The Edith Ellen Foundation has looked through a number of alternative
services to provide you with some key information to help you make the right
decision for you.
1 – Does this Care Home specialise in the type of
care I need?
Not all Care Homes provide ‘general care’ – and others offer a wide
range of care types. But ideally you want to know that the people looking after
you or your relative are specialists in their field. Perhaps your family member
has Alzheimer’s, but the Care Home you’ve been considering specialises in
physical disability. It’s always best to ask experience and enquire about
specialisms, both as a company and concerning the skills of individual staff
and carers.
2 – Health Care Assistant – Will I get
the same member of staff so that I can get to know the person looking
after me?
It’s incredibly important that you and your relative feel comfortable
with the person who will be taking care of you and providing you with your care.
Familiarity is especially important for people with Dementia,
as often it can be confusing and frightening to be visited several times a day
by different people.
3 – Are there reviews online and testimonials
available for this Care Home?
Reviews and testimonials are vital – this is your opportunity to read
genuine feedback from people who currently use or have used the Care Home services
in the past. Impartial review sites are always favourable compared with
testimonial pages on company websites – as this way you get a clear, unbiased
viewpoint. If you can’t find any reviews for a company this could be a sign
that you need to steer clear.
4 – Will I be offered a preliminary meeting before
I make my decision?
You should always be offered a no-obligation, informal meeting with a
representative from your chosen Care Home to discuss your care requirements and
individual needs. They should expect to hear that you are considering several
companies and shouldn’t push you into making a decision there and then. Instead
you should feel listened to, understood and clear about what their plan of
action would be going forward, as well as how you will access and pay for the
care.
5 – Do I know anyone who has used this Care Home themselves?
Word of mouth recommendations are always the best forms of feedback – so
ask around (perhaps on social media or within your circle of friends) and see
whether anybody you know has used the Care Home you’re considering. This way
you’ll get honest feedback and may find a perspective you hadn’t considered
before – which could make your decision much easier as getting the right type
of Care Home assistance is important.
6 – Are the staff at this Care Home I am dealing
with friendly, personable and understanding?
If you feel at all uncomfortable or that you haven’t been properly
understood or listened to in the initial stages of your enquiry, this doesn’t
bode well for the standard of home care assistance you’ll receive. Staff
should always be friendly, polite and accommodating.
7 – What does the CQC have to say about this Care
Home?
The CQC assesses all Care Homes. You can find ratings and details of
previous assessments on their website. However, we do recommend that you check
the status of the home. If it is classed
as a new provider you should delve deeper and see if the home has recently been
renamed or changed own. If this is the case,
then you would need to know what the Home was previously called or the name of
the previous owners so you can check past CQC reports.
No comments:
Post a Comment