






Glencairn House is a smaller residential care home, which enables them to offer truly personalised care and attention to each and every one of their residents. Their aim is to cater to individual needs, from specific care requirements and food preferences to helping their residents to continue to follow their individual interests and activities.
They have a regular weekly timetable of activities and events, with everything from donkey and llama...
Care Provided by Glencairn House Residential Home
Primary Care Categories
- Older Person Care
- Dementia
- Physical Disability
Length of Stay
- Permanent Care
- Respite Care
Care Types Provided
- Residential Care
- Dementia Residential Care
- For a maximum of 23 Service Users
Dementia Care TypesMild Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "mild dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Memory problems such as misplacing items and not be able to recall recent events (however, in some forms of dementia a person's memory may be unchanged)
- Difficulties thinking through problems and planning, making decisions
- Language and communication issues such as finding it difficult to recall the appropriate word in a conversation or following a conversation
- Poor orientation, getting lost in areas previously familiar to them
- Difficulty judging distances (more falls than usual)
- Changes in their normal mood including anxiety and depression
- In certain types of dementia, personality and behaviour changes may be present alongside or instead of issues with memory or concentration.
Moderate Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "moderate dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Worsened memory problems. Not always recognising own family members and friends. Repeating the same questions over and over again
- Worsened language and communication issues, forgetting what they are saying mid-sentence. Not being able to understand what someone else is saying
- More frequent confusion, e.g. about the time of day or where they are, including their own home
- Apathy, depression and anxiety
- Believing things that aren't true (paranoia)
- Frequent hallucinations
- Lack of emotional control, quick to anger, fearfulness, sadness
- Loss of inhibition
- Difficulties sleeping or waking during the night and behaving as though it is daytime - loss of circadian rhythm.
Advanced Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "severe dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Severe memory problems. Not recognising family members and friends. Not being able to recall their own name
- Severe language and communication issues, not being able to understand what someone else is saying
- Severe confusion, e.g. about the time of day or where they are, including their own home
- Apathy, depression and anxiety
- Believing things that aren't true (paranoia)
- Frequent hallucinations
- Lack of emotional control, quick to anger, fearfulness, sadness
- Loss of inhibition
- Difficulties sleeping or waking during the night and behaving as though it is daytime - loss of circadian rhythm.
Verbally or physically aggressive behaviour
If your loved one displays this type of behaviour you may need a care home that has specially trained staff. Verbal/physical aggression is often defined:
- Consistent shouting and screaming
- Verbal abuse
- Physical abuse
How we define Dementia Care Types
Mild Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "mild dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Memory problems such as misplacing items and not be able to recall recent events (however, in some forms of dementia a person's memory may be unchanged)
- Difficulties thinking through problems and planning, making decisions
- Language and communication issues such as finding it difficult to recall the appropriate word in a conversation or following a conversation
- Poor orientation, getting lost in areas previously familiar to them
- Difficulty judging distances (more falls than usual)
- Changes in their normal mood including anxiety and depression
- In certain types of dementia, personality and behaviour changes may be present alongside or instead of issues with memory or concentration.
Moderate Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "moderate dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Worsened memory problems. Not always recognising own family members and friends. Repeating the same questions over and over again
- Worsened language and communication issues, forgetting what they are saying mid-sentence. Not being able to understand what someone else is saying
- More frequent confusion, e.g. about the time of day or where they are, including their own home
- Apathy, depression and anxiety
- Believing things that aren't true (paranoia)
- Frequent hallucinations
- Lack of emotional control, quick to anger, fearfulness, sadness
- Loss of inhibition
- Difficulties sleeping or waking during the night and behaving as though it is daytime - loss of circadian rhythm.
Advanced Dementia
Someone living with our definition of "severe dementia" might experience some or all of the following:
- Severe memory problems. Not recognising family members and friends. Not being able to recall their own name
- Severe language and communication issues, not being able to understand what someone else is saying
- Severe confusion, e.g. about the time of day or where they are, including their own home
- Apathy, depression and anxiety
- Believing things that aren't true (paranoia)
- Frequent hallucinations
- Lack of emotional control, quick to anger, fearfulness, sadness
- Loss of inhibition
- Difficulties sleeping or waking during the night and behaving as though it is daytime - loss of circadian rhythm.
Verbally or physically aggressive behaviour
If your loved one displays this type of behaviour you may need a care home that has specially trained staff. Verbal/physical aggression is often defined:
- Consistent shouting and screaming
- Verbal abuse
- Physical abuse
How we define Dementia Care Types
- Mild Dementia
Other Care Provided
- Parkinson's Disease
- Stroke
- Palliative / End of Life Care
- Convalescent Care
- Day Care
Facilities
- Own Furniture if required
- Pet Friendly (or by arrangement)
- Smoking not permitted
- Close to Local shops
- Near Public Transport
- Lift
- Stairlift
- Wheelchair Access
- Gardens
- Phone Point in own room
- Television point in own room
- Residents Internet Access
Funding & Fees
Weekly Charges per Person
Three freshly cooked meals a day and access to snacks and drinks at all times.
Wine with meals.
Access to a diverse in-house Activities programme.
Laundry (excluding dry cleaning).
Personal Care.
Trips out.
Chiropody.
Hairdressing.
Newspapers.
Escort fees
The price(s) shown are provided by the care home. Contact Glencairn House Residential Home for full pricing details and T&Cs.
Contact Glencairn House Residential Home to confirm what's included and get a personalised quote:
Funding Types Accepted
- Self-Funding (Private)
- Local Authority with Top-up
- Local Authority
- NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)
Good to Know
Group / Owner
- Gingerbread Care Ltd
- Private Owned
Person in charge
- Ross Isbell (Registered Manager)
Local Authority / Social Services
Admission Information
- Mixed (no single-gender units)
- Ages 45+
Care Home Design/Build
- Purpose Built: No
- Last Refurbishment: 2025
- Number of floors: 3
Room Information
- Single Rooms (23)
- Single Rooms with ensuite Wet Room (19)
Visiting
- Visitors are welcome throughout the day and evening. Meals with loved ones can be pre-booked by contacting the care home directly. Dogs and children are welcome.
Parking
- There is parking at the rear of the care home for 6 vehicles and ample roadside parking for up to 1 hour nearby.
Glencairn House Residential Home Reviews (19)
Glencairn House Residential Home has a Review Score of 9.3 (9.275) out of 10, based on 8 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Glencairn House Residential Home has 19 reviews.
Since moving here, Glencairn has become my home, and the warmth of welcome and comfort of my room have contributed to my settling in so well.
The staff have made me feel safe and that nothing's too much.
I feel the staff know me, and my needs. My medical needs are taken care of, and I'm encouraged to participate as much as I am able.
Dear Pat
Thank you so much for leaving such a lovely review.
We are so pleased you have settled in well at Glencairn House.
Best wishesRoss
The staff and management team went to great lengths to make Mum feel welcome and helped her to adjust to being able to ask for help if she needed it.
In just 3 months she has adjusted to her new life, and is making the most of every opportunity to get involved in activities and outings.
The staff are warm and friendly and treat all the residents with respect and dignity. The house is clean and feels fresh and airy with well appointed bedrooms and pleasant bright communal areas.
Thank you for leaving us such a positive review, we are so pleased your Mum is enjoying her time here.
Best wishesRoss
My mother moved to Glencairn House six weeks ago to be nearer to family. The experience has been a great success in all respects. The room is well proportioned with a view of Borough Gardens and the staff are kind, considerate and helpful. Most notably Mum has made friends and participated in a wide range of excellently organised activities where she had previously been somewhat reclusive. A a result she is much brighter and more cheerful.
With warm regards
Ross
My mum has been a resident of Glencairn for the last 3 years. She is always happy, is treated with dignity, respect and empathy. She enjoys the food and social activities, particularly the trips out. The staff are always approachable and endeavour to fulfil her needs.
Dear Linda
Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this lovely review which I will share with the team.
With best wishesRoss
From the first visit to Glencairn House I felt this was a lovely home and despite a few difficulties of my sister settling in the staff have been nothing but kind and caring and nothing is too much trouble, all the staff are lovely and happy in the home, with lots of activities and nothing is too much trouble. Would really recommend this home.
Sending our thanks for your kind words of praise. It's a great pleasure caring for your sister and we're so pleased she has settled well into her new home. Best wishes
The newly appointed manager is amazing. He very quickly got to know all the residents quirks and amongst other improvements he has implemented new activities to support their interests. Mum is now playing Bridge again after a 2 year absence. He is quietly very hands-on and present on a day to day basis.
The whole team is exceptional.
Dear Sara Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this lovely review - we really appreciate your kind words. With warm regards
I feel happy living here and find the staff very friendly and cheerful as they carry out their tasks. I do feel 'at home' and the staff contribute to that feeling. If I am needing extra help on a bad day, I feel extra support is given very readily & I am very grateful for that.
Thank you for taking the time to write this lovely review, Janet. I'm so please you feel at home at Glencairn. Best wishesRoss
Glencairn is a real home from home, and Dad came to see it as such, with friendships developed with both Staff and Residents. The wide range of activities offered covered the interests of everybody. Meals and snacks were of a high standard and offered generously to visitors as well as Residents, and it was special to be able to participate occasionally at meal times.
I can only be thankful for the care Dad received, Glencairn is a lovely care home and I wish the team every success in continuing to provide such a warm and inclusive environment
Dear Lyn Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this wonderful review. We are all extremely grateful for your kind words and feel it a privilege to have been able to care for your father at Glencairn. Warm wishes
The staff are fantastic. They go to great lengths to make the residents feel comfortable and cared for. They create a lovely atmosphere and make those who stay there feel like they're part of a genuinely happy home.
Hi Chris, that's lovely to hear. Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a positive review.
Not only is the home very clean and warm and the staff too, but so much more thought and care is being put into the welfare of the residents with various activities now.
I know my mother is in the care of people who genuinely have her best interests at heart which means that I am able to relax a bit not having to worry about her health and welfare, and she is very happy there.
Hi Richard, thank you so much for such a wonderful review, I'm very pleased your mother is happy here. It will mean a lot to all the staff to know that their care is so appreciated!
There is always a warm welcome for visitors to Glencairn House Residential. The home is clean and well run. The staff are without exception kind and caring. Both my parents are looked after at Glencairn House and the care they receive is of a very high standard.
Thank you very much for the feedback, we're very pleased to have your mum and dad here and glad that you're happy with everything we do.
My sister and my godmother have been residents since she moved from London aged 93; she is now 99. We, and she, are so so grateful that we chose Glencairn. The staff are so kind and caring and genuinely take the best care of her. As she said, they are not just the staff but her friends, and she knows she's totally safe. They also keep us both up to date and are very welcoming whenever we visit. We cannot thank them enough for how they managed during the Covid pandemic, and we weren't able to visit.
Thank you very much, that's lovely to hear, and thank you for taking the time to write a review. I'll make sure I pass your comments on to the staff; it means a lot. It is a pleasure having your godmother at Glencairn; she's a lovely lady, and I'm delighted that she is happy here.
My mother is 104 years old and has been a resident at Glencairn House Residentia Home since April 2020. My family and I feel very fortunate that there was a vacancy for her at Glencairn when it was urgently needed. She has a lovely room and always seems happy and settled when I visit. The staff are always very welcoming and caring and also very patient. They seem to do their best to keep the residents happy and entertained. My mother particularly enjoys playing scrabble.
Thank you very much Brenda. Your mum is a lovely lady and we are lucky to have her at Glencairn. She is very sociable and has a great sense of humour!
Mum was always so independent and it was hard to convince her she needed help, but after a brief stay to give her neighbour a break (we, unfortunately, live 5000km away) she was hooked. The staff there seem so caring and Mum was well looked after and I never had any concerns whilst she was there.
Thank you very much. We were delighted to be able to care for your mum and I'm very pleased that she was so happy here. We aim to provide first-class care, keep our residents safe and enable them to continue to do the things they enjoy. Hearing positive feedback like this means a lot.
My aunt felt well cared for and she enjoyed her stay. She was very pleased with her room and its outlook. The staff were always friendly, helpful and kind to is when we visited. The sitting room was sunny, homely and unlike an institution.
My mother had always said she would never end her days in a care home as she was a very independent lady. However, life doesn't always give you choices. She then spent 3 years here being well cared for in every capacity. The different personalities of the staff were well balanced but all cared deeply for her with compassion and dignity. Their 'open door' policy welcomed all her visitors from very young children running around to older friends and family. I couldn't have wished for a nicer place for her to be in her final years and caring staff going that extra mile even in their own time.
My mother was cared for very well during her 22 months at this home. She suffered from COPD and diabetes and various other ailments. COPD is not an easy disease to manage and the staff did so very well. She had numerous trips into hospital for varying periods of time and paramedics were called out on several occasions. They nursed my mum brilliantly until she died.
My wife lived at Glencairn House for 4 years. Everyone who worked at the home, including the owner, the manager and the healthcare staff were very caring, friendly and welcoming. My wife was cared for at a very high standard. I would like to say a massive thank you for the excellent care and support my wife and I received. I cannot praise the staff highly enough for the dignity, help and total support my wife received. I highly recommend Glencairn House Residential Home.
In the 5 years my mother was a resident, Glencairn was well maintained, warm, welcoming and very clean. The staff were always pleasant, helpful and caring and the food was very good and varied.
Her room was comfortable, nicely furnished and kept clean and tidy. At the end of her life, she was comfortable, well monitored and her every need seen to by caring members of staff.
Regulatory Rating
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Rating
Date: 10 December 2025Good
- CaringGood
- EffectiveGood
- ResponsiveGood
- SafeGood
- Well-ledGood
Inspection ratings
We rate most services according to how safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led they are, using four levels:
- Outstanding - The service is performing exceptionally well.
- Good - The service is performing well and meeting our expectations.
- Requires Improvement - The service isn't performing as well as it should and we have told the service how it must improve.
- Inadequate - The service is performing badly and we've taken action against the person or organisation that runs it.
- Not rated - we have not yet rated this area of the service, this is normally because the assessments we have carried out have been focused on other key questions.
Bed Vacancies
Please contact us for latest vacancies.
News (0) & Events (0)
There are no news items for Glencairn House Residential Home.
There are no upcoming events for Glencairn House Residential Home.
Awards / Recognitions (0)
There are currently no awards/recognitions posted yet for Glencairn House Residential Home.
Accreditations
There are no accreditations posted yet for Glencairn House Residential Home.
Meet the Team (3)

Ralph used to run student houses and HMOs in Exeter but decided to move to the care industry because he felt he could make a real difference by improving the provision of care and the standards of accommodation in the care sector.
Ralph says that what he enjoys most about running Glencairn House is seeing the happy environment that has been created and watching the residents enjoying themselves with a caring, competent team of people. His highlight is hearing unsolicited testimonials from residents about the care staff and the meals!
When he’s not busy at Glencairn House, Ralph says he loves spending time with his wife and daughters, walking (preferably with their enthusiastic mongrel Waffles) and spending time outdoors.
As well as having an MPhys in Physics, a Certificate of Competence in surveying buildings for asbestos and a PAT testing certificate, he is also the proud holder of a 100m Breaststroke badge from 1985.

Ross has dedicated nearly twenty years to the care sector, working his way from a care assistant to an area manager. During his seven years as a Registered Manager, he led his team to achieve an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission, a testament to their hard work and commitment.
He genuinely cares about the people he supports and takes the time to get to know everyone, helping them to live the lives they choose. With a thoughtful eye for detail, Ross strives to create a positive and nurturing environment for his residents and colleagues alike, always aiming to achieve the best for those involved.
Ross would be delighted to show you around Glencairn House and help you explore how he and his team can support you in making Glencairn your new home away from home.

Tanya has worked in the care sector for 35 years and is passionate about connecting with people and discovering their unique stories. She believes each of our residents is so unique and special, and it’s a pleasure seeing their personalities unfold over time.
Tanya has successfully completed all her mandatory training and proudly holds NVQs Level 2 and 3. Recently, she reached a personal milestone by earning a Level 4 qualification in Health and Social Care.
Frequently Asked Questions about Glencairn House Residential Home
What types of Care is Glencairn House Residential Home registered for?
Older Person Care, Dementia, Physical Disability are the registered (by the Care Quality Commission) categories of Care.
How many Rooms does Glencairn House Residential Home have?
There are 23 Single Rooms.
What are the Facilities & Services at Glencairn House Residential Home?
Own Furniture if required, Pet Friendly (or by arrangement), Smoking not permitted, Close to Local shops, Near Public Transport, Lift, Stairlift, Wheelchair Access, Gardens, Phone Point in own room, Television point in own room, Residents Internet Access are some of the Facilities & Services.
How far is Glencairn House Residential Home to the centre of Dorchester?
0.3 mile(s) as the crow flies, distance by road may be significantly further.
Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of carehome.co.uk. Please contact Glencairn House Residential Home to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Glencairn House Residential Home has an Enhanced Service -more info.