The Oaks

What families say

What strikes visitors is how content residents seem here. People talk about seeing genuine happiness in the way residents interact with their surroundings and the staff who support them.

Based on 7 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership75
• Resident happiness68

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-05-16 · Report published 2023-05-16 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Oaks Care Home was rated Good for safety at the April 2023 inspection. The home had previously held an Inadequate rating, which means safety concerns were identified at an earlier inspection and the home has since been required to address them. The current Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied that the home now meets the standard required to keep residents safe. The published report does not provide specific detail on staffing ratios, medicines management findings, or infection control observations beyond the domain rating itself.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A move from Inadequate to Good in the Safe domain is the single most reassuring finding in this report for families considering The Oaks. It means the home identified what was going wrong and fixed it to a standard that satisfied inspectors. That said, Good Practice research consistently finds that night staffing is where safety most often slips, and agency staff reliance can undermine the consistency your parent needs. Because the inspection report does not publish specific figures on staffing levels or agency use, you will need to ask these questions directly on a visit. The improvement trajectory is encouraging, but you should also ask what the home does when something goes wrong, because learning from incidents is one of the clearest markers that a safe culture has genuinely taken hold.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that night staffing ratios and reliance on agency staff are two of the strongest predictors of safety risk in care homes. A home that has recently recovered from an Inadequate rating should be able to show you stable, named staff on overnight shifts.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts on the dementia unit were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, particularly after 8pm."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Oaks Care Home was rated Good for effectiveness at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans reflect what your parent actually needs, and whether the home works well with GPs and other health professionals. The published report does not include specific detail on dementia training content, care plan review frequency, or how the home manages healthcare access. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the overall standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness matters enormously for a home that specialises in dementia care, because the gap between a care plan written at admission and the care your parent receives six months later can be significant if plans are not regularly reviewed. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should change as your parent's needs change, not forms completed once and filed. The inspection gives a positive headline but does not tell you how often plans are reviewed or whether families are included in those reviews. Food quality is another marker of genuine care in this domain, and our family review data shows it features in 20.9% of what families mention positively. Ask specifically about both.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research, Leeds Beckett, 2026) identifies regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews as one of the strongest indicators that a home truly knows your parent as an individual rather than managing a condition.","watch_out":"Ask to see how care plans are reviewed. Specifically, ask how often they are updated, who is involved in those reviews, and whether you would be contacted before a review takes place, not just informed afterwards."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Oaks Care Home was rated Good for caring at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, how residents are treated with dignity and respect, and whether individuals retain as much independence as possible. The published report does not include specific inspector observations of staff interactions, direct quotes from residents about how they feel, or examples of how staff respond to distress. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the overall quality of care and relationships.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity feature in 55.2%. These are not abstract ideals: they are observable on a visit. Watch whether staff knock before entering rooms, whether they use your parent's preferred name without prompting, and whether interactions feel unhurried even when the home is busy. The inspection confirms the home meets the Good standard for caring, but the absence of specific observations in the published report means you should treat a visit as your own evidence-gathering opportunity. Good Practice research is clear that for people living with dementia, non-verbal communication, tone, touch, and pace matter as much as words.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that person-led care requires staff to know each individual's history, preferences, and communication style. In dementia care specifically, how staff respond to distress without words is often a more reliable indicator of genuine care than any written policy.","watch_out":"During your visit, find a moment to watch a staff member interact with your parent's potential neighbour, someone who cannot easily speak for themselves. Notice whether the staff member makes eye contact, speaks calmly, and moves without rushing. That interaction will tell you more than any brochure."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Oaks Care Home was rated Good for responsiveness at the April 2023 inspection. This domain covers whether the home provides meaningful activities, responds to individual preferences, and supports residents approaching the end of life. The published report does not include specific detail on the activities programme, one-to-one engagement for people who cannot join group activities, or how the home handles individual requests and complaints. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the overall standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Responsiveness is where the difference between a good care home and a genuinely good life for your parent is most visible day to day. Our family review data shows activities and engagement feature in 21.4% of positive reviews, and resident happiness in 27.1%. Good Practice research is particularly clear that group activities are not enough: people living with advanced dementia need tailored one-to-one engagement, and homes that rely only on group sessions leave the most vulnerable residents without meaningful stimulation for most of the day. The inspection gives a Good rating but does not describe the activity programme in detail. Ask what happens on a typical Tuesday afternoon for someone who cannot join a group session.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking, provide meaningful engagement for people with dementia and support a sense of continuity and purpose that group entertainment cannot replicate.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities schedule for last week, not a planned future schedule. Then ask specifically what was offered to residents who could not leave their rooms or who do not participate in group sessions. The answer will tell you whether the home thinks about individuals or just groups."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Oaks Care Home was rated Good for leadership at the April 2023 inspection. The registered manager is Mrs Julie Ann Houghton, and the nominated individual is Mr Stephen John Clarke. The home is run by Caldwell and Beling Ltd. The most significant leadership finding in this report is the improvement from a previous Inadequate rating: achieving Good across all five domains requires leadership to have identified problems, made changes, and embedded those changes convincingly enough to satisfy inspectors. The published report does not include specific detail on management visibility, staff culture, or governance systems beyond the domain rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in care homes, according to Good Practice research. The fact that The Oaks has a named registered manager and has recovered from an Inadequate rating is positive, but it also raises questions that families should ask directly: how long has the current manager been in post, and were they in post during the period of Inadequate rating or appointed to lead the recovery? Management (23.4%) and communication with families (11.5%) both feature in our family review data as drivers of satisfaction. A manager who is visible on the floor and whom staff feel they can speak to honestly is one of the clearest signs of a well-led home. Ask to meet the manager on your visit, not just the administrator.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (2026) found that leadership stability, specifically a consistent registered manager who empowers staff to raise concerns, is one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Homes that have recovered from poor ratings are particularly dependent on management continuity to hold those improvements.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in post here, what was the main thing that went wrong before the previous inspection, and what specific change has made the biggest difference? A manager who can answer these questions clearly and without defensiveness is a strong sign that the improvement is genuine."}

  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 Oaks provides specialist support for people living with dementia and those managing mental health conditions. They also offer general residential care for anyone over 65 who needs that extra help with daily living.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home accepts residents living with dementia as part of their specialist care provision. They work with families to understand each person's unique needs and preferences. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.