Care Homes

[sonia owen]

Hi All,

Just wondered if any of you have just gone to look at any care homes without making an appointment with them for a visit. I am thinking of just turning up at a few to see if they will let me have a look around. With our CPN we have planted the seed of our mum having a holiday ,while I am away in Sydney.
Love Sonia xxx

 

[uselessdaughter]

Hi Sonia

We looked at several homes for our Dad, probably about 10 to 12. Only one said that we needed an appointment, all the others were quite happy to show us around. The one that would not let us in was reported to the CQC for neglect shortly afterwards so may have had something to hide.

Good luck with your search. It is a heart breaking, but essential, thing to have to do.

Linda

 

[elizabet]

Yes, I arrived at all the care homes I visited unannounced- very interesting to see the welcome received -and first impressions of meeting the staff. At 2 was offered a cup of tea and a tour of the home almost straight away . At one was asked to wait in the foyer whilst the carer went to try and find some booklet of information she came back empty handed as the manager was not there and she did not know where they were kept.- at the other when I rang the bell the manager greeted me with - oh I am going off shift come back on Monday.-
You can pick up all kinds of indicators about the home in a few minutes - does it smell , ? how are the staff responding to residents , how do the staff interact with the manager, what are the residents doing, etc
good luck,
Elizabeth

 

[ITBookworm]

Yup we visited one home at 7.30pm! (Can't remember what triggered it but I had been trying to get hubby to look so when he said he would I said fine we are going now!!)

They were doing shift change with the nurses so said did we mind waiting for a few minutes till they finished that. When they had done that one of the nurses showed us round, didn't rush us and couldn't have been nicer

 

[sistermillicent]

I never visited without an appointment unless i was told to do so by the person i contacted on the phone. i felt it was rude, after all this is home to the people who live there. The first home i ever visited made me realise that it is not a place for open visits for just anyone who wants to drop in, the manager was lovely and really made it feel as if it was a question of the place belonging to the residents and not to the staff.

I think you should be able to tell by spending time there and talking to the staff who work there whether it is an ok place or not. if you are not allowed to talk to the staff i would not select it. That happened to me in a couple of places.

Sorry hope my posts make sense, I don't seem to be doing too well these days.

 

[Grannie G]

I believe the merits of a good home depend on how they react to unexpected visitors.

I`m welcome to visit my husband`s home at any time. If I want to speak to the manager, I have to expect she may need advance warning but know she will see me without an appointment if she`s free.

In turn I accept all may not be well when I visit, just as all wasn`t well when my husband was at home with me.

Usually the home is calm and quiet.
But
Whilst I have been a visitor, I have witnessed quarrels between residents, bad smells due to accidents, and staff absenteeism and changes. If those were my first impressions I might have turned right round and walked out of the door.

I would have made the biggest mistake of my life.

The new residents have settled and all the confusion and anger they expressed when first admitted has gone.

My husband is `at home` there.

The only smell I`m aware of is good cooking smells.

 

[jaymor]

My daughter and I visited more than 20 homes when we were looking and only one when we turned up unannounced said we had to make an appointment. We walked out and never made the appointment. Some of the homes we visited for a second time and they were just as pleased to show us around as they did the first time.

The ones we visited twice were the ones we thought would be fine but we wanted to see the home at a different time of day from the first visit. Then when we were down to the ones acceptable I did a third visit taking our Son with me to see what he thought. Again no problem with the homes.

Jay

 

[ripley]

We care for mum at home presently, however we have two friends who are activity managers in two different major care home groups.

Both are despondent at there budget, literally pennies per week per patient.

Visiting a home on numerous occasions at different times of the day is solid advice.
I would also dig deep re how a particular home keeps there residents cognitively stimulated/active, it seems to me that most of them state numerous activities on there web site, but the reality can be completely different.

For me the quality of care would have to include quality stimulation.
Regards
Ripley.

 

[Saffie]

i visited over a dozen nursing homes for my husband and always rang the home to ask if it was convenient for me to visit before doing so simply because, like Sister Millicent, I felt it was polite to do so. It also ennsured that someone would be available to show me around as, if all nursing homes are like my husband's is, the members of staff are pretty busy people. I always made arrangements to visit as soon after the phone call as possible and I honestly cannot see that any home would have the time or the inclination to spruce the place up or make any changes. They are just too busy.
Once my husband entered the nursing home, I was told that I could visit at any time of day or night and, although I have not yet been there after about 9.pm, I have been there at different times from 8 a.m. onwards.

 

[Witzend]

Purely to save time and petrol I would phone them all first - and then discount any that ask you to make an appointment just for an initial look around. Having said that, I would try to avoid mealtimes for a first visit as staff are often particularly busy then - at my mother's CH it can be a fair wait just to get someone to buzz you in at mealtimes.

Please do not necessarily be put off if a number of residents are 'just sitting' and not enjoying jolly activities. There may often come a point where someone isn't capable of joining in any more, or simply doesn't want to. When very new to dementia and care homes I well remember being horrified by seeing people just slumped in chairs - however my mother is now one of these and really doesn't want to be bothered with anything.

When I first phoned the CH my mother is in now, they said to drop in any time within reason, no problem, and that is the reply I would expect from anywhere with nothing to hide.

 

[Shash7677]

We (dad and I) turned up unannounced, we were advised to by mums CPN, we were Lso told that if we liked a home to go back again, again unannounced but at a completely different time. A home that welcomed you no matter what the time and what was going on was a good one. A home that told you to come back with an appointment was one that wanted to make sure you only saw what you wanted them to see. This was her viewpoint not ours!!! I did ring one home and they did say just turn up, take us as you find us.

The NH that mum is in had a place that had just become available, the SW said pop in, the manager won't mind he's a lovely chap. What failed to be mentioned was 'just' become available actually meant that the poor lady had just passed away! She was still in her bed, the doctor hasn't been out and we walked into the home Infront, literally of her family.

We did say we would go back another time but the manager said no, he couldn't show is round upstairs or the room (obviously) but then your downstairs was exactly the same and he showed us round and in a room equivalent to the one that would become available to mum. We apologised profusely, said he only needed to take 5 minutes but no, we had a cuppa and were there about 30mins. Even though someone had just passed away he gave us the time of day and didn't rush us.

Mums been in her NH a year this month, it's still absolutely lovely.

For me I'd just turn up, providing its not 30 miles away. The ones we saw were literally 5 mins down the road from either dad or myself. We've been exceptionally lucky.

Good luck with your search, I hope you find a nice home.

Sharon

 

[LYN T]

I had to do a lot of research because my Husband's AD causes him severe anxiety and behaviour problems which means he needs a lot of one to one reassurance. So I phoned loads which wouldn't work. The ones I did want to look at said I could visit anytime-only two said an appointment was needed.

The lovely home I eventually chose for P couldn't have been more welcoming.

Take care

Lyn T

 

[steffie60]

I have viewed a few homes looking for good respite for my Mum. I was advised to turn up which to several I did but when wanting to talk in more depth about costs etc I made an appointment with the Manager/Matron and was then given a full guided tour.
Sometimes if you visit in the afternoon residents will have visitors, in the right circumstances they can give an insight into the care home.

 

[grobertson62]

We viewed 10 homes . The first one i made an appointment. Was a waste of time as the person showing us round couldnt care less. The rest we just turned up
Most were happy to show us round. Its amazing what you can glean on first impressions
Smell care cleanliness etc
The one we chose wasnt the newest and the building needed some attention but it was the one where they gave us tea and biscuits made us feel welcome and took time to be with us
We never regretted that decision. It became like a second home and family to us and there were no restrictions on visiting
My advice would be trust your gut..talk to visitors in the homes
Good luck
Gill