The Grand Care Home
At a Glance
The information you need to decide whether this home warrants a closer look.
Nursing homes
Staff warmth score
of reviewers answered yes
Good to know
- Registered beds82
- SpecialismsCaring for adults over 65 yrs, Caring for adults under 65 yrs, Dementia, Mental health conditions, Physical disabilities
- Last inspected2023-03-08
- Activities programmeThe home prepares all meals on site, with families noting the cleanliness throughout the building. There's a hairdressing salon that residents use regularly, and the secure outdoor spaces let people enjoy fresh air safely. These practical touches matter when someone's making a new home.
- Visit Website
The Evidence
What the review data, the inspection reports, and the dementia-care evidence base tell us about this home.
What families say
Families describe how residents who struggled in other care settings have settled here, no longer asking to leave. The wellbeing team keeps people engaged with regular activities and outings, while staff show particular patience when residents with dementia become distressed. The building itself helps too — spacious rooms with en-suites, secure gardens for wandering, and plenty of communal spaces where people gather.
Based on 45 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10
The eight family priority themes
- Staff warmth55
- Compassion & dignity55
- Cleanliness55
- Activities & engagement50
- Food quality50
- Healthcare55
- Management & leadership60
- Resident happiness55
What inspectors found
Inspected 2023-03-08 · Report published 2023-03-08 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years
Is this home safe?
{"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how risks to residents are identified and reduced. The published report does not include specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, falls management, or how medicines are administered and checked. A Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied, but the evidence behind that judgement is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For an 82-bed nursing home with dementia as a specialism, what happens after 8pm matters enormously. Our Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing as the area where safety most commonly slips, and agency reliance as a key risk factor for consistency, particularly for people with dementia who depend on familiar faces. The Good rating is reassuring, but without specific numbers or observations in the published report, you cannot verify the detail from the document alone. Ask the manager directly how many permanent carers and seniors are on duty overnight, and what percentage of shifts in the last three months were covered by agency staff.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review (61 studies, March 2026) found that night staffing ratios and the proportion of permanent versus agency staff are among the strongest predictors of safety quality in care homes, particularly for people living with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a staffing template. Count how many permanent staff names appear on night shifts compared with agency or bank names, and ask what the minimum staffing level is per shift for the dementia unit overnight."}
Is the care effective?
{"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, nutrition, hydration, and how the home works with GPs and other health professionals. Dementia is listed as a specialism, which means staff should have relevant training. The published report does not include specific examples of care plan content, training records reviewed, or how GP access is arranged. A Good rating is the inspector's overall conclusion, but the specific evidence behind it is not recorded in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality is mentioned by name in 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, which makes it one of the clearest signals of whether a home genuinely cares about the people who live there. Whether your mum's dietary preferences, swallowing needs, or cultural requirements are reflected in her individual care plan is something the inspection rating alone cannot tell you. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should be updated regularly and shared with families. Ask how often your parent's care plan would be reviewed, and whether you would be invited to take part.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews and consistent GP access as two of the most important markers of effective care for people living with dementia in nursing home settings.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example (anonymised if needed) of how a care plan is structured, and ask specifically how dementia training is delivered to staff, how often it is refreshed, and whether it covers non-verbal communication and behaviour that may signal unmet need."}
Is this home caring?
{"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This covers how staff treat residents, whether dignity and privacy are respected, and whether people are supported to make choices and maintain independence. The published report does not include direct inspector observations of staff interactions, quotes from residents or relatives about how they felt treated, or descriptions of how preferences were respected in daily routines. The Good rating reflects the inspector's judgement, but no supporting detail is available in the published 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, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. These are not abstract concepts. They show up in whether staff knock before entering a room, whether they use your mum's preferred name, and whether they sit with her rather than standing over her. The absence of specific observations in this report means you cannot rely on the published findings to assess warmth. Observe it yourself on a visit, and pay attention to corridor interactions, not just what staff do when they know they are being watched.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, physical proximity, and unhurried pace, is as important as spoken interaction for people living with dementia who may have limited verbal ability.","watch_out":"During your visit, watch what happens when a member of staff passes a resident in the corridor or communal area. Do they make eye contact, slow down, or speak by name? Or do they walk past without acknowledgement? This is the most reliable observable signal of care culture."}
Is the home responsive?
{"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This covers how well the home responds to individual needs, including activities and engagement, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. The home supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, so the range of individual need is likely significant. The published report does not describe the activities programme, individual engagement approaches, or how the home responds to complaints. No specific examples of person-centred responsiveness are recorded.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities are mentioned in 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness and engagement in 27.1%. For people living with dementia, individually tailored activity, such as familiar household tasks, sensory engagement, or reminiscence, is shown by Good Practice research to be more beneficial than group sessions alone. A Good rating tells you the inspector was satisfied, but it does not tell you whether your dad would have something meaningful to do on a Tuesday afternoon, or whether a member of staff would sit with him one-to-one if he could not join a group. Ask specifically about that.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches to activity, and one-to-one engagement for people with advanced dementia, produce measurable improvements in wellbeing, yet these are among the least consistently implemented practices in care homes.","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 group sessions. If the answer is vague or defaults to the group programme, ask how one-to-one time is built into the staffing model."}
Is the home well-led?
{"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. A named registered manager, Miss Tracy Anne Johnston, and a nominated individual, Mrs Cathryn Fairhurst, were recorded as accountable for the service. The home is operated by New Care West Bridgford (OPCO) Limited. The published report does not describe how long the manager has been in post, how staff are supported to raise concerns, or how the home uses feedback from residents and families to improve. A Good rating is the inspector's overall conclusion on governance and culture.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence base. Communication with families is mentioned in 11.5% of our positive review data, which may sound modest but reflects how rarely families feel genuinely informed rather than just notified. A Good Well-led rating is encouraging, but ask how long the current manager has been in post, whether there have been significant staffing changes since the inspection, and how families are kept informed when their parent's condition or care plan changes.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies leadership stability and a culture where staff feel able to speak up as the two strongest structural predictors of sustained care quality in nursing homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in post at The Grand and whether the senior leadership team is stable. Also ask how the home typically tells families about changes in their parent's health or care, and how quickly that communication happens."}
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 younger adults under 65 as well as older residents, supporting people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities.. Gaps or open questions remain on Staff here understand the distress that dementia can bring and respond with consistent reassurance rather than frustration. The secure gardens and structured daily activities help residents feel settled and purposeful. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.
The DCC Verdict
Our editorial view, built from the three lenses: what families tell us, what inspectors record, and how the home sits against good dementia-care practice.
DCC Family Score
The Grand received a Good rating across all five inspection domains in January 2023, which is a positive baseline. However, the published inspection report contains very limited specific detail, observations, or direct testimony, so scores reflect a confirmed Good rather than a richly evidenced one.
Homes in East Midlands typically score 68–82.The three-lens summary
What families tell us
Families describe how residents who struggled in other care settings have settled here, no longer asking to leave. The wellbeing team keeps people engaged with regular activities and outings, while staff show particular patience when residents with dementia become distressed. The building itself helps too — spacious rooms with en-suites, secure gardens for wandering, and plenty of communal spaces where people gather.
What inspectors have recorded
The management team listens when families raise concerns and generally acts on them quickly. Most nursing staff explain medications clearly and provide compassionate support, though families have found that personal care standards can vary between shifts — sometimes they've needed to step in with washing or clothing changes. One family experienced poor support from a night nurse during their relative's final hours, which stood out against the otherwise caring approach.
How it sits against good practice
If you're considering The Grand, visiting during activity time can give you a good sense of daily life there.
Worth a visit
The Grand, on Greythorn Drive in Nottingham, was rated Good across all five inspection domains following an inspection in January 2023. The home is registered to care for up to 82 people, including those living with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities. A named registered manager and nominated individual were in place, which provides a clear accountability structure. A stable Good rating across every domain is a positive starting point when comparing homes. The main limitation here is that the published inspection report contains very little specific detail beyond the domain ratings themselves. There are no direct quotes from residents or relatives, no inspector observations of daily life, and no descriptions of the environment, staffing levels, or activities. This does not mean those things are poor, but it does mean you will need to find out for yourself on a visit. In particular, ask to see last week's actual staffing rota (not a template), ask what the overnight staffing ratio is across the 82 beds, find out how much of the team is permanent versus agency, and ask how the home communicates with families when something changes.
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In Their Own Words
How The Grand Care Home describes itself — collected from its own website. DCC has not edited or independently verified the content in this tab.
Structured days and patient dementia care in central Nottingham
Compassionate Care in Nottingham at The Grand
When families visit The Grand in Nottingham, they often notice the structured rhythm of daily life — activities happening throughout the building, residents heading out on trips, and staff taking time to reassure those who feel anxious. This East Midlands care home supports people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities, with dedicated wellbeing coordinators who plan each day's programme.
Who they care for
The home cares for younger adults under 65 as well as older residents, supporting people with dementia, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities.
Staff here understand the distress that dementia can bring and respond with consistent reassurance rather than frustration. The secure gardens and structured daily activities help residents feel settled and purposeful.
Management & ethos
The management team listens when families raise concerns and generally acts on them quickly. Most nursing staff explain medications clearly and provide compassionate support, though families have found that personal care standards can vary between shifts — sometimes they've needed to step in with washing or clothing changes. One family experienced poor support from a night nurse during their relative's final hours, which stood out against the otherwise caring approach.
The home & environment
The home prepares all meals on site, with families noting the cleanliness throughout the building. There's a hairdressing salon that residents use regularly, and the secure outdoor spaces let people enjoy fresh air safely. These practical touches matter when someone's making a new home.
“If you're considering The Grand, visiting during activity time can give you a good sense of daily life there.”
DCC does not edit or curate content in this tab. For independently curated information, see The Evidence and DCC Verdict.
