Barchester – Westgate House Care Home

What families say

Families often mention how approachable the staff are here — they seem to maintain a positive atmosphere and take time to chat with visitors. The home feels safe and hygienic, with rooms and communal areas kept tidy. Some residents have appreciated having therapy dogs visit, and there's mention of an activities coordinator working to keep people engaged.

Based on 48 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare55
• Management & leadership65
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-10-29 · Report published 2021-10-29 · Inspected 6 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, infection control, safeguarding, and the home's response to accidents and incidents. The home had previously been rated Requires Improvement, so inspectors found sufficient improvement to award a Good rating. No specific concerns about safety are recorded in the published text, but equally no detailed observations about what safe care looks like in practice at this home are included.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating after a previous Requires Improvement is reassuring, but it tells you that the bar was cleared rather than how high the home reaches. The Good Practice evidence base identifies night staffing as the area where safety most commonly slips in care homes, particularly in larger homes of 80 beds where the ratio of staff to residents matters enormously after 8pm. Agency staff reliance is a related risk: homes that depend heavily on bank or agency workers overnight tend to have less consistent responses to distress or early signs of deterioration. The inspection does not record staffing numbers or agency usage here, so these are questions you need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that night staffing ratios and agency staff reliance are among the most reliable predictors of safety incidents in care homes. Homes with stable permanent teams and clear overnight protocols show fewer avoidable incidents.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota for the past two weeks, not a template. Count how many night shifts were covered by permanent staff versus agency staff, and ask what the minimum staffing level is overnight for 80 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers training and competency, care plan quality, nutrition and hydration, access to healthcare professionals, and whether care is evidence-based. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which means inspectors would have considered whether staff have appropriate dementia-specific training. No specific detail about training content, care plan review processes, food provision, or GP access is included in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"For a home that lists dementia as a specialism, the Effective domain is particularly important, covering whether staff actually know how to support your parent beyond basic physical care. Our Good Practice evidence base, drawn from 61 studies, consistently finds that dementia training quality varies enormously even within rated-Good homes: a pass on a training module is not the same as staff who understand how to interpret distress behaviour or communicate without relying on speech. Food quality is also a marker here. Our review data shows that 20.9% of positive family reviews mention food by name, and detailed care plans that record your parent's food preferences, textures, and mealtimes can make a real difference to nutritional wellbeing. The inspection gives you a Good rating but not the underlying detail, so ask to see a care plan and ask what a typical day's food looks like.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that care plans function as living documents only when staff are trained to use them and when families are actively invited to contribute. Homes where care plans are reviewed at least monthly and updated after any significant change in the resident's condition show better outcomes on nutrition, pain management, and behavioural wellbeing.","watch_out":"Ask to see a sample care plan, with personal details removed if needed, and check whether it records the person's preferred name, their daily routine before moving in, food preferences, and what helps them when they feel anxious. A thin or generic plan is a warning sign regardless of the overall rating."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers staff warmth and friendliness, respect for dignity and privacy, support for independence, and how well staff know the people they care for as individuals. No direct inspector observations, resident quotes, or family comments are included in the published text for this domain. The Good rating requires that inspectors saw sufficient positive evidence of caring interactions during their visit.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data: 57.3% of positive family reviews across more than 5,400 UK care homes mention staff warmth by name, and compassion or dignity is cited in 55.2% of reviews. This tells you that when families feel good about a care home, it is almost always because of how the people working there behave, not the building or the paperwork. A Good Caring rating means inspectors were satisfied, but a one-day inspection cannot capture what daily life feels like for your parent. When you visit, watch whether staff greet your parent by their preferred name without being prompted, whether they knock before entering a room, and whether they pause and listen rather than speaking over the person. These small behaviours predict a lot.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies non-verbal communication as critically important in dementia care. Staff who maintain eye contact, use a calm tone, and match their pace to the person's own are more effective at reducing distress than those who rely on verbal instruction alone. This skill is rarely captured in an inspection rating but is observable on a visit.","watch_out":"During your visit, find a corridor moment when a staff member passes your parent or another resident. Do they make eye contact, say hello, and use the person's name? Or do they walk past focused on a task? This is one of the most reliable real-time signals of whether warmth is genuine or performed for inspection days."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection. This domain covers how well the home tailors care to individual needs, the range and quality of activities, how complaints are handled, and end-of-life care planning. Dementia and physical disabilities are listed specialisms, which means the home should be offering activities and environmental features suited to people with varying levels of cognitive and physical ability. No specific activities, examples of individual engagement, or details about the activities programme are recorded in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and engagement matter more than many families expect when choosing a care home. Our review data shows 21.4% of positive family reviews mention activities by name, and 27.1% mention residents appearing happy and settled, which is closely connected to whether people have meaningful things to do during the day. The Good Practice evidence base is clear that group activities alone are not enough, particularly for people with moderate or advanced dementia who may not be able to participate in a group setting. One-to-one activities, such as looking through a photograph album, folding laundry, or listening to familiar music, are often what makes the difference between a person who is settled and one who is distressed. The inspection does not record what the activities programme at Westgate House actually looks like, so this is an important area to explore on your visit.","evidence_base":"The Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday task-based approaches to activities, where residents engage in familiar, purposeful actions rather than entertainment-style sessions, produce measurable reductions in agitation and improvements in wellbeing for people with dementia. These approaches require staff time and training rather than specialist equipment.","watch_out":"Ask to see the activities timetable for the past two weeks, not a future plan. Then ask specifically: what happens for a resident who cannot join a group session? How often does someone sit with them one to one, and is that recorded in the care plan?"}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the October 2021 inspection, an improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating. The registered manager is named as Miss Sharon Anne Izzard, and the nominated individual is Mr Dominic Jude Kay. Westgate House is operated by Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited, a large national provider. A Good Well-led rating requires inspectors to have found effective governance, a positive staff culture, systems for learning from incidents, and a manager who is known to and accessible by staff and residents. No specific examples of governance activity or staff culture observations are recorded in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management quality and leadership stability are among the most important predictors of whether a care home maintains its rating over time. Our review data shows that 23.4% of positive family reviews mention management directly, often in terms of responsiveness when families raise concerns. The improvement from Requires Improvement to Good under the same or current leadership is a positive signal: it suggests the manager identified what was not working and made changes. However, leadership changes are common in the care sector, and a home can shift quickly if a good manager leaves. When you visit, ask how long the registered manager has been in post, and ask staff directly whether they feel comfortable raising concerns. Staff who feel heard by management tend to advocate more strongly for residents.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of sustained quality in care homes. Homes where the registered manager has been in post for more than two years and where staff report feeling able to speak up show better outcomes on safety, person-centred care, and family satisfaction.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post at Westgate House, and ask what the biggest change they made after the previous inspection was. A manager who can answer that second question specifically and without hesitation is demonstrating the kind of reflective leadership that sustains a Good rating."}

  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 Westgate House cares for adults both over and under 65, including those living with dementia and physical disabilities. The home has experience with post-operative recovery and short-term respite stays.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, consistent routines and careful attention to non-verbal cues should be priorities. Some families have found their loved ones left unsupervised or without adequate access to drinks, which raises questions about staff training and oversight. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.