Care home · Bournemouth

The Elms

Rated Good by CQC Rating published 21 January 2026 Rated in the last 12 months
Residents relaxing in a care home sitting room Illustrative photo, not of The Elms
Address
28 Elmsway, Southbourne, Bournemouth, BH6 3HU
Run by
Elms Care Limited
Service
Residential care home
Beds
4 (registered with CQC)
Registered with CQC
December 2010 (15 years)
Registered manager
Amanda Marie Hamshere
Company check
Active, trading since 2005 (21 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 05334056)
Last CQC check
21 Jan 2026
Typical fees Estimated
£1,300–£1,590 a week for residential care. Estimated from prices published locally; not a quote. How we estimate

Registered activities: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care

See this service on the CQC website · CQC location ID 1-116864318

The Elms at a glance

The Elms in Bournemouth is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a residential care home, run by Elms Care Limited. Its registered specialisms include learning disabilities.

CQC rated it Good overall (January 2026). It is one of 25 CQC-registered care homes in and around Christchurch; 20 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.

The inspection, summarised

  • The inspection took place between 27 November and 03 December 2025.
  • Staff understood the safeguarding procedures in place and felt confident any concerns would be acted on by the registered manager.
  • Staff told us they felt people using the service were safe.
  • People and their relatives spoke positively about the home and said their needs were met through personalised care.

Inspected 15 December 2018; report published 10 January 2019. Source: CQC's published findings, reused under the Open Government Licence. Read the full report.

Scores behind the rating

CQC's single assessment framework gives every quality statement a score out of 4, then reports each key question as a percentage. Averaged across the five areas, The Elms scores 75%.

Safe Good 75%
  • Learning culture3 · Good
  • Safe systems, pathways and transitions3 · Good
  • Safeguarding3 · Good
  • Involving people to manage risks3 · Good
  • Safe environments3 · Good
  • Safe and effective staffing3 · Good
  • Infection prevention and control3 · Good
  • Medicines optimisation3 · Good
Effective Good 75%
  • Assessing needs3 · Good
  • Delivering evidence-based care and treatment3 · Good
  • How staff, teams and services work together3 · Good
  • Supporting people to live healthier lives3 · Good
  • Monitoring and improving outcomes3 · Good
  • Consent to care and treatment3 · Good
Caring Good 75%
  • Kindness, compassion and dignity3 · Good
  • Treating people as individuals3 · Good
  • Independence, choice and control3 · Good
  • Responding to people’s immediate needs3 · Good
  • Workforce wellbeing and enablement3 · Good
Responsive Good 75%
  • Person-centred Care3 · Good
  • Care provision, Integration and continuity3 · Good
  • Providing Information3 · Good
  • Listening to and involving people3 · Good
  • Equity in access3 · Good
  • Equity in experiences and outcomes3 · Good
  • Planning for the future3 · Good
Well-led Good 75%
  • Shared direction and culture3 · Good
  • Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders3 · Good
  • Freedom to speak up3 · Good
  • Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion3 · Good
  • Governance, management and sustainability3 · Good
  • Partnerships and communities3 · Good
  • Learning, improvement and innovation3 · Good

Key: 4 = exceptional, 3 = good, 2 = some shortfalls, 1 = significant shortfalls. Source: CQC, assessed 24 November 2025, published 21 January 2026, Open Government Licence. Unscored statements weren't reviewed this time and keep their previous result.

How its rating has changed

  1. Jul 2016 Good
  2. Jan 2019 Good
  3. Jan 2026 Good
  4. Today Rated in the last 12 months

Published CQC ratings in date order.

Published inspection reports

Kitchen hygiene rating

5/5

The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 22 August 2025 by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Meals matter in a care home: ask to see a menu and whether residents can choose.

From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "The Elms"). Open Government Licence.

Finding it

Ward
East Southbourne & Tuckton
Parliamentary constituency
Bournemouth East
NHS integrated care board
NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board
Urban or rural
Urban; nearer to a major town or city
Neighbourhood deprivation
Among the 20% least deprived areas in England
Postcode district
Care homes in BH6 (20)

See the wider area · How to get there · Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors

Local amenities

  • Bus stop 350 m (4 min walk) · 20 stops within 600 m
  • Railway station Christchurch, 1.7 km
  • GP surgery Marine Surgery, 600 m (8 min walk)
  • Pharmacy Tuckton Pharmacy, 560 m (7 min walk)
  • Shop Nisa, 530 m (7 min walk)
  • Park Seafield Gardens, 210 m (3 min walk)
  • Café Immaculate Coffee House, 510 m (6 min walk)
  • Place of worship Citygate Church Southbourne, 350 m (4 min walk)
  • Library Tuckton Library, 990 m (12 min walk)

Straight-line distances to the nearest of each, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). Walking routes are longer; check for hills and crossings if you plan to take a relative out.

Ward, NHS area and deprivation from ONS and NHS postcode data (postcodes.io, Open Government Licence).

The company behind The Elms

The Elms is run by Elms Care Limited (company 05334056), incorporated in 2005, 5 years before this service registered with CQC.

At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 4 active directors and there is no insolvency history.

Its registered business activity is other residential care.

Specialisms

Registration details from CQC.

Choice nearby

Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 22 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is St Anne's Care Home, under 0.5 miles away.

4 of the 24 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.

It sits in East Southbourne & Tuckton ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Dorset ICB.

Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (8 min), a pharmacy (7 min), a shop (7 min), a park (3 min), a café (6 min) and a bus stop (4 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.

How CQC rated each area

  • SafeGood75% score123 of 129 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
  • EffectiveGood75% score119 of 129 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
  • CaringGood75% score121 of 129 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
  • ResponsiveGood75% score117 of 129 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
  • Well-ledGood75% score117 of 129 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

CQC key question ratings, published 21 January 2026. Under each rating: how many care homes in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole share it.

Costs to expect

We estimate The Elms at £1,300–£1,590 a week for residential care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £68k–£83k.

Ask whether the fee changes if needs increase, and what is extra: hairdressing, chiropody, outings and newspapers are often charged separately.

Council help is possible below £23,250 in savings: ask Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council for a free care needs assessment.

The ratings in context

All five areas CQC looks at are rated Good for The Elms: no single area stands out above or below the rest.

For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 116 of the 128 other care homes in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole that CQC has rated.

Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Caring at 75% and its lowest is Well-led at 75%, averaging 75% overall.

Track record

Registered in December 2010, it has 15 years on the CQC register.

CQC has published 3 overall ratings for it (2016–2026), starting at Good and staying Good every time.

5 reports have been published for this location, most recently on 10 January 2019.

Family reviews

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How The Elms compares

  • Rated Good. Across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, 96% of the 129 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 8 are Outstanding.
  • Its rating (January 2026) is more recent than 81% of care home ratings in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
  • With 4 beds it is smaller than 93% of care homes in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, where the typical home has 25.
  • Registered with CQC in 2010: it has been registered longer than 87% of care homes in the area.
  • It lists 1 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole lists 3.

Benchmarked against all CQC-registered care homes in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (Oct 2026).

Nearby options

Guides for families

Similar care homes near Christchurch, rated recently

The Elms: common questions

How did The Elms score on each CQC key question?
By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Read Safe and Well-led first; they say most about reliability.
How much does care from The Elms cost?
The Elms's prices aren't on our site yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,349 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in South West). Ask for written prices covering weekends, bank holidays and any travel or set-up charges.
Who is the registered provider for The Elms?
The Elms is run by Elms Care Limited, the registered provider on the CQC register.
How many residents can The Elms take?
CQC registers The Elms for 4 residents; ask about vacancies, room sizes and en-suite bathrooms.
When was The Elms last inspected?
Its current CQC rating dates from 21 January 2026. Ratings can be several years old; ask what has changed since, such as a new manager.
Can The Elms care for someone with dementia?
No dementia specialism is recorded with CQC. Ask the provider directly if this is likely to matter.
Is The Elms registered with CQC?
Registered, yes: location 1-116864318 on the Care Quality Commission register, listed as a care home and was rated Good overall in January 2026.
Where is The Elms based?
It is at 28 Elmsway, Southbourne, Bournemouth, BH6 3HU.
What kind of care can The Elms offer?
Registration for The Elms covers: residential homes. Check which of these it offers today.

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