The Willows Care Home

What families say

Families often mention the warm greetings they receive when visiting. There's a sense of genuine friendliness from staff who take time to smile and chat. Throughout the day, you'll find residents enjoying organized activities, music sessions, and visits from pets that bring real joy to the home.

Based on 22 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity45
• Cleanliness65
• Activities & engagement60
• Food quality55
• Healthcare65
• Management & leadership70
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2023-04-12 · Report published 2023-04-12 · Inspected 5 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the December 2024 inspection. This rating covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home manages risk. No specific detail about staffing ratios, night cover, or incident logging is recorded in the published summary. The home provides nursing care for 130 residents, including people living with dementia, which makes safe staffing particularly important to verify.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is a meaningful baseline, but it tells you the home met the standard rather than describing what that looks like in practice. Good Practice research consistently finds that safety concerns are most likely to emerge at night, when staffing is thinnest, and in larger homes where the ratio of staff to residents can stretch. With 130 beds, The Willows is a large home: ask specifically how many qualified nurses and how many carers are on duty overnight. Our family review data shows that 14% of positive reviews mention staff attentiveness as a key reason for choosing a home, which suggests families notice quickly when staff are stretched. The inspection did not record specific detail on agency staff use, so ask the manager directly what proportion of recent shifts were covered by agency workers.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 2026) found that night staffing levels are where safety most commonly falls short in care homes, and that reliance on agency staff undermines the consistency of care that people living with dementia need.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for last week, not a template. Count how many permanent staff versus agency workers were on duty, and ask how many qualified nurses were present on each night shift for the 130 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good. This domain covers whether staff have the skills and knowledge to meet your parent's needs, including dementia training, care plan quality, and access to healthcare. The home lists dementia as a specialism. No specific detail about training content, care plan review frequency, or GP access arrangements is recorded in the published summary. The Effective rating suggests a baseline standard was met, but the depth of dementia-specific practice cannot be confirmed from the available findings.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Effective means inspectors were satisfied that care planning and staff knowledge met the required standard, but the published summary does not tell you what dementia training staff have received or how often your parent's care plan would be updated. Good Practice evidence identifies care plans as living documents that should change as your parent's condition changes, with families involved in reviews. For a home specialising in dementia care, training should go beyond basic awareness to cover communication approaches for people who can no longer express themselves verbally. Food quality is also assessed in this domain and matters more than many families expect: 20.9% of positive family reviews specifically mention food. Visit at a mealtime and observe whether choices are offered and whether staff support residents who need help eating.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that regular, structured dementia training, particularly in non-verbal communication and person-centred approaches, is one of the strongest predictors of good outcomes for people living with dementia in care homes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager what specific dementia training staff complete, how recently they completed it, and whether care plans are reviewed with family input. Request to see the format of a care plan (with personal details removed) to judge whether it reflects the person rather than just their medical history."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Requires Improvement at the December 2024 inspection. This is the only domain where the home did not meet the required standard. Caring covers whether staff are kind and compassionate, whether your parent's privacy and dignity are respected, and whether they are supported to be as independent as possible. The published summary does not detail the specific concerns that led to this rating, which makes it essential to ask the manager directly what was found and what has changed since December 2024.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"This is the finding that should weigh most heavily in your thinking. Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews, and compassion and dignity appear in 55.2%. A Requires Improvement rating in Caring means inspectors saw evidence that these standards were not being consistently met. That does not necessarily mean your parent would be treated unkindly every day, but it does mean the inspection found gaps. Good Practice research shows that person-led care requires staff to know the individual: their preferred name, their history, and what matters to them. On your visit, observe whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering rooms, and whether interactions feel unhurried or transactional.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication is as important as verbal interaction for people living with dementia, and that staff who know residents as individuals, including their life history and preferences, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to describe, in specific terms, what the inspection found under Caring and what actions have been taken since December 2024. Then observe for yourself on a visit: do staff knock before entering rooms, use residents' preferred names, and move without hurry during interactions in corridors and communal areas?"}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good. This domain covers whether care is tailored to the individual, whether activities are meaningful, and whether the home responds to complaints and end-of-life needs. No specific detail about the activity programme, one-to-one engagement, or complaint handling is recorded in the published summary. The home provides care for people living with dementia, for whom responsive, individualised activity is particularly important given that group activities may not suit everyone.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for Responsive is encouraging, but it is one of the areas where the gap between inspection findings and day-to-day reality can be widest. Activities that look good on paper may not reach your parent if they are living with advanced dementia and cannot join group sessions. Our review data shows that 21.4% of positive family reviews mention activities by name, and 27.1% mention that residents appear content and engaged. Good Practice research highlights that Montessori-based approaches and everyday household tasks, such as folding, sorting, or simple cooking, can provide meaningful engagement for people with dementia who no longer benefit from traditional group activities. Ask specifically what happens for residents who cannot participate in group sessions.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice rapid evidence review found that individualised, one-to-one activity, including Montessori-based and sensory approaches, significantly improves wellbeing for people living with dementia who are unable to engage with group programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activity records for the past four weeks, not just a printed schedule. Ask how many hours of one-to-one activity each resident receives weekly, and what that looks like for someone who can no longer communicate verbally or join groups."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good. The registered manager is Mr Sahr Moseray, and the nominated individual is Mrs Sam Manning, both named in the published report. A Good rating in Well-led indicates inspectors were satisfied with governance, accountability, and the culture of the home. No specific detail about manager tenure, staff empowerment, or learning from incidents is recorded in the available summary. The home has been inspected five times since registration.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A named, accountable manager is a positive sign. Good Practice research identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of consistent care quality: homes where managers stay tend to perform better over time. Our review data shows that 23.4% of positive family reviews mention management positively, often noting that the manager was visible and known to residents by name. With 130 beds, there is a real risk that leadership can become distant from day-to-day care, particularly when occupancy is growing. The Requires Improvement rating for Caring in an otherwise Good home raises a question about whether quality assurance processes are picking up and acting on concerns about how staff interact with residents. Ask the manager how they monitor caring interactions, not just compliance paperwork.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that bottom-up empowerment, where frontline staff feel safe to raise concerns and managers act visibly on feedback, is a stronger predictor of care quality than top-down governance processes alone.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long they have been in post at The Willows, what specific steps were taken after the Caring rating was identified in December 2024, and how they check day-to-day that caring standards are improving. A manager who can give you specific examples rather than general reassurances is a good sign."}

  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 dementia care alongside support for adults both over and under 65. This range means they work with people at different life stages and with varying needs.. Gaps or open questions remain on For those living with dementia, the home focuses on maintaining dignity and encouraging participation in daily life. The activity program helps residents stay engaged and connected. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.