The Old Rectory Nursing Home

What families say

Based on 3 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity57
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement52
• Food quality50
• Healthcare45
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-07-20 · Report published 2021-07-20 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain is rated Good at the June 2021 inspection, representing an improvement from the home's previous rating. The inspection record does not provide specific observations about staffing numbers, falls management, medicines administration, or infection control practices. No concerns were flagged in this domain, but the absence of detail makes it difficult to assess the depth of safe practice. The home is a registered nursing home, meaning qualified nursing staff should be present, but the inspection text does not confirm staffing ratios across day or night shifts.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring after a previous Requires Improvement, but it tells you the floor has been raised u2014 not how high the ceiling is. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness is one of the most anxiety-provoking gaps families identify, particularly overnight. Good Practice research is clear that night-time is where safety most commonly slips in care homes: fewer staff, less oversight, and greater vulnerability for people with dementia who may be disorientated or at risk of falls. You cannot assess this from the report alone. You need to ask directly how many staff are on duty after 8pm, whether a registered nurse is present through the night, and how the home responds when a resident deteriorates. A Good rating without supporting detail should prompt more questions, not fewer.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research / Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and the use of consistent (non-agency) staff are among the strongest predictors of safety outcomes in care home settings u2014 yet these are rarely reported in detail in official inspection findings.","watch_out":"Ask the home: 'How many staff are on duty overnight, and is a registered nurse on site u2014 not just on call u2014 throughout the night shift?' Then ask what happens if a resident with dementia becomes very distressed or unwell at 3am."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"The Effective domain is rated Requires Improvement at the June 2021 inspection u2014 the only domain not rated Good. This is a significant concern for a home specialising in dementia care, as Effective covers care planning, dementia training, healthcare access, nutrition assessment, and whether care actually reflects what is known about each individual. The inspection text does not specify which aspects of Effectiveness were found wanting, or what actions the home committed to take. A subsequent review in July 2023 found no evidence to reassess the rating, meaning this domain may still carry concerns.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"This is the domain that matters most for your parent's daily experience of care, and it is the one area where the inspection found the home falling short. Good Practice evidence is consistent: care plans that are not regularly reviewed and updated mean staff may not know that your mum's preferences have changed, that she has started refusing certain foods, or that her pain is presenting differently. Dementia-specific training is not optional in a specialist home u2014 it shapes whether a distressed resident is calmed or inadvertently made more anxious. The July 2023 monitoring review found no reason to change the rating, which could mean improvement has occurred but not yet been formally inspected, or it could mean the issues persist. You need to ask the home directly what was found to be requiring improvement and what has been done since. Request to see the training records and ask whether your parent's care plan will be reviewed with you present.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that care plans functioning as 'living documents' u2014 updated after every significant health change and reviewed with families u2014 were strongly associated with better outcomes for people with dementia, including reduced hospital admissions and better pain management.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager: 'What specifically was identified as requiring improvement in 2021, and can you show me what has changed?' Ask to see an anonymised example of a current care plan to assess whether it reflects genuine individual knowledge or generic statements."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain is rated Good at the June 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, dignity, respect, and whether residents' independence is supported. However, the published inspection text contains no direct observations of staff interactions, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific examples of caring practice being observed. A Good rating in this domain is meaningful, but the lack of supporting evidence makes it impossible to assess what the inspectors actually saw.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Caring is the highest-weighted theme in our family review data u2014 57.3% of positive family reviews specifically mention warm, friendly staff, and 55.2% mention genuine compassion and dignity. When families reflect on what made a care home right for their parent, kindness comes first. A Good rating here suggests inspectors found no concerns, but the absence of specific observations means you cannot know whether staff know your mum by her preferred name, whether they sit with her when she is frightened, or whether they give her time to make choices at her own pace. Good Practice research is clear that for people with dementia, non-verbal warmth u2014 tone of voice, unhurried movement, eye contact u2014 matters as much as what is said. These things are invisible in a report but visible on a visit.","evidence_base":"Good Practice evidence consistently finds that person-led dementia care depends on staff knowing the individual u2014 their history, preferences, and communication style u2014 and that this knowledge takes months of consistent staffing to develop. High agency use or frequent staff changes directly undermine it.","watch_out":"When you visit, watch how staff move through the home. Do they stop and acknowledge residents in corridors? Do they use your parent's preferred name without being prompted? Ask a member of care staff to tell you three things they know about a resident they look after u2014 genuine knowledge is a reliable marker of caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain is rated Good at the June 2021 inspection. This domain covers whether the home tailors its care to individual needs, offers meaningful activities, responds to complaints, and supports people approaching end of life. As with other domains, the inspection text provides no specific examples: no activity descriptions, no testimony about how the home responds to individual requests or complaints, and no information about end-of-life care practice.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement account for 21.4% of positive family reviews, and resident happiness u2014 feeling settled, content, and engaged u2014 accounts for 27.1%. For a parent with dementia, the question is not just whether the home runs group activities, but whether there is someone who will sit with your mum when she cannot join a group, whether there is a familiar routine that reduces anxiety, and whether the home understands what gave her life meaning before dementia. Good Practice research identifies individual, one-to-one engagement u2014 including everyday tasks like folding, sorting, or tending plants u2014 as particularly beneficial for people with advanced dementia who can no longer participate in structured group activities. The inspection does not tell us whether The Old Rectory does any of this. You need to ask and observe.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research review found that Montessori-based and activity-based approaches tailored to individual biographical history significantly reduced agitation and improved mood in people with dementia u2014 but these benefits depend on staff being trained and having time for one-to-one engagement, not just group programming.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator: 'What would you do to keep my parent engaged on a day when they didn't want to join the group session?' If the answer is vague or defaults to television, that tells you something important. Ask to see the weekly activity schedule and check whether it includes anything for residents who are bedbound or have advanced dementia."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-Led domain is rated Good at the June 2021 inspection, and the home has a named registered manager (Mr Kevin Scott Butterworth) and nominated individual (Dr Anjani Kumar). The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good overall suggests the leadership has been capable of identifying and addressing problems. However, the inspection text provides no specific observations about management visibility, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home handles feedback and complaints. The July 2023 monitoring review found no reason to reassess the rating.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good Practice research is unambiguous: leadership stability is the single strongest predictor of quality trajectory in a care home. A home with a consistent, visible manager who knows staff by name and is known to residents' families is more likely to sustain improvement than one where management changes frequently. The previous Requires Improvement rating shows this home has not always been well-led, and the current Good rating suggests genuine progress u2014 but with an inspection now over three years old, you need to ask whether the same manager is still in post, and what the staffing picture looks like now. Communication with families accounts for 11.5% of positive family reviews, and this is something the inspection does not address at all. Ask how the home will keep you informed, and what happens when something goes wrong.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett evidence review found that homes where staff felt empowered to raise concerns without fear u2014 and where managers visibly acted on those concerns u2014 had consistently better outcomes across all care domains, including safety and resident wellbeing.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: 'How long have you been in post here, and who would be in charge if you were absent for a week?' Then ask: 'Can you give me an example of something that went wrong in the last six months and what you changed as a result?' A confident, specific answer to the second question is a strong signal of genuine leadership."}

  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 caring for older adults, with particular experience supporting people with dementia. Their nursing team provides round-the-clock care for residents aged 65 and over.. Gaps or open questions remain on For families navigating dementia care, the home offers specialist support within their nursing service. This includes care tailored to the changing needs that dementia can bring. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.