What do you / your loved ones look for in a care home? Share your thoughts with CQC - £300 Love2Shop voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

location - i want to visit as often as i could

First impressions count, clean tidy (home)happy residence with lots of interaction between staff and residence. I would want to know my dad would be smiling even without his family there. Activities for the residence that was suited to them so their days would be fill with things to do if they choose too.

Close to original house so friends and neighbours can visit easily
Friendly staff
Plenty of activities going on
Clean and safe

I would look for qualified staff who have caring attitudes also plenty of entertainment for the elderly to keep their brains active. Also must be very clean & plenty of choice of foods so that every patient can enjoy.

i would be checking out the other residents first to see if they are happy!! making sure the staff actually care about their patients. checking out food quality, to make sure they are getting healthy and filling foods. i would also be checking there is an outside bit for residents to wander around. checking out the rules to make sure they are too strict

Staff that really care about the residents and take the time to talk to them and help them when needed. to know people well enough to know when something is wrong, even if it is not really obvious.

The things I'd look for in a care home are somewhat different to those I'd look for in a Nursing Home.
Independence and Stimulation. Space. Fresh air. Happy staff.

Reputation, honest reviews, open door policy with welcome drop in visits at all hours, clean, friendly and caring

Ensure they offer help with personal care, such as washing, dressing, taking medication and going to the toilet and also offer social activities such as day trips or outings. A local care home would be a must too.

On visiting many people are put off by seeing others asleep or staring blankly at a loud TV. I may not want to bother one day and be left in peace, so would like potential clients to see past this and think of their own needs.
I would not want to join in games etc but 'play' on my laptop and be allowed to go out to the theatre, for meals or my other interests.

I would look for cleanliness, comfort but most of all caring staff. If the staff are happy the residents will be too - am having a problem with mother in law home at the moment- the staff have been caught more than once by family who just popped in leaving people wanting to go to the toilet until it's too late and leaving meals & drinks out of reach of the residents then taking them away uneaten. It's not goes on when visitors are there that matters - it's what goes on when no eyes are on them.'

I would not like to see the residents slumped in chairs, wearing inappropriate clothing and being forced to listen to an over loud TV. As a resident, that would drive me bonkers. Daily bath or shower is top of the list as is having a choice of tea or coffee- I do not drink tea and have no intention of starting as I hate it.

A choice of good quality food. It is not rocket science to offer a choice the previous day and then less food is wasted. A visit from a hairdresser and also a chiropodist- activities arranged and not being forced to join in. Not everybody is an avid bingo fan. Also change the music! We are not all "We'll meet again" fans, some of us are into Queen and the Rolling Stones!

Being able to go to bed when one wants to within reason- not all residents to be in bed by 8pm or whatever for the convenience of the staff.

Staff talking with the patients and not sitting in another room drinking coffee and gossiping. Visitors allowed anytime within reason. Not having that awful smell of urine when one enters the front door.

Maybe have a resident animal? Many residents would love that. I have no idea if that is allowed.

For myself I would like as close to home comforts as possible.

Urgh the SMELL!
Right now, looking (I hope) well forward in the future, what I want is simply as much autonomy as possible. I'd like to be able to get out into (or at least see) gardens; do a bit of digging if I'm able, maybe.
I'm worried about diet and medication -I'm diabetic, controlling with diet and exercise, and even if I progress to insulin, I will always want to eat low carb. I wouldn't eat, e.g., mash - and I could see a very clear path that led me to be undernourished and so vulnerable to anything going round.
Scary prospect...

I'd definetely prefer a care home that's close to family and friends, the last thing many residents want is to feel alone and separated from what they have always known.

Somewhere that has outside entertainment coming in (My mum loved a chap who came and played the piano, and also the local youth ballroom dance group came every month!), frequent volunteers to chat to, hairdressers, etc.

Accessibility
General Atmosphere
Compassionate Staff
Security / Flexibility
Cleanliness / Hygiene
Location / Facilities

The main thing I would want to see is that the place feels like a home rather than a facility.Are the residents happy,do they enjoy their time there?Is there laughter and fun?I would want to chat with them to get their views.
Then the staff-are they friendly and welcoming?Do they interact well with the residents,in a relaxed manner?
Rules and regulations-of course there must be some but are they reasonable for the running of the home or just for the staff's convenience?
I would check on the CQC's ratings and any other reviews available,while bearing in mind that these may not be the whole story.

In the video,I liked that the residents could personalise their rooms but would expect that as a basic standard.Could they get drinks,listen to music,read quietly,play board games,watch "their" TV programmes,etc.as and when they wanted to?

Will it be a home or a regime?

Firstly the smell, walk in through the door I would not want to be greeted by stale cooking smells or even worse!! Next the cleanliness, and the friendliness of staff, was I greeted immediately or did I have to go and find someone. Do the residents look happy and are there plenty of activities or is everybody just sitting around in chairs. Are the bedrooms clean, tidy and roomy, and what safety facilities are in place. Is there access to gardens and is there provision to sit outside in comfort. All this I learnt when the hard decision was made to find a home for my father, it was heart breaking to see some of the conditions that elderly people were expected to put up with all because they were now in a home.

I look for happy clean residents, The little things like do they have tea, are they quiet. I have worked in enough care homes to know when things are not right. talk to staff about routines, look for eye contact, find out if they are paying good wages. all these things contribute to how the residents are treated.. It shouldn't do, but it does.

Cleanliness
Happy residents
plenty activities
friendly caring staff
Outside visitors eg hairdresser
Not too many rigid rules eg all in bed by a certain time

The main things I would look for are how clean the place looked, how caring the staff were and how happy other residents appeared.

Check when you visit whether the other occupants are happy and being entertained or occupied by games and activities, and they are not just sitting there asleep. Visit at food times so you can see the quality and quantity of food yourself and lastly always go with your gut rather than your head. If you have a niggling doubt pay heed.

As you enter the care home for the first time, is there an overpowering room-freshener fragrance with undertones of urine? If they can't cope properly with incontinence then there will be many other things they won't be getting right.

Check that they have named staff responsible for their care,daily showers or baths should be given,no restrictions on visiting times,amount of activities and outings,also check what time they are woken in the morning and what provision is given,are they got up and left to sit for an hour before been attended to or is it immediate care given,also what time are they taken to bed and what care is given,. Check the turnover of staff are they longstaying or constant leaving,never visit the same times or days always vary visits and never tell the staff when you will next be in,

I would always want to make visits before making a short list of possible homes.
So phoning them as a first point of call, just from this initial call I would rule out any with off hand blasé staff who answer the phone.
I would want to be ble to make unannounced visits, for a nosey. This may be inconvenient but I would be wary if visits HAD to be by appointment! This would make me suspicious they will hide things. I would look for happy clients, happy staff. Relaxed atmosphere and I would want to be able to befriend anyone for an informal chat. I would dismiss any place, no matter the score they had if staff tried to steer either me or the conversation. I would look for respect and confidentiality. I once spoke to a sad looking lady who was sat uncomfortably. No one really interfered BUT straight after I was told about her mental health and not to believe a word she said, and that she can be very unpredictable and was a nuisance. I felt so sorry for the lady and knew professionalism was not a priority here! I would want to know that clients could choose when to bath/shower not to be scheduled to fit in with staff wishes. I also would opt to have a trial stay, a respite week or fortnight being possible before signing myself or a relative in. I would also want to see a best and poorest room. I knew a lovely family who was shown a lovely pastel coloured roomy fresh bedroom to make a decision by. They went on a waiting list but when the lady got a space she had to accept the vacant room or go to the back of the list! The room she was given was dark,nasty carpet and curtains with little natural light and despite being promised a move ASAP, she never got it, despite some other client movement, She died hating her room which was so dreadfully sad.

When looking for a care home for my 98 year old Mum the one we chose felt just that. A home, where she would also feel that too. The one she went in was lovely and homely and the standards and staff exceptional. We could go on any time of the day or night for as long as we wanted. She died in the home and it was comforting to know how well she was cared for and how peaceful she was at the end.