They provide specialist dementia support alongside general residential care.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the home offers specialist support within their wider community setting. Staff work to maintain each person's connections and routines where possible. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.