The Poplars Care Home

What families say

Families describe how staff here ease the anxiety that comes with moving from hospital to care. They're particularly good at helping residents settle in during those crucial first days and weeks, staying close when someone feels vulnerable or confused.

Based on 9 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 happiness70

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 Safe domain was rated Good at the March 2023 inspection, representing an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. This domain covers staffing levels, medicines management, falls prevention, infection control, and how the home responds to safeguarding concerns. No specific inspector observations, staffing ratios, or details about medicines processes were included in the published report. The improvement from the previous rating suggests that earlier concerns in this area have been addressed, though the nature of those concerns is not detailed in the published summary. Families should note that a Good rating in this domain means inspectors were satisfied with safety standards at the time of the visit.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a previous Requires Improvement is genuinely encouraging: it suggests the home identified what was wrong and put it right. Our Good Practice evidence highlights that night staffing is where safety most commonly slips in care homes, particularly for people with dementia who may become more anxious or unsettled after dark. The published report does not tell us how many staff are on overnight for 43 beds, so this is a direct gap you need to fill. Agency staff reliance is another area the evidence flags: consistent, familiar faces matter enormously for people living with dementia, and high agency use undermines that continuity. Ask these questions directly before you make a decision.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that night staffing ratios and agency staff consistency are two of the strongest predictors of safety outcomes in dementia care settings. A home that has recently improved its Safe rating should be able to show you how it has stabilised its staffing.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you last week's actual staffing rota, not the template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency names appear, especially on night shifts, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for the 43 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good, covering care planning, staff training, healthcare access, nutrition and hydration, and how well the home meets the specific needs of people living with dementia. No specific detail about the content of care plans, the frequency of GP visits, dementia training programmes, or food quality was included in the published summary. The home specialises in dementia care for both older and younger adults, which means effective, dementia-specific practice is particularly important to assess. The previous Requires Improvement rating may have included concerns in this domain, though this is not confirmed in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality appears in 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, and healthcare access in 20.2%, making both significant factors in day-to-day satisfaction. The inspection confirms that Effective was rated Good, but without knowing what was looked at in detail, it is difficult to assess how strong the evidence base is. Care plans that treat your parent as an individual rather than a diagnosis are a marker of genuine quality. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that care plans should be living documents, reviewed regularly and co-produced with families, not documents completed at admission and filed away. Ask specifically how often your parent's plan would be reviewed and whether you would be invited to contribute.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University evidence review found that regular, family-inclusive care plan reviews are associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia, and that dementia-specific training for all staff, including healthcare assistants and night staff, significantly reduces distress behaviours.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example care plan (anonymised if needed) and ask how often plans are formally reviewed. Then ask whether family members are routinely invited to those reviews, or whether involvement happens only if families request it."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good, covering staff warmth, dignity and respect, privacy, and how well the home supports residents' independence and emotional wellbeing. This is the domain families weight most heavily in our review data, with staff warmth cited in 57.3% of positive reviews. No specific inspector observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, or response to distress were included in the published summary. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the standard of care at the time of the inspection, but the absence of specific detail means it is not possible to assess the depth of evidence behind the rating.","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 appear in 55.2%. The Good rating here is positive, but a rating alone cannot tell you whether staff know your mum's name, what her interests are, or how they would respond if she became distressed in the night. The Good Practice evidence is clear that in dementia care, non-verbal communication, tone of voice, physical proximity, and unhurried movement, matters as much as words. The things that tell you most about a caring culture are visible in the first 20 minutes of a visit if you know what to look for.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that person-led care in dementia settings depends on staff knowing the individual's life history and preferences, not just their clinical needs. Homes where staff can tell you about a resident's background, not just their care plan, consistently show better wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"During your visit, notice whether staff greet your parent by their preferred name without prompting, and watch what happens if a resident appears confused or upset in a communal area. Unhurried, calm responses are the clearest signal of a genuinely caring culture."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good, covering activities and engagement, how the home meets individual needs and preferences, family communication, and end-of-life care planning. No specific detail about the activities programme, examples of individual engagement, or how the home supports people who cannot join group sessions was included in the published summary. For a home specialising in dementia care, responsiveness to individual needs and the availability of meaningful activity is particularly important, especially for residents at more advanced stages. The published report does not confirm whether the home employs a dedicated activities coordinator.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness in 27.1%, making this domain one that significantly affects day-to-day quality of life. The Good Practice evidence is emphatic that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with dementia: one-to-one engagement, including simple household tasks, music, or sensory activities tailored to the individual, is associated with significantly lower levels of distress and better wellbeing. The published report does not tell us whether The Poplars has this in place. Asking about one-to-one provision is particularly important if your parent is at a stage where they cannot easily participate in group sessions.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including familiar household tasks and one-to-one engagement, produce significantly better wellbeing outcomes than group-only programmes in dementia care settings.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how staff support residents who cannot join group activities, and ask to see the activities timetable for the past two weeks, not just the planned schedule. Ask whether there is a dedicated activities coordinator and how many hours per week they work across the 43 beds."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good, covering the quality of management, governance, culture, and how the home learns from incidents and complaints. The home has a named registered manager and a nominated individual identified in the inspection record. A Good rating in Well-led after a previous period of Requires Improvement suggests that leadership has stabilised and that governance processes were found to be working at the time of the visit. No specific detail about manager visibility, staff empowerment, or how the home uses feedback from residents and families was included in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management and leadership appear in 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and communication with families in 11.5%. Our Good Practice evidence identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of long-term quality: a home that has recently improved under consistent management is on a better trajectory than one that has retained a rating through staff turnover. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good in Well-led is the most encouraging single finding in this report, because it suggests the people running the home have addressed earlier shortcomings. However, it is worth asking how long the current registered manager has been in post, since a new manager inheriting a recently improved rating is a different situation from the manager who drove the improvement.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability, specifically manager tenure and the ability of staff to raise concerns without fear, is the strongest structural predictor of sustained quality in care homes. Homes where the manager is visible and known to residents by name consistently outperform those where management is primarily administrative.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post at The Poplars, and ask what specifically changed between the previous Requires Improvement rating and the current Good. A manager who can give you a clear, specific answer is demonstrating exactly the kind of accountability the evidence says matters."}

  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 Poplars provides care for adults under 65, those over 65, and people living with dementia. This mix of ages and needs means they're experienced in adapting their approach to suit each individual resident.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, the staff show particular skill in managing confusion and anxiety. They work to maintain each person's dignity while providing the specialised support that dementia requires. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.