Waverley House – Shaw healthcare

What families say

What strikes families is how the staff respond when residents are struggling. They've seen the care team work patiently with people who've arrived from hospital feeling frightened and disoriented, staying close until that confusion starts to lift and contentment takes its place.

Based on 4 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity60
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement52
• Food quality52
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-04-13 · Report published 2019-04-13 · Inspected 1 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Requires improvement

  {"found":"Safety was the one area where Waverley House did not meet the Good standard at inspection, receiving a Requires Improvement rating. The published summary does not specify which aspect of safety fell short u2014 it could relate to staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, or risk assessment. A July 2023 desk review found no evidence to change this rating, but no fresh inspection visit has taken place. The home has a dementia specialism alongside nursing and rehabilitation care, meaning safe management of complex needs is particularly important.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Requires Improvement in Safe is the finding that should weigh most heavily in your thinking. Our family review data shows that staff attentiveness u2014 knowing your parent is being watched over u2014 is one of the things families value most highly. Good Practice research consistently identifies night staffing as the period when safety is most likely to slip, particularly on dementia units where distress and falls risk can increase after dark. You cannot rely on a 2019 finding to tell you what is happening now. Ask the home directly what caused the Requires Improvement and what has changed since.","evidence_base":"IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety lapses in dementia care settings, as unfamiliar faces increase distress and reduce the likelihood that subtle deterioration is noticed early.","watch_out":"Ask the registered manager: 'What specifically caused the Requires Improvement in Safety in 2019, and can you show me the action plan you completed in response?' Then ask: 'How many permanent staff u2014 not agency u2014 are on the dementia unit on a typical night shift?'"}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"Effective was rated Good at inspection. This domain covers staff training, care planning, health monitoring, GP access, and food and nutrition. The home lists dementia as a specialism alongside nursing care and rehabilitation, suggesting staff are expected to work across a range of complex needs. No specific detail about training content, care plan quality, or food provision is available in the published summary. The inspection is from March 2019.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating here is encouraging, but without specific evidence it is hard to know what was actually found. Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett evidence review emphasises that care plans should be living documents u2014 updated after every significant change in health, behaviour, or preference u2014 not filed away after admission. Families caring for a parent with dementia told us in our review data that knowing staff understand their parent as an individual, not just a diagnosis, is one of the most important things. Ask to see how your parent's preferences, history, and communication style would be captured and used day to day.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research rapid evidence review found that regular, meaningful GP access and proactive health monitoring u2014 rather than reactive crisis response u2014 are strong markers of effective dementia care, and that these are often under-evidenced in inspection reports even when practice is good.","watch_out":"Ask: 'How often are care plans formally reviewed, and how would I as a family member be involved in that process?' Then ask to see an example of how a resident's personal history and communication preferences are recorded and shared with all staff, including agency cover."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"Caring was rated Good at inspection. This domain covers staff warmth, respect for dignity, and whether your parent is treated as an individual. No direct observations, resident quotes, or family testimony are available in the published inspection summary to illustrate what Good caring looked like in practice at Waverley House. The rating alone tells us inspectors were satisfied with what they found, but not the texture of daily life for residents.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single most important theme in our family review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive reviews across UK care homes. Compassion and dignity follow closely behind. A Good rating in Caring is a positive signal, but the absence of specific quotes or observations in the published report means you should form your own view on a visit. Watch how staff interact with residents in corridors and communal areas u2014 not just during formal care activities. Are residents addressed by their preferred name? Is there unhurried conversation, or do staff move quickly from task to task?","evidence_base":"Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett evidence review emphasises that non-verbal communication u2014 eye contact, touch, tone of voice u2014 matters as much as spoken words for people with advanced dementia, and that this is best assessed through direct observation rather than paperwork.","watch_out":"During your visit, sit in a communal area for at least 20 minutes without announcing why. Watch how staff greet residents passing by, how they respond if someone appears unsettled, and whether they crouch to eye level when speaking to someone seated. These unscripted moments tell you more than any formal meeting."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"Responsive was rated Good at inspection. This domain covers activities, individualised engagement, and how well the home responds to each person's preferences, needs, and changes over time. No specific activity examples, individual engagement approaches, or end-of-life care detail are available in the published summary. The home supports adults both over and under 65, as well as people with dementia, which means the activities and engagement programme needs to be genuinely varied to meet diverse needs.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Resident happiness and activities engagement together account for a meaningful share of what families tell us matters most. Our family review data shows that families particularly value seeing their parent engaged and purposeful u2014 not just safe and clean. Good Practice research highlights that group activities alone are not sufficient for people in later stages of dementia; one-to-one engagement, including familiar household tasks and sensory activities, is where quality homes differentiate themselves. Ask specifically what your parent would be doing on a Tuesday afternoon, not just what the weekly schedule says.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and task-oriented individual engagement approaches u2014 rather than group entertainment programmes u2014 show the strongest evidence for reducing agitation and supporting wellbeing in people with moderate to advanced dementia.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator: 'If my parent reaches a stage where they can no longer join group sessions, what would a typical day look like for them?' Ask to see evidence of one-to-one activities from the last month u2014 not just the planned schedule, but records of what actually took place."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"Well-led was rated Good at inspection in March 2019. A registered manager and nominated individual are both named on the registration record. The home is run by Shaw Healthcare Limited. The July 2023 monitoring review found no evidence to prompt a reassessment. No specific detail about management style, staff culture, governance processes, or family communication is available in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Good leadership is the foundation everything else rests on. Our family review data shows that communication with families u2014 being kept informed, feeling heard, having concerns taken seriously u2014 is one of the strongest drivers of family confidence. Good Practice research from the Leeds Beckett evidence review identifies leadership stability as one of the most reliable predictors of care quality over time: homes where managers stay, staff feel supported to speak up, and families are treated as partners tend to maintain and improve their standards. The 2019 inspection is six years old. The most important question to ask is whether the same manager is still in post, and if not, who is leading the home now and how long they have been there.","evidence_base":"IFF Research found that bottom-up staff empowerment u2014 where care workers feel able to raise concerns and see them acted on u2014 is a stronger predictor of sustained quality than top-down compliance systems, and is most visible in homes with stable, long-serving leadership.","watch_out":"Ask: 'Is the registered manager who was in post at the 2019 inspection still leading the home? If not, when did the current manager start, and how has the leadership team changed since then?' A home that has had two or more managers in six years warrants closer scrutiny."}

  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 Waverley House cares for adults both under and over 65, with particular experience supporting people with dementia.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia who've had difficult transitions, the team focuses on creating stability. They work to help people who arrive unsettled find their rhythm in this new environment. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.