Please let me know your views?

[springwood]

Hello Folks

My mother suffered from Alzheimers and finally we had to look for a Nursing Home for her. We read what we could on-line but found that we could only get any idea of the character of places by visiting all of them. This must be very difficult for those who have a long way to travel.

I am thinking of setting up a web site which will allow relatives and carers to post reviews about the care home taking care of their relatives. A bit like TripAdvisor for care homes. I would hope to get a body of reviews which will give a more human view of homes which would assist those in the process of searching for homes.

I would be grateful for your opinions on whether you think this would be a useful resource and whether you would post reviews for the benefit of other users?

[kassy]

Hi,i think its a good idea in theory,but in practice,from my experience,wouldn't work.

The care home my mum was in was dreadful,but other relatives thought it was wonderful.

I think its what people expect from a care home.I was told i expected perfection,which wasn't true,i just wanted a good standard of care.

The relatives i spoke to rarely visited,and didn't care at all.

I think my mums care home should be closed down,others disagree.

[Bristolbelle]

..... sadly I think Springwood is right and all I can do is repest the smae observations.
However I would urge you to keep thinking - who knows one of those ideas might just be the one that helps

[ISHA1930]

I think its a good idea, although Im not sure if its allowed? Surely the Homes wouldn't be too happy about it....but in saying this I think it would definitely be useful!
Also, Tripadvisor also has negatives as well as the positives that different people think about the same thing, but I think that's good.....as at least you could balance out your own pro's and cos I guess! x

[JPG1]

Hello springwood, and welcome!

Good idea - as long as you add the "reader beware" bit, and say make it clear that 'these are the personal opinions of those contributing'. Just as the 'pub review' sites do, and nobody knows for sure who posts what and why! Could be the pub owner or pub manager or restaurant manager .....

That's what TP is all about - personal experiences of each and every service encountered. Without naming and praising, and without naming and shaming.

If, on your possible website, a named care home receives great reviews, that's good. If the same care home receives less-good reviews, that's also what it's all about. If the same care home receives more good than less-good reviews (or vice versa) ..... well, who's to know what prompted those contributions? But it could still be revealing.

On TP there are those who have had the most fantastic support from their SWs, their CPNs, their local support services, and also their care homes. But there are others who have less than fantastic support.

But, on TP, we have no way of knowing whether the 'good' and the 'less than good' comments are all about the same care home, the same SW, the same SS, the same LA. For the simple reason that it is not allowed on TP to 'name and praise' any care providing LA or care provider. It's also not allowed on TP to 'name and shame' a care providing 'body'.

The modern world relies on the internet, so before long 'alternative means of communication' will vanish. At present, it's only those who have access to a computer and the ability to use it who would contribute to your planned website. That could exclude a huge proportion of carers in the 'real world' - as opposed to those able to contribute to the virtual world. But then again, it could open a door to realistic 'inspection reports'!!

It could work - it may work. And if it doesn't, you've lost nothing - as long as your website doesn't strip your own finances!

[jenniferpa]

Well is sounds like a good idea. In fact, I thought there was one. My primary reservation is that care homes can change radically over a short period of time. Often (but not always) the quality of a home can be down to the quality of the manager and if that changes, well... Also the overall ownership which of course can change.

The problem with opinion based websites is that there is 1) a real possibility that reviews could be manipulated by the unscrupulous 2) what might be very good for one person might be totally wrong for another (e.g. those who are mobile as opposed to those who aren't) and 3) you really need a fair number of reviews to get a decent picture. The latter might be the major stumbling block - there are so many homes and they don't get the same turnover of clients as say, a hotel, so there isn't a particularly big pool of reviewers to draw on.

[sheffielder]

I think it's a really good idea if you follow the Trip Advisor format- you still have to make up your own mind bearing in mind your famiy's priorities. It also gives and opportunity to publicly post up positives.

[Bob S]

It's a shame that we can't name and shame here on TP. I think it would be of assistance to other members if they knew that other members were dealing with local authorities or PCT's who do not play ball. And it would also help if we were able to give credit where it is due too.

[cragmaid]

I would love this idea to be feasible, however it cannot possibly work because it is too vulnerable to people working their own agendas. You will get false voting either for or against homes and since there is no way that the validity of replies can be checked you cannot accept that the results can be accurate. Sorry.

[jacqui_o]

Yes it is a shame that naming and shaming is not possible as it would make the bad improve......

[Jancis]

Hi Springwood,
What a good idea. As a long distance carer, I would have welcomed access to public opinion on care homes, however contradictory the views may be. The CQC reports are pretty meaningless as we all know and it's a fact of life that the care home staff often change on a frequent basis. There must be a way of starting up an information site that invites comment. But it is more usual to start up a site with the intention of naming and shaming rather than praising. The "Solicitors from Hell" website comes to mind - the owner invites visitors to visit the alternative "Solicitors from Heaven" website but no-one is going to believe that this isn't sponsored purely for business gain.