Old School House

Thame Road, Longwick, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, HP27 9SF

01844343620

Care Type

Residential Care

Assessment date

18 January 2024

Provider

Mrs Nahida Arif

Beds

12 beds

About Old School House

Old School House is a residential care home in Buckinghamshire, providing care for older people and people living with dementia. Further details on the service, based on the most recent CQC inspection, are set out below.

Old School House is a care home for older people and people living with dementia. The CQC rated the service Good overall, finding that staff worked well together, managed healthcare needs effectively and maintained a supportive culture where concerns could be raised openly. Improvements had also been made to how consent to care and treatment was handled.

Inspectors did identify some shortfalls: safeguarding incidents were not always reported consistently to the local authority, and the provider needed to notify the CQC of all required incidents. Monitoring processes had not picked up these gaps or some premises safety risks. Relatives spoke warmly of the care, with one describing staff as treating people "like family".

Source: CQC assessment, 5 April 2024

Specialist Care

DementiaOlder people

Fees and availability

We have not verified a current weekly fee for this home. Ask for a written quote based on the room and care needed, including any extra charges.

Check current vacancies, the admission assessment and visiting arrangements directly with the home.

Care and inspection details

Checked against the CQC register on 21 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.

Registered service: Care home service without nursing
Registered capacity: 12 places — this is not a vacancy count
Registration checked: Registered · HP27 9SF

Registered care categories

Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Dementia.

These describe the registration. The home must assess whether it can meet the individual person's needs and whether a place is available.

CQC ratings in more detail

Overall rating shown by CQC: Good.

Assessment published 5 April 2024. Assessment date recorded: 18 January 2024.

Read CQC's assessment overview

The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 5 April 2024. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.

Old School House is a care home for older people and people living with dementia. This assessment took place between 23 January 2024 and 8 March 2024. We completed this assessment on 8 March 2024. It included a site visit on 13 February 2024. Assessment of people’s care needs were managed well and there was regular involvement of other agencies to meet healthcare needs. Staff worked well together to ensure consistency of people’s care. There was a supportive working culture at the service and staff knew how to raise concerns. Improvements had been made to practice in relation to consent to care and treatment. Improvements were required to safeguarding practice, to ensure all incidents were consistently reported to the local authority. The provider also needed to ensure there was consistent practice in notifying us about all incidents it was required to, such as injuries and safeguarding concerns. The registered manager and deputy manager provided leadership at the service. There were potential safety risks at the premises, which were responded to promptly when mentioned to the provider. However, these and the other areas for improvement had not been identified by the provider as part of their monitoring processes. The provider was unable to provide sufficient examples of improving practice in response to things going wrong, either within the home or as a result of local or national incidents. We raised this with the registered manager for further development.

Safe: Good
Effective: Good
Caring: Good
Responsive: Good
Well-led: Good

Read Old School House's CQC record and reports.

Contains Care Quality Commission information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Ratings and registration details can change after the date checked.

5 Questions to Ask on Your Visit

When visiting Old School House, consider asking...

1.What specific dementia training do staff receive and how recently?
2.How do you support a resident who becomes distressed or confused?
3.How does the home keep a record of a resident's life history and personal preferences?
4.How do you involve families as dementia progresses and communication becomes harder?
5.What happens when a resident's dementia reaches an advanced stage?

5 Things to Look For on Your Visit

When you visit Old School House, look out for...

1.Is the environment calm, uncluttered and easy to navigate?
2.Do staff speak to residents with patience and dignity, even if they repeat themselves?
3.Are there memory cues around the home -- photos, familiar objects, clear signage?
4.Do residents seem settled and safe, or agitated and unsupervised?
5.Is there meaningful activity happening, or are residents just sitting quietly with nothing to do?

Could the NHS fund Old School House's fees?

The average nursing home costs £1,535 per week. That's £79,820 a year. NHS Continuing Healthcare could cover all of it. No means test, no contribution from you.

Find out if the NHS could fund these fees