
My sister loves the garden area, and is encouraged to help out with weeding and plantingMargaret S(Sister of Resident/Service User)

My mother could not be in a better place. Everything that is important is being doneM A(Son of Resident/Service User)

Mum loves the food and company. All staff are always helpfulKaren F(Daughter of Resident/Service User)

My sister loves the garden area, and is encouraged to help out with weeding and plantingMargaret S(Sister of Resident/Service User)

My mother could not be in a better place. Everything that is important is being doneM A(Son of Resident/Service User)

Mum loves the food and company. All staff are always helpfulKaren F(Daughter of Resident/Service User)

Brookside is an established care home in Melksham and has been serving the local and wider Wiltshire community for over 40 years. It offers compassionate, individualised residential care for up to 50 residents, and has been awarded an overall 'Outstanding' rating in its latest CQC inspection in November 2016.
Set in its own attractive and accessible grounds which includes a patio, summerhouse, greenhouse and an attractive enclosed garden to the rear,...
Care Provided by Brookside
Primary Care Categories
- Older Person Care
- Dementia
Length of Stay
- Permanent Care
Care Types Provided
- Residential Care
- Dementia Residential Care
- For a maximum of 50 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
- Moderate Dementia
Other Care Provided
- Day Care
Facilities
- Own Furniture if required
- Pet Friendly (or by arrangement)
- Close to Local shops
- Near Public Transport
- Lift
- Wheelchair Access
- Gardens
- Television point in own room
- Residents Internet Access
Funding & Fees
Weekly Charges per Person
These services are: Personal care, accommodation,
utilities, use of communal areas, meals, drinks and
snacks, laundry (excluding dry cleaning),
housekeeping, maintenance and activities run by the
home.
physiotherapy, occupational therapy, opticians, hairdressing,
medications, toiletries, clothing, newspapers/magazines.
During your stay, you may need to purchase additional goods
and services. If they are able to provide such goods and
services, they will tell you how much these goods and services
will cost and they expect that you will pay for these goods and
services at the time you request them.
They can accompany loved ones to private appointments,
however the fee attached to this is £21 per hour. Where private taxi
services are used for transportation to appointments the cost should
be paid for by yourself.
The price(s) shown are provided by the care home. Contact Brookside for full pricing details and T&Cs.
Contact Brookside 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
- The Orders of St John Care Trust
- Voluntary / Not for Profit Owned
Person in charge
- Dawn Wallburton (Home Manager)
Local Authority / Social Services
Admission Information
- Ages 65+
Care Home Design/Build
- Purpose Built: Yes
Room Information
- Single Rooms (50)
Brookside Reviews (73)
Brookside has a Review Score of 9.8 (9.796) out of 10, based on 16 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Brookside has 73 reviews.
I enjoy visiting my husband. I visit several times each week and I am always made very welcome. The staff are very helpful and caring.
With best wishes to you all.
I take a small team into Brookside to lead monthly services of worship for residents and visitors. We are always warmly received by our liaison manager and other staff and can see that the residents are looked after with care. The provision of food and recreation activities is excellent and the main foyer and lounge where we operate are always kept clean and tidy.
The staff are very good and I cannot fault them in any way.
I feel the staff are my friends.
I don't need much care but I see others being helped whenever they need it.
We do try lots of different activities and we get taken out.
One of the best places.
A very friendly home, staff and management always approachable and helpful. Residents seem to be well catered for and plenty of activities throughout the week. Clean and tidy throughout. Love attending their themed events, always brings a smile to residents faces.
My mother took up residence at Brookside in Jan 2014 and died there in March 2016. During that time she was cared for by dedicated and caring staff who we cannot praise highly enough. We saw the care and attention that she received and the genuine concern when she became terminally ill. Knowing how well she was cared for has made her passing that much easier for the family.
Brookside is very open, lovely in the garden when the weather is nice. The staff are excellent - they are very caring, gentle and anticipate the residents needs. It is important that they are looked after by their employees to keep them here as this is the nucleus of Brookside.
A lovely home, very welcoming and caring, all the staff very happy and always willing to help. Can not fault them at all, would gladly go back again for respite care. I always felt safe and very well cared for.
My mum has been in Brookside twice for respite, she absolutely loves it. At home she is so lonely she has dementia and won't watch telly, at Brookside she is a different person she is happy and entertained, she loves the company and the food, at home she has micro meals because she can no longer cook. She loves playing skittles and other entertainment, she thinks she is on holiday, excellent place.
My sister entered Brookside in December 2014 and remained there until she died on 25th July 2015. She was extremely happy to be cared for and found the staff extremely kind and caring. She enjoyed many of the activities provided as well as the meals. Being of a general nervous nature she felt safe and secure at the home and never complained.
After four years of daily care, dementia was confirmed and residential care had to be found. I visited 3 local care homes and on the fourth felt "at home" immediately. The entrance doors open into a most pleasant lounge, attractive with colour, lots of photographs, nicely presented information displayed. A pleasant well designed room with picture window was offered. My friend has been a resident for 6 months. All the staff are capable, pleasant, lots of smiles and polite and caring. This is a well organised establishment.
Mum has been a resident at Brookside for nearly two years and I feel she has been looked after very well. The staff always seem happy and very helpful and understanding and I know there are times when it is hard for them with staff sickness, leave etc.
Our first time and hopefully not our last. As my husband is vegetarian, although eats fish, could frozen meals be brought in and placed in oven for 40 mins, and being diabetic as well, needs to be on time with all meals.
Thank you for your review. I am glad that you and your husband were satisfied with his stay with us and we look forward to seeing you both again. I have taken note of your request about meals and suggest we discuss this next time you are arranging a visit to Brookside.
Regulatory Rating
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Rating
Date: 15 October 2019Good
- CaringOutstanding
- 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 Brookside.
There are no upcoming events for Brookside.
Awards / Recognitions (9)
- 30 Jan 2026Recipient: The Orders of St John Care Trust
- 31 Jan 2024Recipient: The Orders of St John Care Trust
- 28 Feb 2023Recipient: The Orders of St John Care Trust
Accreditations
There are no accreditations posted yet for Brookside.
Meet the Team (9)

Home Manager, Dawn Wallburton, started her care career in 1988, working as a care assistant in the privately owned Shaw House in Melksham. When the owner closed the home in 2000 she joined the Miles Care agency in Melksham as a Carer. This career move fitted Dawn very well, as she was now also raising her young family. During the next two years whilst working for the agency, she worked in many care homes around Wiltshire.
Dawn returned to full time care work in 2002 by joining the disability nursing home, Cote House, in Chippenham. In 2005, she completed her City and Guilds NVQ Level 3 in Care. As she wished to continue learning and improving her care knowledge, Dawn was employed by the care company Community Access Network, as a Senior Support Worker. This was a new challenge for Dawn, as the job involved caring for and promoting independent living.
Dawn has held various roles with the Trust, most recently Home Manager at Seymour House in Chippenham, before moving to Brookside in the summer of 2021.

Victoria Hawkes has been with the Trust for nearly ten years, she started as a Carer and worked her way up to Head of Care at Brookside. She has worked in three homes, and they have all left their mark on her as a person. She very much enjoyed and learned from her role as End-of-life Lead and Medication Lead, which she said also helped her in her personal life.
Vicky has accomplished her Level 2 and 3 in Health and Social Care and she is now working towards her Level 4. Vicky said: “I enjoy meeting new people and supporting our residents in their time of need. Brookside for me is not just a place of work as we are all a family here.”

Maria has been in the care industry for 14 years and have worked at Brookside for 13 of them. She started work in Brookside in 2008 and has been a Night Care Lead since 2014.

Dawn Whiffen has worked in care for the past 25 years. She has had a variety of different jobs in the care sector, ranging from domiciliary care to a rehabilitation team member working alongside physiotherapists and occupational therapists. In this time, she has achieved NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care.
Dawn started her Brookside journey in 2017 as a Carer and, has recently worked her way up to Care Leader. Dawn said: “I was fortunate to be nominated for Carer of the Year 2021 and I was very lucky to have been presented with this Award, which I am very grateful for.”

Jessica has been working with the Trust since the Autumn of 2022 and before this was a volunteer activities assistant at another OSJCT home. She works with the rest of the Activities team to provide group and individual activities for all residents to enjoy. Jessica said that the best thing about being an Activities Co-ordinator at Brookside is making connections with the residents and getting to know everyone individually.

Meghan Hooper has worked in the care industry for over 5 years starting out as a Care Assistant working up to a Senior Care Assistant and then as a Senior Nursing assistant in a hospital setting.
She began her Care Leader journey in the Trust in April 2023 and will be undertaking her NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care to continue her Care Lead progress.

Sally joined the team at Brookside in February 2023. She has had a varied career, mainly in Customer Service roles.
She worked as a carer in the community a few years ago and loved the opportunity to help keep the elderly and vulnerable living independent lives in their own homes.
Sally thoroughly enjoys interacting with our residents and coming up with new activities to keep them entertained and individually challenged.

Tiffany joined Brookside in July 2023. Tiffany has had a long career within the care sector, from working in healthcare recruitment to supporting adults with learning disabilities/complex care and working as a senior member of the team in residential homes.
Tiffany believes Brookside is a rewarding place to work by being part of a fantastic team that delivers person-centred care to all the residents. Tiffany enjoys being able to speak to the residents to find out more about them and their lives and finds it a privilege to be able to assist them through their next stages of life.

Beatrice started working as a carer in June 2022 in Berkshire and a friend introduced her to OSJCT in December 2022. She did a little research about OSJCT and believed in her heart that it would be a great company to work with.
She joined the Trust in March 2023 as a carer and was promoted to care leader six months later.
Beatrice is passionate about what she does and is satisfied only when she can put a smile on someone's face at work.
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