Enter and view: The Sands Care Home

Healthwatch Lancashire carried out an enter and view visit to The Sands Care Home in Morecambe on 23 July 2026 to gather feedback on residents’ experiences of care and observe the environment and staff interactions. The home had 96 residents living there at the time of the visit. Healthwatch spoke with nine residents, seven staff members and one external service provider.

Overall, residents who were able to provide feedback were positive about the care they received and described staff as caring and hardworking. Healthwatch observed positive interactions between staff and residents, noting that staff appeared to know residents well and supported them patiently and respectfully. Staff were also generally positive about working at the home and all said they would recommend it to a close relative.

The visit found improvements since a previous Healthwatch visit, including better use of communal lounges, redecorated corridors and dementia-friendly signage. However, residents and staff both highlighted a need for more activities, while some residents expressed concerns about the quality and variety of meals. Healthwatch also identified opportunities to improve communal bathrooms, increase handrails, create more stimulating communal spaces and encourage greater resident involvement in decision-making.

Healthwatch concluded that The Sands Care Home provided a pleasant and supportive environment with good staff-resident relationships and a positive atmosphere. Recommendations focused on improving accessibility, enhancing bathrooms and communal spaces, increasing activity provision, reviewing food and mealtime experiences, strengthening resident involvement and developing more effective ways of gathering feedback from relatives.