I am at that stage where a move to a care home for my mother might happen soon. She is currently in hospital recovering from both a neck of femur fracture and asymptomatic Covid. It has been a lengthier stay than it should have been. The next stage is a 6 week stay in a Council Rehab Centre which will look just like a nursing home I presume. Then, I understand, as that stay nears it's end, I will be contacted by a Social worker about what's going to happen next for the best.
So I have compiled a list of more local care homes which are dual registered for residential and Nursing...and had a phone conversation with most. I am going to ask to visit them. I already have some good suggestions from members on here which I will include on this question list which I am starting here. Do any other members(especially with the wisdom of hindsight) have any other suggestions please?
Any further suggestions for questions would be welcome. Thank you.
So I have compiled a list of more local care homes which are dual registered for residential and Nursing...and had a phone conversation with most. I am going to ask to visit them. I already have some good suggestions from members on here which I will include on this question list which I am starting here. Do any other members(especially with the wisdom of hindsight) have any other suggestions please?
- Please could you tell me about the food which is provided for residents (as my mother is still focused upon eating a healthy and nutritious diet)? Is there a choice at meal times? Is any or all of food prepared freshly on site? Although my mother is not a fussy eater, she likes fruit and she has been in the habit of preparing herself a bowl of fresh mixed berries for breakfast with milk. Would that be, for example, too prescriptive a request?
- What is the ratio of males to females, generally(might be relevant to mother)?
- If dementia in my mother should progress to anything unexpected, what behaviours or conditions would be not tolerated and cause you to have to terminate her stay? (I am not currently expecting anything like this - but I am aware, from other sharing forum contributors, that things can change to something unrecognisable and very difficult).
- What times are getting up and breakfast times and going to bed times for those who are able to attend communal meals? I ask this because I just phoned another care home who said that they were just getting breakfast at 10am... maybe they were just clearing away? My mother has always been an early riser even with the dementia - it might not be relevant or valid to ask this?
- What sort of stimulating activities do you provide? - a care home I phoned about recently told me to look at their facebook page and I saw that, just in the month of July, they had a visit from 2 shetland ponies(inside the home!) and owls, apart from lots of other interesting things. I thought that was nice.
- Do you have ensuite rooms? I know many do but not all. My mother has always, to this point, maintained a modesty around toileting and washing herself, if she is able(and she hasn't been that able in the hospital and has only had the catheter removed today after several weeks) - In her earlier years she was the sort of person who couldn't have a bowel movement anywhere else than her own toilet - and I think she, for better or worse, retains a little of that feeling now.
- What is the ratio of staff to residents? Does that fluctuate a lot? Do you have a strong permanent staff who have stayed(Just thinking about what I saw on the news yesterday!)
- I am already asking about pricing - and my Mum will be initially self funding. Do I need to ask any more about that? - like when was your last price increase?
- Can they accept Local Authority rates when self funding runs out?
- What sort of outdoor space is there? Do I think it would be somewhere Mum would enjoy sitting sometimes?
- Tricky question to negotiate - but somehow(? )try to find out how stable the home's finances are. Are they in any immediate or near immediate danger of closing down?(Ideas welcome on how to get an idea around this one please). Maybe is it a long standing family run business? Are staff retained for a long time? These might be clues to stability.
- How is visiting time arranged at present/ in the future/ before Covid?
Any further suggestions for questions would be welcome. Thank you.
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