If you are reading this, someone you love probably needs more care than home can give. That is one of the hardest sentences in family life, and you are allowed to find it hard. Our job on this page is not to sell to you — it is to help you choose well, whichever home you choose.
How to choose
These are the questions to take to every home you visit — including ours. We publish them because we are happy to be measured by them.
Trust your senses first. Does it smell fresh? Is it warm? Are residents up, dressed, engaged — or parked in silence? Do staff crouch to speak to people at eye level? Do they know residents by name? Is there laughter anywhere in the building?
- Who would care for Mum day to day, and what is the staff-to-resident ratio, day and night?
- How long has the manager been here? How long do staff stay? (Stability is the single best proxy for quality.)
- Are nurses on site 24 hours?
- How do you assess someone before admission, and what happens in the first 72 hours?
- What exactly is included in the fee, and what costs extra?
- How do you tell families about a fall, an illness, a change? How quickly?
- Can we visit whenever we like, unannounced?
- Can we see this week’s menu — and could we stay for lunch?
Take this list with you, and take notes. Visit your favourite twice, once unannounced.
What you will find here
A Georgian home in mature grounds, the drive thick with bluebells in spring. When the new wing was built, its rooms were given full-height windows — about half the home — so those residents enjoy the countryside from a chair or from bed, without needing to get up: dignity, designed into the building. Nursing care day and night. Meals cooked fresh in our own kitchens. A settled, long-serving team.
“On my visits, I am asked if there are any problems which I wish to discuss with regard to my husband’s care. You listen and act on my comments.”
— CH
“Highly recommended by me to all my friends.”
— JG
Try before you decide
Many families start with a respite stay of a week or two. It answers every question a brochure cannot. Respite & Short Stays →