Windy Ridge Care Home

What families say

Families talk about the emotional support they feel here, describing how confident they are in the care approach. The atmosphere seems to put both residents and their loved ones at ease, with staff who understand the importance of those small, personal moments.

Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth72
• Compassion & dignity72
• Cleanliness72
• Activities & engagement68
• Food quality68
• Healthcare72
• Management & leadership72
• Resident happiness70

What inspectors found

Inspected 2019-08-29 · Report published 2019-08-29 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Safe is rated Good at the most recent inspection. This means inspectors were satisfied that risks to people living at the home were being managed adequately. No specific findings about staffing levels, medicines management, falls, or infection control are described in the published report. The home is registered to provide nursing care, which means a registered nurse should be on duty at all times, but this is not confirmed in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A Good safety rating is reassuring but the absence of published detail means you cannot see the evidence behind it. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that night staffing is where safety most often slips in smaller homes, and with 21 beds this is a compact unit where one nurse covering nights is the norm rather than the exception. Ask specifically how many permanent staff are on overnight and how often agency staff are used on night shifts. Cleanliness is the fourth biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data (24.3% of positive reviews mention it), yet the inspection text includes no observations about the physical environment. Walk through the home yourself and check communal areas, bathrooms, and corridor surfaces.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review (IFF Research and Leeds Beckett University, 61 studies, March 2026) found that agency staff reliance is one of the most consistent predictors of safety incidents in smaller care homes, because unfamiliar staff miss the subtle behavioural changes that signal a deterioration in someone 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 permanent staff names appear on night shifts versus agency names, and ask what the nurse-to-resident ratio is overnight."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Effective is rated Good. This domain covers training, care planning, nutrition and hydration, and healthcare access. No specific findings are published about dementia training content, care plan quality, GP access arrangements, or mealtimes. The home lists dementia as a specialism, which raises the bar for what Good should mean in this domain, but the published text provides no evidence either way.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Food quality accounts for 20.9% of positive family reviews in our data, and it is one of the most practical signals of whether a home genuinely understands the people living there. Someone with dementia may not be able to tell you the food was cold or that they struggled with cutlery, so staff need to notice. The published inspection gives you nothing on this. Dementia training is also a key gap: a Good Effective rating confirms inspectors were satisfied, but there is a large difference between basic awareness training and staff who can recognise and respond to non-verbal communication in someone with advanced dementia. Ask specifically what dementia training staff complete and how recently it was updated.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that care plans which are co-produced with families and reviewed at least quarterly are associated with better outcomes for people with dementia, particularly around managing pain, nutrition, and behavioural changes that might otherwise be misread.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example of how a care plan is structured and how often it is reviewed. Ask whether you would be invited to review meetings and how the home would tell you if your parent's needs changed between formal reviews."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Caring is rated Good. This is the domain most directly connected to whether staff are kind, whether your parent's dignity is protected, and whether they are treated as an individual rather than a task to complete. No inspector observations, no resident quotes, and no family testimony are included in the published report. A Good rating means inspectors were satisfied, but the specific behaviours that earned that rating are not visible here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"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 are close behind at 55.2%. These are the things families remember and talk about most. The inspection tells us nothing about whether staff use your parent's preferred name, whether they knock before entering a room, or whether they sit at eye level during personal care. These are the things that are hardest to see from a report and easiest to observe on a visit. When you visit, watch what happens when a member of staff passes a resident in the corridor. Do they stop, make eye contact, and speak? Or do they walk past?","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that non-verbal communication matters as much as verbal interaction for people with dementia, and that staff who know a resident's personal history, including their preferred name, past occupation, and key relationships, consistently deliver more person-centred care than those who do not.","watch_out":"When you visit, ask a member of staff what your parent's preferred name would be called and what the home knows about their life before they moved in. The answer will tell you more than any rating."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Responsive is rated Good. This domain covers whether the home tailors care and activities to the individual, whether complaints are handled well, and whether end-of-life wishes are respected. No specific activities, no individual examples, and no complaints outcomes are described in the published text. For a 21-bed home specialising in dementia care, a Good Responsive rating means inspectors were satisfied that people were not simply left to sit in a lounge, but the evidence for that is not visible here.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities account for 21.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and resident happiness is mentioned in 27.1%. For someone with dementia, a meaningful day is not about scheduled group sessions; it is about the small moments of connection and purpose that come from being known as a person. Our Good Practice evidence base highlights that one-to-one engagement, including simple household tasks, music from someone's era, or looking at familiar photographs, is more effective than group activities for many people with advanced dementia. The inspection tells you nothing about whether this home does that. Ask to see the activity records for the past month and look for evidence of individual rather than group-only engagement.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that Montessori-based and everyday-task approaches to activity, where people with dementia are supported to do familiar purposeful activities at their own pace, produce measurable reductions in distress and improvements in wellbeing compared with passive group entertainment.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator to describe what a typical Tuesday looks like for a resident who is not able to join group sessions. If the answer is vague or defaults to television, that is important information."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Not yet rated

  {"found":"Well-led is rated Good and a named registered manager, Ms Rodalyn Rodriguez, is confirmed in post. A nominated individual, Mrs Zeta Zeta, provides organisational oversight on behalf of the provider, MNS Care Plc. No further detail about management culture, staff satisfaction, governance processes, or how the home handles concerns is included in the published report. The Good rating means inspectors were satisfied that leadership met the standard.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Management accounts for 23.4% of positive family reviews in our data, and communication with families is mentioned in 11.5%. Leadership stability is one of the strongest predictors of quality trajectory in smaller care homes: a manager who has been in post for several years and is known personally to residents and staff is a very different proposition from one who is new or frequently absent. The inspection confirms a manager is registered but tells you nothing about how long she has been in post or how visible she is day to day. Ask directly how long the current manager has been in post and whether you would be able to speak to her on a routine visit without an appointment.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear and where managers are visible on the floor rather than office-based consistently perform better on quality indicators over time, including lower rates of avoidable incidents and higher family satisfaction.","watch_out":"Ask the manager how long she has been in post at this home, and ask what the staff turnover rate has been in the past 12 months. High turnover in a small 21-bed home means your parent would regularly be cared for by people who do not know them."}

  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 cares for adults both under and over 65, including those living with dementia. This mixed-age community brings different perspectives and experiences together.. Gaps or open questions remain on For residents with dementia, activities like singing and dancing are woven into daily life, adapted to individual abilities and preferences. Staff seem to understand how meaningful these moments of connection can be. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.