The Willows Care Home

What families say

Several families mention how their relatives have visibly relaxed since moving in. The atmosphere feels domestic rather than clinical, with bright, spacious rooms and well-kept gardens helping people feel at home. Families particularly value being able to visit whenever suits them best.

Based on 11 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness60
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership50
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-22 · Report published 2023-04-22 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The home received a Requires Improvement rating at its April 2023 inspection, which included the Safe domain. The November 2024 reassessment rated Safe as Good, indicating that shortcomings identified previously had been addressed to the inspector's satisfaction. No specific detail about what those shortcomings were, or what changes were made, was available in the text provided for this analysis. The home is registered for 17 beds and cares for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, all of which carry specific safety considerations.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A previous Requires Improvement rating that has since recovered to Good can mean one of two things: genuine, sustained improvement, or a home that has tidied up for inspection without embedding lasting change. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the point where safety most commonly slips, particularly in smaller homes caring for people with dementia who may be at risk of falls or distress overnight. With 17 beds, the margin for error in staffing numbers is narrow. You cannot assess this from ratings alone, which is why asking to see an actual recent rota rather than a staffing template is essential. The recovery from Requires Improvement is genuinely positive news, but it needs to be tested with specific questions rather than accepted on face value.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 61 studies, March 2026) finds that agency staff reliance is one of the strongest predictors of safety incidents in care homes, because unfamiliar workers do not know individual residents' patterns of behaviour and risk.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency workers, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty between 10pm and 7am."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The November 2024 assessment rated Effective as Good, recovering from the previous Requires Improvement overall. No specific detail on care plan content, dementia training completion, GP access arrangements, medication management, or food provision was available in the text provided for this analysis. The home is registered to care for people with dementia, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments, meaning that effective, individualised care planning is particularly important for the people who live here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Effectiveness in a dementia care setting depends on staff knowing your parent as an individual, not just as a diagnosis. Good Practice research identifies care plans as the critical tool here: they should function as living documents that are updated when your parent's needs change, not filed away after admission. The inspection rating of Good is encouraging, but 20.2% of positive family reviews in the DCC dataset specifically mention healthcare access and medication management as concerns, and 12.7% mention dementia-specific care quality. These are areas where the rating alone does not tell you enough. Ask to see how a care plan is structured, whether families are included in reviews, and what the process is when a GP referral is needed.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base finds that regular, structured care plan reviews that include family members are associated with better outcomes for people living with dementia, because families hold knowledge about the person that clinical staff cannot access from records alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how often care plans are formally reviewed and whether you would be invited to attend. Then ask to see an example of how a plan changed in response to a resident's changing needs, with any identifying details removed."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The November 2024 assessment rated Caring as Good. No specific inspector observations about staff interactions, use of preferred names, pace of care, response to distress, or dignity in personal care were available in the text provided for this analysis. The home cares for people with dementia and sensory impairments, where non-verbal communication and attentiveness to individual cues are especially important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in the DCC review dataset, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity follow closely at 55.2%. These qualities are not reliably captured in inspection ratings; they are observable in person. When you visit, notice whether staff greet your parent by name, whether they move at the resident's pace rather than their own, and whether they pause to respond when someone appears unsettled. Good Practice research emphasises that for people with advanced dementia, non-verbal signals, a calm tone, eye contact, and an unhurried manner, matter as much as any spoken interaction. A Good rating in the Caring domain is a positive signal, but it is one that you need to verify with your own eyes.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (61 studies) finds that person-centred caring behaviours, including addressing people by their preferred name and responding to emotional cues rather than task-completing, are associated with reduced distress in people living with dementia and higher family satisfaction.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like to spend mornings. If the staff member can answer without checking a file, that is a sign the team genuinely knows the people they care for."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The November 2024 assessment rated Responsive as Good. No specific detail about the activities programme, individual engagement for people who cannot join group activities, how the home responds to changing needs, or end-of-life care arrangements was available in the text provided for this analysis. The home is registered for dementia care, where meaningful occupation and individualised engagement are central to quality of life.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness is cited in 27.1% of positive family reviews in the DCC dataset, and activities and engagement are mentioned in 21.4%. For people living with dementia, the evidence is clear that group activities alone are not enough: one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, is associated with reduced agitation and a greater sense of purpose. A Good Responsive rating suggests the home is meeting this standard in principle, but the detail matters enormously. Ask what happens on a Sunday afternoon, or what would happen if your parent could no longer get to the main sitting room. The answer will tell you whether responsiveness is a genuine commitment or a scheduled programme on a noticeboard.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies Montessori-based and household-task approaches to activity, such as folding, sorting, or simple cooking, as particularly effective for people in later stages of dementia who cannot engage with structured group sessions, because these activities draw on long-term procedural memory.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator, or the manager if there is no dedicated coordinator, what happened in the home last Sunday afternoon. Ask specifically what was available for someone who could not leave their room or join a group."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The November 2024 assessment rated Well-led as Good, recovering from the previous Requires Improvement overall. A named registered manager, Ms Catherine Jane Dunmore, is recorded as active, and Mr Mohammad Nazir is the nominated individual for the provider, Green Range Limited. No specific detail about the manager's day-to-day presence, staff culture, governance systems, or how the home learned from the shortcomings identified in 2023 was available in the text provided for this analysis.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management leadership accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in the DCC dataset, and Good Practice research consistently finds that leadership stability is the strongest predictor of a home's quality trajectory over time. The fact that the home recovered from Requires Improvement to Good is a positive signal about leadership, but it raises a specific question: what exactly went wrong in 2023 and what changed? A manager who can answer that question clearly, with specific examples of what was put in place and how it is monitored, gives you much more confidence than one who refers you to the inspection report. Communication with families, mentioned in 11.5% of DCC reviews, is also worth testing directly: ask how you would be told if your parent's health changed overnight.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base finds that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear of criticism are significantly more likely to identify and resolve safety issues early, and that this culture of openness is directly associated with management behaviour rather than policy alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager specifically what caused the Requires Improvement rating in 2023 and what three concrete changes were made as a result. Listen for whether the answer is specific and honest or vague and defensive. Then ask how long the current registered manager has been in post."}

  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 Willows provides specialist care for people with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. They support both younger adults under 65 and older residents.. Gaps or open questions remain on The team shows particular expertise in dementia care, with families noting how staff understand the condition well. They work patiently with residents experiencing confusion or distress, helping them feel secure. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.