Good care homes ?

[fireflyring]

How do you know which is a good care home and which is a bad one
any advice most welcome
acting nowjust incase they say mum has to go in one


many thanks

Sue x

 

[Stephen Hants]

Hi - the AZ society do a good leaflet with a checklist which I found helpful. There are reports from the qulaity care commission which you can look at and then of course you can visit.

 

[Skye]

Hi Sue

This is the leaflet Stephen means, I think:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/476

After that, and reading the reports, visit as many homes as you can, preferably unannounced and at different times of day, and go with your gut feeling. You can usually tell which will be successful.

You're doing the right thing thinking ahead, and you can start visiting at any time.

Good luck,

 

[ruthie2]

Hi

Difficult question, I agree with going with your gut feeling. I visited a care home today with a view to putting my mum in there for respite care. Prior to visiting I read the Care Quality Commission report, I didn't sleep last night, with fears of urine soaked homes!! I made a list of questions I wanted to ask and wrote them down so I didn't forget. However I do think gut reaction is a good instinctive response. If it doesn't feel right, no amount of good answers and good reports will make any difference.

Good luck

 

[Goingitalone]

So you can just walk in and ask about fees etc and someone will answer you? You don't need to make an appointment?

 

[fredsnail]

Both times we looked at homes for Grandad (he needed residential first then as he deteriorated a nursing home), we arrived unannounced over the weekends (I work full time) to suss out the ones to do return visits to.

The carers on duty will be generally be happy to show you round and answer general questions such as what activities they arrange, trips out etc.

They are unlikely to be able to answer questions about fees and more specific questions - but we rang the homes we were interested in on the Monday.

A couple of the homes had someone in over the weekend who could answer the questions though.

We could tell a lot by observing how the staff interacted with other residents, cleanliness of the homes, odours and facilties etc.

Many homes took us into residents bedrooms to show us bedrooms, but a couple told us that as they were full they were unable to take us into a residents bedroom as it was their private area (though there was normally one with a door ajar for us to take a quick peek into as we went past).

Make sure that you are totally honest about your relatives condition (on a bad day as well as good days) because many homes thanked us for being so honest about Grandad's condition because normally they got only the good days descriptions from relatives and often couldn't cope with the bad days so had to move that person to another home again.

Good luck with the hunt.

 

[Nels]

Good luck. I agree with with everything said by other posters but would just add that even if the place looks a little 'tatty' please still consider it. MIL is in a lovely place where the actual care is second to none but as it is two old cottages put together and quite old things always need doing but despite her being quite difficult at times the staff are always very patient and caring.

 

[wazzer]

Good Care Homes

Hi
Just before my mother went into Residential Care we went on a unannounced visit to quite a few Care Homes in our area. Some had been given three stars by the Care Commission which should of indicated a very good home but having a tour of these homes, we were surprised by how depressed the staff seemed to be with no chat between the staff and residents. Their paperwork though and books were bang up to date. I am certainly not saying that all top homes are like that. It is just what we found on that day.
I certainly concur with what has been mentioned previously that you do have to go with your gut feeling on Care Homes. We eventually picked a Care Home for my mother and as soon as you walked in the home you knew this was the one. We were made very welcome, offered tea and biscuits, nothing was too much trouble.
We had a good tour of the home. It was very bright and airey. But what made our decision very easy was that we seen the staff interacting and having a smile and a joke with the residents which was not apparent in the other homes we visited.
One of the questions we asked was how long the staff had worked there. Which I think is a very important question and were told that the senior nurses had been there inbetween five and twenty years which I think is a good indication of a stable home. This home only had two stars by the Care Commission.
I wish you luck in your search.

Ken.

 

[BeckyJan]

Hello:

I agree with Skye about the gut feeling. In our case, I rang around a few folk who had loved ones in the local care homes to find out their views and experiences. That, along with my own 'gut' feeling helped me to decide and after 15 months I am happy with my final decision.

The advice received from our SW was useless! None of the 'services' provided any help at all

Good luck.

 

[fredsnail]

Good luck. I agree with with everything said by other posters but would just add that even if the place looks a little 'tatty' please still consider it.

I would totally agree with this, the decor in Grandad's current home is not immaculate - zimmer frames/wheelchairs catch the paintwork on doors etc.

Since Grandad has been there we can see that there is a rolling programme of redecoration but that is not always obvious.

The quality of care a loved one receives is far more important than a lick of paint.

 

[Echo]

I agree with what the previous posters have said. I was given a list of approved care homes when Dad had his assessment in hospital and was told he needed an EMI residential bed. I began by ringing the ones most local to us. Luckily the first one I rang said, when I asked if i needed to make an appointment, no, just call in at anytime and she went on to say, if you need to make an appointment at other homes be very wary! I must admit my nose did a lot of the choosing. One home I went to visit had plenty of facilities but the smell when you went through the door was not something you would want to stay in for 5 minutes let alone 24 hours. I would point out the toilet was not near the front foor. I also avoided one that, although I rang there on several different occassions, the manager was never there. I read the Care Commission reports too and agree with Ken they can be misleading. The one I settled on for Dad didn't have the best decor and as many seperate lounges/facilites etc as some of the homes that i had seen which they got marked down on in the report but the staff there were the ones that seemed the happiest and friendliest to the residents and made me feel very welcome and didn't mind me calling in to check them out on different occassions unannounced. On each visit it had no bad smells and all the residents looked clean and well groomed. Gut instict seems a good indication to me. I also managed to talk to a relative of one of the residents outside for their opinion too and confirmed that the staff were brilliant but the decor could do with a bit of updating. I thought well if it was me I'd rather have someone who cared looking after me than the latest show home surroundings. In fact thinking about it, my Dad's generation most probably would prefer patterned wallpaper than plain plastered walls!

 

[NewKid]

Just to stick in a bit more of the same oar....... gut feeling is good, clean and no smell v important! The location (easy ish for those who will visit?)is a consideration before you set off miles across country... Personally I read numerous care home reports on line (because the whole choosing process absorbed me 24/7 and you can't drop in at midnight but you can research )but few proved as good/ or at least 'felt right' off paper. Too true! Trawl around and ask questions.. if the staff are open and have a good rapport with residents it's a good sign. If it feels right it probably is? Good luck though, it's hard.

 

[dillydaydream]

Hi

I read all the Care Commission reports before visiting five homes. I then visited a home, which had been revamped and taken over by a Charity Foundation, and had therefore not yet been rated. No smells, friendly staff, lots of activities, large welcoming rooms - perfect I thought and put Mum's name down on the waiting list.

Imagine my surprise when the Care Commission published their report - only "adequate". They seem to have lost lots of points for the standard of paperwork although they did grant that the level of care and personal perception of the home were both excellent.

Guess what? I haven't changed my mind. I think there's a lot more to caring that having the ability to tick the right boxes!

Carolyn
xx

 

[judyri]

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