- Care home
Wisteria Lodge
Assessment report published 6 October 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 27 July to 4 August 2026. Wisteria Lodge is a care home registered to support older people who require nursing care, some of whom live with dementia.
We carried out our inspection based on the information we held about the service and the length of time since the last inspection.
Leaders and staff at Wisteria Lodge had created an exceptional home where people and their families felt genuinely welcomed, safe, valued and supported. A deeply embedded culture of kindness, compassion and respect was evident throughout the service. People’s dignity, independence and emotional wellbeing were consistently prioritised, with staff demonstrating an outstanding understanding of what mattered most to each person and using this knowledge to shape highly personalised care.
People’s safety was promoted through a strong culture of openness, professional curiosity and accountability. Staff understood their responsibilities for safeguarding and raising concerns, and risks associated with people’s health conditions and support needs were proactively identified, assessed and managed. Medicines were administered safely. Staffing levels were continually reviewed to ensure they reflected people’s needs, and staff had the skills, knowledge and confidence to provide safe, effective care.
People received holistic assessments using recognised good practice tools, ensuring their physical, emotional and social needs were understood. Staff responded promptly when people’s health changed and worked exceptionally well with people, their relatives and a wide range of specialist professionals. This collaborative approach ensured people received coordinated, responsive care and achieved consistently positive outcomes.
People were at the heart of the service. Care was exceptionally personalised and reflected people’s preferences, routines, relationships and aspirations. Staff knew people exceptionally well and used this knowledge to support meaningful activity, social engagement and independence. The provider also demonstrated outstanding practice in supporting people at the end of their lives, ensuring care was compassionate, dignified and individualised.
Leaders had established consistently high standards across every aspect of the service. Expectations were clear, and staff were given the guidance, development and support needed to achieve them. Leaders recognised that staff wellbeing was fundamental to delivering high-quality care and had developed a range of meaningful initiatives to value, recognise and reward staff.
Robust governance arrangements provided strong oversight of quality, safety and outcomes. Audits were effective in identifying opportunities for improvement, with learning translated into meaningful changes in practice. People, relatives and staff were actively listened to, and their feedback resulted in improvements. Leaders had fostered an exceptional culture of learning, innovation and continuous improvement, where staff were encouraged to reflect, challenge practice and seek better ways of working.
People's experience of this service
People and their relatives consistently told us people were exceptionally well cared for at Wisteria Lodge. They often emphasised the warm and “homely” atmosphere and many told us they had only planned to have respite care but had decided to stay due to the wonderful atmosphere and care demonstrated by staff at all levels. Comments included, “It is brilliant and he is very happy here. He had a trial and he wanted to live here. His care is excellent with the general care, plenty of staff and activities. It’s good all round, it is so homely and feel he is so safe. He is so well-looked after” and “It’s brilliant,everyone’s friendly, nothing is too much trouble, they [staff] tell you,‘It’syour home now.’ I came here purely for respite but loved it so much asked if I could stay.”
Everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the home to others. For example, 1 relative told us, “I would recommend it to others, and I would go there myself” and another said, “Yes, we were very lucky to get her here and very satisfied and very big fans of the home.”