Choosing a Care Home

Once you have decided that a nursing or residential care home best meets the needs of the person requiring care then you may find the following advice useful in gathering all the facts to enable you to find the right one.

• Try to visit three or more care homes to check standards of care before you choose.
• You may have difficulty getting all the information you need from all the homes, such as prices and inspection reports. For the full picture, try agencies such as the Elderly Accommodation Counsel, the Care and Quality Commission - the regulator of homes in England and Local Authorities or Primary Care Trusts.
• In each home, asking the following questions should help you choose:

 Costs and contracts

• What’s the weekly fee and what does it cover?
• What extras do residents pay for and what do they cost?
• If more or less care is needed in future, will the home be able to provide this?
• How much notice should residents give if they’re moving out?
• How much notice must the home give if it is to close?

• What fees are payable if a resident is in hospital or on holiday?

Accommodation and services

• How is medication managed and can residents keep their own GP?
• Can potential residents stay for a day or a meal to see what the home’s like?
• Are meal times fixed and can residents prepare their own food?
• Visit at mealtimes to see the standard of food for yourself.
• Are special diets catered for?
• Do rooms have a telephone?
• Can residents go to shops, a pub or a club as they please?
• What personal possessions are residents allowed to bring?
• How is personal laundry taken care of?
• What activities can residents take part in?
• Can the home accommodate religious beliefs and cultural needs?
• What is the complaints procedure?

• Is there a residents’ committee?

Culture of care

• Check whether residents appear alert and occupied
• Is there a positive, friendly atmosphere and a clean fresh smell?
• Are staff spending time talking to residents and encouraging them to do things for themselves?
• Are there enough staff on duty?
• Do staff take time to help frail residents eat and drink?
• Do residents appear alert and occupied?
• Are there signs of depression?
• Are there signs of malnutrition?