Westbourne House

What families say

Families describe particularly attentive care during critical transitions, whether that's supporting someone through end-of-life care or helping them regain their independence after illness. The nursing team responds quickly to call bells, and several people have shared how staff supported their relatives' recovery goals during short rehabilitation stays.

Based on 28 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness70
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare70
• Management & leadership74
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2022-05-25 · Report published 2022-05-25 · Inspected 4 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The most recent inspection, carried out on 1 October 2025, rated safety as Good. This covers areas including staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, and how the home responds to accidents and incidents. The published report does not include specific observations or data points for this domain. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating suggests that safety concerns identified earlier have been addressed. What those concerns were and how they were resolved is not detailed in the available text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good rating for safety is reassuring, but for a 71-bed nursing home with a dementia specialism, the details behind the rating matter enormously. Good Practice research consistently shows that night staffing is the point where safety most often slips, and that homes heavily reliant on agency staff struggle to maintain consistent, safe care for people with dementia who rely on familiar faces. Our family review data shows that 14% of positive reviews specifically mention staff attentiveness as a reason for confidence, meaning families notice and value this directly. Because the inspection text does not tell us the staffing numbers or the incident log picture, you will need to gather this information yourself on a visit.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 61 studies, March 2026) identifies night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance as two of the most significant predictors of safety failure in care homes supporting people with dementia.","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 staff, and ask specifically how many nurses and carers are on duty overnight for the 71 beds."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"The inspection rated effectiveness as Good. This domain covers whether staff have the right training, whether care plans are detailed and kept up to date, whether residents have regular access to GPs and other health professionals, and whether food meets individual nutritional needs. The published report does not provide specific examples, training completion rates, or care plan detail. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with the evidence they reviewed, but that evidence is not visible in the published summary.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For someone living with dementia, effectiveness in practice means that every member of staff, including night staff and anyone covering a shift at short notice, understands how dementia affects behaviour, communication, and eating. Our family review data shows food quality features in 20.9% of positive reviews, reflecting how much families see mealtimes as a proxy for genuine care. Good Practice research identifies care plans as living documents that should change as the person changes, not static paperwork filed at admission. The inspection does not tell us how frequently care plans are reviewed here, or whether families are invited to contribute. These are questions worth asking directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that regular, structured access to GP and specialist input, combined with care plans that are reviewed at least monthly for people with progressing dementia, is associated with significantly better health outcomes and fewer avoidable hospital admissions.","watch_out":"Ask how often your parent's care plan would be formally reviewed, whether you would be invited to that review, and what dementia-specific training all staff (including night staff and any regular agency workers) have completed in the past 12 months."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Inspectors rated the caring domain as Good. This covers whether staff treat people with warmth, respect their privacy, address them by their preferred name, and support their independence. No direct inspector observations about staff interactions, no quotes from people living in the home, and no relative testimony are included in the published report text. The rating is a positive signal, but the texture of daily life for your parent is not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive reviews across more than 5,000 UK care homes mention it by name. A further 55.2% of positive reviews specifically mention compassion and dignity. These are not abstract qualities; they show up in whether a staff member knocks before entering a room, uses your mum's preferred name, or sits down rather than standing when speaking to someone who is distressed. The inspection confirmed Good in this domain, but because no specific observations are recorded, the evidence is general rather than specific. You will need to observe this yourself on a visit, ideally at a time when personal care is under way.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research identifies non-verbal communication as equally important to verbal interaction for people with advanced dementia, and finds that person-centred care requires staff to know detailed individual histories, not just medical records.","watch_out":"On your visit, watch how staff move through communal areas. Do they make eye contact, use your parent's name, and slow down to the pace of the person in front of them? Ask one member of staff what your parent's preferred name is and how they like to spend mornings."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Responsiveness was rated Good by inspectors. This domain covers whether the home tailors daily life to the individual, whether activities are varied and meaningful, whether the home responds to complaints, and whether end-of-life care is planned thoughtfully. The published report does not describe the activities programme, give examples of individual care approaches, or mention end-of-life planning arrangements. The rating is positive but the specific evidence behind it is not available in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For someone living with dementia, responsiveness is about whether the home knows your parent as a person, not just as a resident in a room. Our family review data shows 27.1% of positive reviews mention resident happiness and contentment, and 21.4% specifically mention activities. Good Practice research is clear that group activities alone are not sufficient for people with advanced dementia; one-to-one engagement rooted in personal history, whether that is folding towels, looking at photographs, or listening to familiar music, is what sustains wellbeing as verbal communication decreases. The inspection does not tell us whether this home provides that kind of individual engagement. It is one of the most important questions to ask.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and individually tailored activity approaches, including everyday household tasks that draw on long-term memory, produce measurably better wellbeing outcomes for people with moderate to advanced dementia compared with group-only programmes.","watch_out":"Ask to see the actual activities timetable from last week, not a printed template. Then ask specifically what would happen for your parent on a day when they could not join a group activity. Who would sit with them, and what would they do together?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Leadership and governance were rated Good. The registration lists two registered managers, Mrs Marcella Wilkinson and Mr Mark Keith Richards, alongside a nominated individual, Mrs Nicola Richards. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good across all domains suggests the leadership team has driven meaningful change since the previous inspection. The published report does not describe management visibility, staff culture, complaint handling, or how the home monitors its own quality. The rating is the most recent signal available.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Leadership quality is one of the strongest predictors of whether a care home maintains its standards or drifts. Our family review data shows 23.4% of positive reviews mention management specifically, and 11.5% mention communication with families as a driver of confidence. Good Practice research consistently finds that leadership stability matters: homes where managers change frequently or where staff feel unable to raise concerns tend to show declining quality over time. The fact that this home has moved from Requires Improvement to Good is a real positive, and having two named registered managers suggests organisational investment in the home. What the inspection does not tell you is how long the current managers have been in post, or how they are experienced on the floor day to day.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review identifies leadership tenure and bottom-up empowerment (whether frontline staff feel safe to raise concerns) as the two most reliable structural predictors of sustained care quality in homes supporting people with dementia.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask the manager directly how long they have been in post and what the biggest change they made after the previous inspection was. A manager who can answer that question specifically and confidently 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 home provides nursing care for adults over 65, with particular experience in dementia support. They offer both long-term placements and shorter rehabilitation stays for people recovering from hospital treatment.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents living with dementia, the nursing team provides specialised support within the home's secure environment. The home accepts residents at different stages of their dementia journey. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.