Enter and View Report: Grace Lodge Nursing Home

In June 2025 we visited Grace Lodge Nursing Home. The home has 61 bedrooms, all with ensuite toilets, but at the time of our visit there were only 36 bedrooms registered with the CQC. This will gradually increase, as “Safety comes first, staff ratios need to be correct”. 

The owners of Grace Lodge, have another care home, and sometimes staff from the other home can help out if needed at Grace Lodge. An example given was if maintenance staff are on holiday for example.

Summary

Overall, we observed that Grace Lodge seems to be a well-running nursing home. The manager Suma came across as well organised and confident in her ability to support the residents and families. She was clear that she would not rush the introduction of more residents without the support and infrastructure in place to keep them safe and happy.

We did feel that some areas of Grace Lodge did not look as appealing as others and that it could benefit from some targeted maintenance and decoration. The flooring in areas looked ready for replacement and some areas lacked decoration making it look more clinical and worn than other areas with decoration in place.

The residents we spoke to all seemed happy with their care, had praised the staff. Most of the residents that we spoke too also seemed to be enjoying the food on offer. The family members we spoke to had positive opinions about the home with two in particular having the highest of praise for Grace Lodge staff and the positive impact the home has had on their loved ones.

Recommendations 

We make the following recommendations for Grace Lodge:

• Discuss with residents, family and staff about areas of the home they feel may need redecoration or renovation.
• Consider the use of easy read menus to build on the good work already in place in creating a dementia friendly environment. 

Positives and good practice

We found during our visit to Grace Lodge examples of positives and good practice which included but were not limited to: 

• Grace Lodge seems to have built a strong relationship with the GP practice at Aintree Park Group Practice. Building close relationships with the GP practice takes effort on both sides and this will benefit all at the care home.
• The manager has a solid system of organisation in place for storing evidence from residents and family meetings which will allow for residents and family input to be accessed easily.