Stage 04 · Researching care homes
The twelve questions 3,602 families say actually matter.
Not the ones the brochure answers. Take this to every home you visit. Ask each question, write the answer in front of them, and score the homes against each other on the comparison grid.
57%
and 55%
of positive family reviews come down to staff warmth and consistency. Not décor. Not the menu. Not the marketing. The right twelve questions test for the things that actually predict good care.
3,602 family reviews · DCC analysis
What’s inside
Five themes. Twelve questions. One comparison grid.
Ask every question at every home. Write the answer during the visit, not afterwards — first impressions fade and details blur. Score each home 1–5 on each theme; add the row totals.
- 013 questions
Staff — consistency, ratios, and what happens at night.
A specific number of permanent staff after 8pm, not ‘enough.’ Annual turnover and current agency use. How staff actually learn and remember each resident’s history. Three-quarters of falls in a recently inadequate home happened during the night shift.
- 023 questions
Activities — what good looks like versus the timetable on the wall.
Last week’s actual log, not the schedule. How your parent’s specific interests get into daily life. The first-line response when a resident becomes distressed — if medication is the first answer, that is a flag.
- 032 questions
Environment — beyond the show room.
A standard room on the dementia unit, and the corridors during normal use. A regular weekday mealtime, not a formal dining demonstration. Dementia-friendly design is clinical, not aesthetic — it reduces confusion and distress.
- 042 questions
Inspection report — reading it beyond the summary rating.
The outcome and date for each CQC domain — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-led. Any regulatory activity since publication. A Good rating from three years ago is not a Good home today.
- 052 questions
Fees — what you will actually pay, and what isn’t included.
The full written breakdown. What’s standard, what’s extra. The home’s position on top-up fees if local authority funding applies — top-up agreements are with the local authority, not the home, and that distinction matters.
A sample question
“Can I see last week’s actual activities log — specifically what happened on a named day?”
A weak answer sounds like
“We have a varied programme. Here’s the timetable on the wall.”
The timetable is the plan. The log is the reality. A home without a specific log does not have a genuine programme.
A strong answer sounds like
“Yes. Tuesday: gardening group, then a baking session, then one-to-one music with Mrs P. Here are the staff notes.”
Specific. Named. Documented. Outstanding homes integrate activity into care plans as a clinical tool.
Why it works
The brochure was written to be answered. These questions were not.
Every question is drawn from what 3,602 families actually wrote about the homes their parents lived in — the recurring themes in positive reviews, and the recurring failures in inadequate ones.
What this checklist will not do
- × Tell you which home is right for your mum. You will know that, and so will she.
- × Replace the unannounced visit. A ‘yes, anytime’ is the answer to that question.
- × Pretend a Good rating from three years ago means anything today. Always check the date.
What it will do
- + Surface the specific, observable details that predict good dementia care — numbers, named days, written logs.
- + Give you a structured comparison across up to four homes, scored on the seven themes the reviews say matter.
- + Hand you a written record of every visit — useful when you compare, and useful again when one is chosen.
Print it. Fill it in during the tour, not after. Most families decide on a home before they have asked the questions that distinguish one from another.