Heathlands Village

What families say

Many families describe finding comfort in how staff maintain residents' dignity through every stage of care, particularly during end-of-life support. The home seems to excel at those long-term relationships where staff truly know each resident as an individual. Activities coordinators work alongside nurses and carers as one team, and there's a real sense that residents with dementia receive care that respects their changing needs.

Based on 45 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity75
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement88
• Food quality60
• Healthcare58
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness78

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-02-10 · Report published 2023-02-10 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Requires Improvement at the January 2023 inspection. This is the only domain below Good in an otherwise positive inspection. The published report summary does not specify which aspects of safety required improvement, whether staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, or another area. The home has 109 beds and lists dementia as a specialism, making staffing adequacy and night cover particularly important questions. No specific inspector observations, resident testimony, or record review detail relating to safety is included in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement rating in Safe is the finding that should give you most pause. For a home of this size, with a significant dementia population, safe staffing at all hours is not a minor administrative matter. Good Practice research consistently shows that safety problems in care homes are most likely to surface on night shifts and at weekends, when staffing is thinnest. The inspection does not tell us whether the concern here was about night staffing, medicines, falls management, or something else, and that uncertainty is itself something you need to resolve before making a decision. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness is mentioned in 14% of positive reviews, suggesting families notice and value it when it is present and, by implication, notice when it is absent.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice in Dementia Care evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) identifies night staffing ratios as one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in dementia care settings. Homes that rely heavily on agency staff at night show less consistent incident detection and response.","watch_out":"Before or during your visit, ask the manager to show you the full Safe section of the January 2023 inspection report and then ask specifically: what actions did the home take in response, and has there been any follow-up inspection or monitoring visit since? If the manager cannot explain the improvement actions clearly, treat that as a significant concern."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, and nutritional care. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which ordinarily implies a training requirement above the general standard. However, the published report summary does not include specific observations about training content, care plan quality, GP access frequency, or food provision. The Good rating indicates these areas met inspection standards, but the level of detail available is not sufficient to draw strong conclusions about any individual aspect.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective means inspectors were satisfied that the home knows what it is doing in terms of training, care planning, and health oversight. For your mum or dad with dementia, what matters most in this domain is whether care plans genuinely reflect who they are as a person, not just their medical needs, and whether the home acts quickly when their health changes. Food quality is also part of this domain and matters enormously for people with dementia, who may lose interest in eating. The inspection gave no specific detail on food, so this is worth observing directly on a visit. Our family review data shows food quality appears in 20.9% of the themes families care about most, making it one of the most reliable visible indicators of genuine care quality.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies care plans as living documents that should be reviewed at least monthly for people with advanced dementia, and that family involvement in care plan reviews is strongly associated with better outcomes and family confidence.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan, with personal details removed, and ask how often plans are reviewed and whether families are routinely invited to those reviews. Also ask what the home serves for someone who has lost interest in eating or who has swallowing difficulties."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, privacy, and support for independence. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied that residents are treated with kindness and respect. The published report summary does not include specific inspector observations about staff interactions, quotes from residents or families about how care feels, or examples of how the home supports individual dignity. The evidence available is therefore positive in rating but limited in specificity.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews. Compassion and dignity are close behind at 55.2%. A Good rating for Caring is reassuring, but a rating alone cannot tell you whether the staff your mum or dad will spend most time with are genuinely warm people who will know them by name and notice when they are having a difficult day. The inspection gives no direct observations to confirm this. When you visit, pay close attention to how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal spaces, not just during a formal introduction. The pace of those interactions matters as much as the words used.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base notes that non-verbal communication, including tone, eye contact, and unhurried movement, is as important as verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia. Person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style, not just their care plan.","watch_out":"During your visit, find a moment to observe the communal lounge or a corridor without staff knowing you are specifically watching. Notice whether staff pause to acknowledge residents they pass, whether they use names, and whether any resident appears distressed and unattended."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Outstanding

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Outstanding at the January 2023 inspection. This is a rare rating and the standout finding of the inspection. The Responsive domain covers activities, engagement, personalised care, and end-of-life planning. An Outstanding rating requires inspectors to have found specific, compelling evidence going well beyond standard compliance. The home lists dementia and learning disabilities as specialisms alongside care for older adults. However, the published report summary does not reproduce the specific evidence or observations that justified the Outstanding rating, so the nature of what makes the activity and engagement offer exceptional is not available from this source.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"An Outstanding rating for Responsive is genuinely significant and relatively uncommon across UK care homes. It suggests the inspection found strong evidence that the people living here have real, individual, meaningful engagement rather than a standard activity timetable pinned to a noticeboard. For your mum or dad with dementia, this matters enormously: research consistently shows that meaningful occupation reduces distress, reduces falls, and supports a sense of identity even in advanced dementia. Our family review data shows activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of the themes families value most, and resident happiness in 27.1%. An Outstanding Responsive rating suggests both are likely to be stronger here than in most homes. The key question is whether that engagement reaches people who cannot join group activities.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base highlights that individualised, one-to-one engagement, including Montessori-based approaches and familiar everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, and simple food preparation, is significantly more effective for people with advanced dementia than group activities alone.","watch_out":"Ask the activities team to describe a typical week for a resident who cannot join group sessions because of advanced dementia or anxiety. What does one-to-one engagement look like for that person, how often does it happen, and who delivers it?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the January 2023 inspection. The home is run by the Federation of Jewish Services. A named registered manager, Mrs Karen Johnson, and a nominated individual, Mr Mark Cunningham, are recorded as the accountable persons. A Good Well-led rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that governance, accountability, and leadership culture met the required standard. The published report summary does not include specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, how concerns are handled, or the tenure and stability of the management team.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good leadership is the foundation on which everything else is built. When management is visible, stable, and genuinely open to challenge from staff and families, the quality of care is more likely to stay consistent and to improve over time. Our family review data shows management and leadership appear in 23.4% of the themes families value, and communication with families in 11.5%. The Good rating here is reassuring, but the Requires Improvement in Safe raises the question of how quickly leadership identified and acted on that problem. How a home responds to a weakness is often more revealing than the weakness itself. The Federation of Jewish Services as the operating organisation suggests an established governance structure, which is generally a positive indicator.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base finds that leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of a care home's quality trajectory. Homes where the registered manager has been in post for two or more years and where staff feel safe raising concerns consistently outperform those with high management turnover.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in post and how long the senior care staff have been at the home. Then ask how the Safe concerns identified in January 2023 were addressed and whether families were informed of the issues and the improvement actions taken."}

  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 specialises in dementia care, support for adults with learning disabilities, and general nursing care for over-65s. This mix of expertise means they're equipped for residents whose needs might span several areas or change over time.. Gaps or open questions remain on The dementia care here goes beyond just having secure areas — families mention how the environment and staff approaches work together to support residents as their cognitive needs change. There's particular strength in maintaining person-centred care even as dementia progresses. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.