Just Looking . . .
Hi Hugh,
Personally, I have found the Commision for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) web site to be very useful when trying to research care homes.
The advanced search that lets you search by post code and specify care homes that take people with dementia (with or without nursing) is exceptionally helpful. I found the inpsection reports gave a good initial indication of a home's character, and did help me draw up shortlists of places to visit - though a paper report is never a substitute for a visit or series of visits.
The one real eye-opening aspect of the CSCI search was how relatively few care homes were licenced to care for people with dementia. My in-laws live in a large town in Essex (Colchester) and yet, at the time we were looking, over a year ago, there were only two homes licensed for new admissions with dementia (the CSCI results sometimes return homes that are licensed to care for specific named individuals with dementia - presumably long-term residents who have developed dementia after entering the home). All the other homes were some distance (10+ miles) away and my mother-in-law does not drive.
Also, the two local homes each had waiting lists. We put my father-in-law's name down for both as a precaution. Homes understand that when a place becomes available, the person might not be in need of it so they can continue to stay on the waiting list almost indefinitely, but should get priority if the need arises in future.
So far, with the help of outside care assistants, my mother-in-law is still managing to care for my father-in-law at home. But my husband and I felt that visiting care homes in the area gave us a better idea of what the situation was like and helped dispell some of those hazy notions of what a care home was. Several appeared very good - with a real sense of warmth and compassion in dealing with very vulnerable people.
If anyone thinks that their loved one might need a care home in the next 12 months or so (as if anyone can predict that sort of thing), I would urge them to get out there and have a look - just to learn what the situation is like in their area.
Take care,
Sandy