Care home · Canterbury
Willow Tree Lodge
Illustrative photo, not of Willow Tree Lodge- Address
- 126-128 Old Dover Road, Canterbury, CT1 3PF
- Run by
- Veecare Ltd
- Service
- Nursing home
- Beds
- 34 (registered with CQC)
- Registered with CQC
- November 2011 (14 years)
- Part of
- Mr B and Mr S Sohal
- Registered manager
- Sarah Lejarde
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2006 (20 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 05751389)
- Last CQC check
- 14 May 2025
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,660–£2,030 a week for nursing care (dementia). Estimated from prices published locally; not a quote. How we estimate
Registered to provide: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care · Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
See this service on the CQC website · CQC location ID 1-286217679
An overview of Willow Tree Lodge
Willow Tree Lodge is a CQC-registered nursing home in Canterbury, run by Veecare Ltd. Its CQC registration covers older people, including people living with dementia.
At its most recent rating, CQC judged it Good overall (May 2025). It is one of 16 CQC-registered care homes in and around Canterbury; 11 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Specialisms
As listed with the regulator.
Around Canterbury
There are 16 other care homes within 3 miles, 11 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is The Beeches Residential Home, under 0.5 miles away.
6 of the 24 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Barton ward, classed by ONS as urban (further from a major town or city), among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Kent and Medway ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (5 min), a pharmacy (8 min), a shop (4 min), a park (6 min), a café (4 min) and a bus stop (1 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
What CQC's inspectors reported
- Date of inspection: The service was inspected on 25 and 26 March 2025.
- We undertook this assessment after we received concerns about the governance of the service and people’s safety.
- Willow Tree Lodge provides nursing care to older people and people living with dementia.
- One person told us, “I am happy here just as it is”.
Inspected 25 July 2022; report published 10 August 2022. Quoted from the CQC report summary, Open Government Licence. Read the full report.
The registered provider
Willow Tree Lodge is run by Veecare Ltd (company 05751389), incorporated in 2006, 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 2 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is residential care for older and disabled people.
It trades under the Mr B and Mr S Sohal brand, which covers 3 services run by 3 registered providers.
How CQC rated each area
- Safe72% score353 of 455 in Kent
- Effective75% score400 of 455 in Kent
- Caring75% score406 of 455 in Kent
- Responsive75% score395 of 455 in Kent
- Well-led71% score323 of 455 in Kent
Ratings from CQC's most recent report, published 14 May 2025. Under each rating: how many care homes in Kent share it.
Likely fees
We estimate Willow Tree Lodge at £1,660–£2,030 a week for nursing care (dementia), based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £86k–£106k.
For residents assessed as needing nursing, a weekly NHS contribution goes straight to the home towards the fee, whoever pays the rest.
Council help is possible below £23,250 in savings: ask Kent Council for a free care needs assessment.
Willow Tree Lodge over the years
CQC registration dates from November 2011, so the service has been operating for around 14 years under its current registration.
CQC has published 8 overall ratings for it (2016–2025), starting at Requires improvement; it has gone up 3 and down 2 times, and is now Good.
6 reports have been published for this location, most recently on 10 August 2022.
Percentage scores by area
Each area below is made up of several quality statements, each scored 1 to 4 by CQC; the percentage combines those scores for the area. Averaged across the five areas, Willow Tree Lodge scores 74%.
Safe 72%
- 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 optimisation2 · Some shortfalls
Effective 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 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 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 71%
- 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 communities2 · Some shortfalls
- Learning, improvement and innovation3 · Good
Key: 4 = exceptional, 3 = good, 2 = some shortfalls, 1 = significant shortfalls. Source: CQC, assessed 27 February 2025, published 14 May 2025, Open Government Licence. Unscored statements weren't reviewed this time and keep their previous result.
Earlier inspections
- Apr 2016
- Apr 2017
- Apr 2018
- Jul 2019
- Jul 2019
- Dec 2019
- Aug 2022
- May 2025
- Today Rating 1 year old
The location's rating record from CQC, from first to latest.
Inspection reports to read
- CQC inspection report 10 August 2022
- CQC inspection report 4 December 2019
- CQC inspection report 26 July 2019
- CQC inspection report 20 July 2019
- CQC inspection report 5 April 2018
- CQC inspection report 28 April 2017
Kitchen hygiene rating
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 17 November 2025 by Canterbury City. Meals matter in a care home: ask to see a menu and whether residents can choose.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "Willow Tree Lodge"). Open Government Licence.
Finding it
- Ward
- Barton
- Council
- Kent County Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Canterbury
- Local NHS (ICB)
- NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board
- Type of area
- Urban, further from a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 10% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in CT1 (6)
Open the full map · How to get there · OpenStreetMap (ODbL)
Within walking distance
- Bus stop 100 m (1 min walk) · 23 stops within 600 m
- Railway station Canterbury East, 990 m (12 min walk)
- GP surgery New Dover Road Surgery, 420 m (5 min walk)
- Pharmacy 650 m (8 min walk)
- Shop Sainsbury's Local, 310 m (4 min walk)
- Park St Mary Bredin, 480 m (6 min walk)
- Café Lime Tree Cafe, 320 m (4 min walk)
- Place of worship St. Mary Bredin, 470 m (6 min walk)
- Library Learning Resource Centre, 600 m (8 min walk)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). These are direct-line distances, so real walking routes, and times, will be longer.
Geography: ONS and NHS lookups (postcodes.io), Open Government Licence.
Reading Willow Tree Lodge's CQC ratings
CQC rated every one of the five key questions Good here, so there is no weak spot in the published ratings.
For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 322 of the 454 other care homes in Kent that CQC has rated.
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Caring at 75% and its lowest is Well-led at 71%, averaging 74% overall.
Family reviews
Be the first to review Willow Tree Lodge. Your experience helps other families choose.
We check every review against a working email address and publish positive and negative ones alike; providers can reply but cannot remove them. Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. How reviews work.
Willow Tree Lodge against its area
- Rated Good. Across Kent, 79% of the 454 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 18 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (May 2025) is more recent than 77% of care home ratings in Kent.
- With 34 beds it is larger than 62% of care homes in Kent, where the typical home has 24.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 51% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 2 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Kent lists 3.
Compared with every CQC-registered care home in Kent. Source: CQC register, Oct 2026.
Nearest care homes
Guides for families
Recently rated care homes near Canterbury
- Highfield Care HomeMay 2026
- Bridge HavenMay 2025
Willow Tree Lodge: common questions
- How did Willow Tree Lodge score on each CQC key question?
- By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led are the sections most worth your time.
- How much does Willow Tree Lodge charge?
- No fee list from Willow Tree Lodge has reached us. Residential care home typically costs £1,450 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in South East). Ask for a written quote that includes weekend and bank holiday rates.
- Who runs Willow Tree Lodge?
- The registered provider is Veecare Ltd, according to CQC.
- How big is Willow Tree Lodge?
- Willow Tree Lodge is registered for up to 34 residents. Ask about current vacancies and whether rooms have en-suite facilities.
- When was Willow Tree Lodge last inspected?
- 14 May 2025 is when the current rating was published, 1 year ago. Check what has changed since, such as the manager or staffing.
- Can Willow Tree Lodge care for someone with dementia?
- Dementia appears among its CQC specialisms; ask about staff training and how care adapts as dementia progresses.
- Is Willow Tree Lodge a registered provider?
- Yes: CQC lists it as a care home under location ID 1-286217679 and was rated Good overall in May 2025.
- Where is Willow Tree Lodge based?
- It is at 126-128 Old Dover Road, Canterbury, CT1 3PF.
- What services is Willow Tree Lodge registered for?
- Willow Tree Lodge is registered with CQC for: nursing homes. Ask the provider which needs it can meet now and as needs change.
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Source: the CQC register as of Oct 2026 (Open Government Licence v3.0), with our own analysis. Anything marked "in the provider's own words" comes from the provider. The Care Panel does not provide care.