1st May 2015

How to find the best care home - Step 1

Getting started.

Planning ahead in order to find the right care home is crucial and will allow you to make an informed choice.

Talk to your relative and the rest of the family to discuss the best location for a home, bear in mind where friends and relatives live.
Ensure that the homes you are looking at meet the medical needs of your relative, for example they offer nursing or dementia care if required.
Discuss how you will fund the home, speak to a specialist care fees advisor with the SOLLA accreditation. Ensure you have spoken to a solicitor concerning Lasting Power of Attorney.

Websites to visit when you are looking for a care home;

www.carehome.co.uk for a list of care homes in England.
www.cqc.org.uk to read the reports from the Care Quality Commission who regulate care in England.

My mother has been acting as my father’s main carer for over a year since he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Unfortunately she had a fall on Monday and we were faced with a situation where we had to act fast to arrange for her to be taken care of and to look at immediate respite care in order that my father would also be looked after in a suitable care home which could cope with his needs. Luckily we had your report and had already viewed some of the care homes that you short-listed for us. This meant that when the dust had settled i.e. ambulances and paramedics had left and GP’s appointment arranged, rather than having to panic we were ahead of the game. Rather than having to start from scratch we worked through your report and phoned the care homes on the list. Luckily on our 4th call we managed to find a suitable care home that had a vacancy and within hours had arranged an appmt. to view, discussed needs with the manager and secured the room. My father is now being looked after by professionals in a safe environment and I am able to breath a sigh of relief after a couple of pretty stressful days. I have no doubt that without the report that you prepared for us and the advice you gave to go and see the homes on the list “just in case” we would not be in this position and I would probably still be tearing my hair out trying to get the situation sorted. Thanks very much for your advice