The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

Castle Hill, Hartley, Longfield DA3 7BH
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9.5 49 Reviews
  • The Old Downs Residential Care Centre, Longfield
Situated in the pretty village of Hartley, near Dartford, The Old Downs is a residential and dementia care home caring for up to 41 residents. Nestled in beautiful surroundings and gardens, the character home has been at the heart of the local community since its beginnings in 1887.

Beautifully retained period features complement the modern facilities at The Old Downs and the spacious home has been tastefully extended to provide a light and airy conservatory that boasts beautiful views across the valley. The onsite hair salon and beauty room is perfect for a bit of pampering, while the various lounges offer different places to sit and relax.

Residents enjoy regular outings to nearby garden centres, a variety of arts and crafts, live music and professional entertainers. Residents are also encouraged to remain active and pursue hobbies and interests, both old and new.

One of the first care providers to champion the importance of nutrition for the elderly and those with dementia, Nellsar employ a nutrition and wellness manager for their homes. The Old Downs acknowledges that nutrition and hydration are an integral part of good health and well-being, delivering well-balanced, nutritious meals and snacks to residents every day.

The Old Downs also benefits from a well-being team of fully-qualified holistic therapists who use nurturing touch, complementary therapies and relaxing treatments to improve residents’ quality of life and sense of well-being.

Employing high-tech care planning technology, The Old Downs care staff use the ®Nourish system, spending less time on paperwork and more time caring for their residents.

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Care Provided by The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

  • Primary Care Categories
  • Dementia
  • Older Person Care
  • Respite Care
  • Care Types Provided
  • Dementia Residential Care
  • Residential Care
  • For a maximum of 41 Service Users
  • Privately Owned
  • Care Offered
  • Alzheimer's
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Other Care Provided
  • Day Care
  • End of Life Care
  • Own GP if required
  • Palliative Care

Good to Know

  • Person in charge
  • Claire Saxby (Home Manager)
  • Admission Criteria
    • Ages 65+
  • Room Information
    • Single Rooms (41)
    • Couples/Companion Rooms (0)
    • Single Rooms with ensuite Wet Room (7)
  • Care Home Design/Build
    • Purpose Built: No
    • Last Refurbishment: 2024
    • Number of floors: 1

Funding & Fees Guide for The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

  • Funding Types Accepted
  • Self funding (Private)
  • Local Authority with Top-Up
  • Local Authority
  • NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) Funding
  • Weekly Charges per Person
    • Self-Funded Residential Dementia Care £1,300 – £1,400
    • RESPITE Self-Funded Residential Dementia Care £1,300 – £1,400

  • Fees do not include hairdressing, chiropody or occupational therapists.
  • (these prices are only a guideline, please contact The Old Downs Residential Care Centre to find out the exact price for your requirements)

Facilities

  • Close to Local shops
  • Gardens
  • Lift
  • Minibus or other transport
  • Near Public Transport
  • Own Furniture if required
  • Pet Friendly (or by arrangement)
  • Phone Point in own room
  • Residents Internet Access
  • Smoking not permitted
  • Stairlift
  • Television point in own room
  • Wheelchair Access
  • Visiting

  • The home maintain an open-hours visiting policy, which means relatives and friends are welcome to drop by and see loved ones at any time. Families are always welcome to join relatives for afternoon tea or lunch.


The Old Downs Residential Care Centre Reviews (49)

Total of 49, showing 41-49
9.5

The Old Downs Residential Care Centre has a Review Score of 9.5 (9.467) out of 10, based on 13 reviews in the last 2 years. Over all time The Old Downs Residential Care Centre has 49 reviews.

Overall Experience

  • 30
  • 16
  • 2
  • 0
  • 1

Date Published

49
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8
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36

Review from Susan M (Daughter of Resident) published on 13 July 2017
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

All the staff could not be more hardworking, caring and supportive. I spend a fair amount of time away from home and in the past, I have felt anxious when leaving my father. I no longer worry about that, knowing Dad is being well cared for and I was extremely grateful to them recently when they e-mailed
me photos of dad enjoying an afternoon tea party for his birthday. When visiting, I am often shown photos of Dad participating in activities etc, which is lovely to see, knowing he is enjoying himself and is happy and content.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

A lovely comment. Our staff all work really hard to ensure that residents are supported when family members are away. We encourage families to keep in touch if they want to. Our new phone system makes this a little easier now too.


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Review from Diane D (Daughter of Resident) published on 11 July 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

I would say that one of the most important things about a home of any sort is "the staff". The staff at The Old Downs are hard working, patient, caring and kind. The team in the kitchen are also hard working and create lovely nourishing meals, cakes and snacks. Management and entertainment team do their
best to create stimulating activities for all.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

Thank you for the comment recognising the hard work and dedication of the staff here at The Old Downs. We are always looking for new ideas for activities.


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Review from Tricia G (Daughter of Resident) published on 28 June 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

I am in the most vulnerable situation imaginable living on the other side of the world. However, I feel blessed to know that my mum is being loved and cared for every day. I am always made to feel very welcome when I visit my mum in her home surrounded by professional carers and countless cups of tea!

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

At The Old Downs we understand how difficult it is living far away and we encourage continued communication to our residents via email and Skype/face time where possible and our kettle is never cold!


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Review from Eleanor G (Granddaughter of Resident) published on 21 June 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

I think the quality and variety of food that is prepared for the resident is outstanding (the taste is also good since I have sampled many just to be helpful). I think the activities have greatly improved in the past two years and the staff never fail to be supportive, friendly and caring.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

What a lovely review, we are improving our service all the time with feedback from our residents and relatives.


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Review from R B (Son of Resident) published on 21 June 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

It's great to see the changes being made to the home, it looks so much brighter and more welcoming since the refurbishment started and it is really nice that the gardens are being smartened up too.
The staff in the home are fantastic, we can see how much they genuinely care for mum and just how hard
they work. It would be good if there was the facility to take on more staff so that they are not so overstretched with their workloads.
One thing we would like to see more of if at all possible, would be to have more frequent outings for the residents.
Overall, we are very pleased with the level of care.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

It is lovely to hear that the improvements made recently are noticeable, we are arranging more outings to local places of interest. We also acknowledge how hard our dedicated staff work.


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Review from T B (Son of Resident) published on 19 June 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

My mother has been a resident for 17 months and has had excellent care from her first day. Her care has continually been of a very high standard and I have great confidence in all staff at all levels. I am regularly updated if there are any concerns as well as if my mother's health changes. The care
home has a very friendly atmosphere at all times with cheery faces. Residents are kept as active as allows, staff work hard to make sure all the resident's needs are met at all times. There are meetings for relatives/relations periodically. All in all, a good care home, and I am pleased to have been able to get my mother a place.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

Thank you for your comment. I agree, we have a friendly home, our cheery faces are caused by our residents/relatives/visitors.


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Review from Eric P (Husband of Resident) published on 9 June 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5

One would have to go a long way to find a home to come anywhere near the excellence of Old Downs.

Reply from Caroline Cheeseman, Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Centre

Thank you for this lovely comment which mirrors the way that the team at The Old Downs feels about working here.


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Review from Clive R (Son of Resident) published on 30 March 2017
Submitted via Postal Card • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

My mother lived at the Old Downs Residential Care Centre from January 2015 until her death in March 2017. We got a good impression of the home straight away and mum settled in immediately. It provided a warm caring, friendly atmosphere and we cannot speak too highly of the staff. They were warm, friendly
and caring and did everything they could to look after mum. They were magnificent in the final period when mum was on end of life care. A great big thank you to you all.

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Review from Nigel R (Son of Resident) published on 18 January 2016
Submitted via Website • Report

Overall Experience  Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5

I cannot fault the care and attention given to my mother over the time she spent at The Old Downs. The staff were at all times attentive treating their charges with care and dignity and the facilities excellent.


I would not hesitate to recommend this home for anyone in need of residential dementia

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Current Review Score: 9.5 (9.467)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.5 (9.467) out of 10 for The Old Downs Residential Care Centre is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  • a) The Average Rating is 4.5 out of 5 from 13 Reviews in the last 24 months.

  • b) The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 12 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Care Home is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  • a) 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months.

    The Average Rating of 4.467 for The Old Downs Residential Care Centre is calculated as follows: ( (106 Excellents x 5) + (30 Goods x 4) + (2 Satisfactorys x 3) + (2 Poors x 2) + (10 Very Poors x 1) ) ÷ 150 Ratings = 4.467

  • b) 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5').

    The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for The Old Downs Residential Care Centre is based on 12 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    • i) 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4

    • ii) 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the registered maximum number of service users in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Care Home registered for a maximum of 50 service users has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 41 registered maximum number of service users is 8.2, which has been reached with 12 Positive reviews. Points = 1

  • When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.

  • If a Care Home does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Performance

Care Quality Commission (CQC) Rating

Date: 29 Jul 2024

Overall
Good

  • Caring

    Good

  • Effective

    Good

  • Responsive

    Good

  • Safe

    Good

  • Well-led

    Good

Care Quality Commission is responsible for the registration and inspection of social care services in England.

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Bed Vacancies

Please Contact Us for Latest Vacancies

Awards / Recognitions (5)

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Meet the Team (1)

Nicoleta

Nicoleta Cristescu

Job Title:

Joined: 2025

I am delighted to embrace my role as Home Manager at The Old Downs Residential Care Home. When I began my journey as a Nurse in 2014, I never could have imagined the incredible path it would take me on. Over the years, I have had the privilege of working in the Adult Social Care sector, with the past six years spent as Deputy Manager at one of Nellsar’s Nursing Homes –  Meyer House – in Erith.
 
I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, including completing my Level 5 in Management in Adult and Social Care and being honoured with the Queen's Nurse award in 2023. These milestones reflect my deep commitment to delivering high-quality care and continually striving to improve the experiences of our residents.
 
But even with the recognition, I have always believed that the true heart of care lies in the relationships we build with those we serve, and the team members who make that care possible.
 
This belief has guided me to an exciting new chapter at The Old Downs, a stunning, character-filled period building from 1887. From the moment I stepped into the Home, I felt its warmth and charm, and it immediately captured my heart. I experienced a sense of belonging not just in the building, but in the welcoming, family-like atmosphere fostered by our team members. It was this spirit that inspired me to take on this new challenge in a Residential Care setting.
 
While I’m no stranger to Nursing Homes, transitioning to The Old Downs feels like a fresh and exciting opportunity to build upon my experience. My goal is clear – to make The Old Downs the community's finest care provider, delivering exceptional living experiences for our residents while providing their loved ones with full peace of mind.
 
Our team at The Old Downs is truly something special. Every team member is dedicated to making a difference to the lives of our residents, and part of my role is to help keep that passion and commitment alive. Together, we can continue to improve our practices, adapt to new needs, and create a truly unique, nurturing environment for everyone here.
 
Ultimately, I want our residents to feel like part of a family and for their loved ones to know that their care is in the best hands possible. This is the heart of our mission – delivering care that goes above and beyond while focusing on each person’s individuality while upholding the values we hold dear.