The Summers

What families say

Families describe watching their relatives not just adapt but genuinely flourish here. The friendly, caring approach from staff seems to make all the difference — visitors notice how willing everyone is to help, how residents appear notably happy and settled even after difficult transitions.

Based on 18 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth70
• Compassion & dignity70
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality60
• Healthcare68
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness65

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-03-07 · Report published 2019-03-07 · Inspected 3 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home was rated Good for Safe at the February 2025 inspection, having previously been rated Requires Improvement. This indicates that the concerns identified at the earlier inspection have been resolved to the satisfaction of the inspectors. No specific observations about medicines management, falls prevention, infection control, or staffing ratios are included in the published summary. The home has a registered manager in post, which is a basic requirement for safe operation. Without further published detail, the evidence base for this rating cannot be independently verified from the summary alone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Safe rating that has improved from Requires Improvement is reassuring, but it tells you more about direction than about day-to-day reality. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is where safety most often slips in care homes, and agency reliance can undermine consistency for people with dementia who depend on familiar faces. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness appears in 14% of positive reviews as a specific named concern. Before you decide, ask concretely about the staffing model, not in general terms, but for last week's actual rota.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University rapid evidence review (2026) found that incidents of harm in care homes are disproportionately concentrated on night shifts and that high agency staff usage is associated with lower continuity of care, which matters particularly for people with dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not the template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency staff were on each night shift, and ask what the minimum staffing ratio is overnight for the 35 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the February 2025 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, access to healthcare professionals, nutrition, and how well the home understands and meets individual needs. No specific detail about dementia training content, GP access arrangements, care plan quality, or nutrition monitoring is included in the published summary. The home is registered to care for people with dementia and learning disabilities, which requires staff to have specific competencies beyond general care training. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating suggests training and practice standards have been raised.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effective care for someone with dementia means staff who know how to interpret behaviour, communicate without relying on words, and adapt routines to the person rather than to the rota. Food quality is one of the most telling indicators of genuine person-centred care, and our review data shows it appears in 20.9% of family satisfaction signals. Care plans should be living documents that your family helps to shape, not forms completed on admission and filed away. The published findings do not give us enough detail to confirm any of this is happening at The Summers, which is why a direct visit and specific questions are essential.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice evidence review found that dementia training which covers non-verbal communication and behaviour as communication (rather than only task-based care skills) is one of the strongest predictors of dignity outcomes. Homes where families are included in care plan reviews show significantly better alignment between recorded preferences and actual daily care.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is structured (with personal details removed) and ask when the last care plan review took place for a resident who has been in the home for more than six months. Ask specifically whether families are invited to those reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the February 2025 inspection. This domain covers the warmth of staff interactions, whether people are treated with dignity, whether independence is promoted, and whether people feel respected as individuals. No direct inspector observations, resident testimony, or family quotes are included in the published summary. Staff warmth is the single highest-weighted theme in our family review data, appearing in 57.3% of positive reviews. Without published observational detail, it is not possible to confirm what the inspectors saw that justified the Good rating in this domain.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the thing families mention most in their reviews across the 5,409 UK care homes in our dataset, at 57.3% of positive responses. Compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These are not abstract values; they show up in specific, observable behaviours: staff using your parent's preferred name, knocking before entering a room, sitting down to talk rather than talking over someone, and moving without visible hurry. The inspection found these standards to be Good, but the evidence behind that rating is not published in enough detail for us to confirm what was actually seen. Observe this directly on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication, including eye contact, physical proximity, and tone of voice, matters as much as or more than verbal communication for people with advanced dementia. Homes where staff are observed to adapt their pace and manner to the individual consistently receive higher dignity ratings from both inspectors and families.","watch_out":"During your visit, stand quietly in a corridor for ten minutes and watch ordinary interactions: does a member of staff passing a resident stop and acknowledge them, or walk past? Do staff use names? Is the pace of the interaction set by the resident or by the member of staff?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the February 2025 inspection. This domain covers whether the home provides activities and engagement tailored to individuals, whether complaints are handled well, and whether end-of-life care is planned appropriately. The home is registered for people with dementia, learning disabilities, and adults of varying ages, which requires a genuinely varied and individually tailored approach to activity and engagement. No specific detail about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, or complaints handling is included in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities appear in 21.4% of positive family reviews in our dataset, but the Good Practice evidence review is clear that group activities alone are not enough for people with advanced dementia. What matters is whether staff offer one-to-one engagement, whether familiar household tasks are used to give people a sense of purpose, and whether the activity programme is designed around who your parent actually is rather than what is easiest to organise. A Good rating for Responsive is encouraging, but ask to see last month's activity records rather than the planned schedule, and ask specifically what happens for someone who cannot join a group.","evidence_base":"The 2026 evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, and simple cooking, produce significantly better engagement and wellbeing outcomes for people with dementia than standardised group activity programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records from the past four weeks (not the planned schedule) and ask what specific one-to-one activities were offered last week to residents who are not able to join group sessions."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the February 2025 inspection. A registered manager, Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Anne Playford, is recorded in post, with Mrs Tracy Lazell as Nominated Individual. The improvement from a previous Requires Improvement rating across the whole home suggests that leadership has driven meaningful change. Good leadership at inspection level involves visible management, staff who feel able to raise concerns, and governance systems that identify and act on risks. None of these specifics are described in the published summary, so the evidence behind the rating cannot be independently confirmed.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of care quality over time, according to the Good Practice evidence review. A home that has improved from Requires Improvement to Good under a named manager is a positive sign, but our family review data shows that communication with families appears in 11.5% of satisfaction signals, and families often discover gaps in leadership only when something goes wrong. Ask how long the current manager has been in post, whether staff turnover has reduced since the previous inspection, and how the manager communicates with families when something changes for their parent.","evidence_base":"The 2026 Good Practice evidence review found that leadership stability, meaning a consistent registered manager in post for more than 12 months, is one of the strongest independent predictors of sustained quality improvement in care homes. Homes that improved from Requires Improvement under a stable manager were significantly more likely to maintain a Good rating at subsequent inspections.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly: how long have you been in this role, and what was the single biggest change you made after the previous inspection? A specific, confident answer is a good sign. A vague or generalised answer warrants further probing."}

  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 Summers welcomes adults across different age groups and care needs, from younger adults with learning disabilities to older residents requiring support.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the team shows particular skill in creating calm during moments of agitation. The combination of patient staff and thoughtful environments helps maintain dignity through the challenges of memory loss. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.