How to pay for your care.

The argument rages on between the political parties about how social care will be paid for in the future.  But this does not alter the fact that today somebody is looking for a care home and that they need to pay for it.  I have put together a simple ten step guide to make sure that you don't forget any of the important points.   You can also request a free detailed guide from this page, that will give you more specific information.

The best care homes in England.

Finding the best care homes in England is a difficult and daunting task.  However, as a result of a competition that http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/ began in July 2009, that encouraged residents, relatives, visitors and professionals who visit homes, to vote and leave personal recommendations about the homes that they believe are doing a wonderful job - I have this week presented awards to four care homes. 

These homes won their awards because members of the public think they are the best care homes in England.  Having visited them, I think they may be right - but judge for yourself.

The overall winner of the award and the winner of the Midlands region was Morton Grange in Alfreton Derbyshire http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/care-home-5313-morton-grange.php

The winner of the North was Red Rocks Nursing Home in the Wirral,  http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/care-home-6465-red-rocks-nursing-home.php

The winner of the South West was Chatsworth in Plymouth http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/care-home-5401-chatsworth.php

and the winner of the South East was St Vincent on the Isle of Wight. http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/care-home-5950-st-vincent.php

With each of these homes you can see a video that really shows you how the Manager and staff feel about their residents - take a look, it's worth it.

Where are the Dignity Champions?

I became a Dignity Champion about a year ago and recently attended a meeting at the Department of Health about their Dignity in Care Campaign. Among the 15 or so who attended there was only one other person, other than myself, who did not actually work in a care environment.

I must say they were all articulate and passionate about trying to make their care environment more dignified - but I couldn't help thinking, where are the members of the public?

Surely it is the public who wants to safeguard the dignity of their relatives when they are in a residential or nursing home? It is also the public who often witnesses undignified or unacceptable behaviour by health care workers.

Being treated with dignity is in my view a basic human right and never more so than when the individual concerned is vulnerable. So why aren't the public getting involved in the Dignity Campaign?

I think the answer to that is quite simple - they don't know about it!

So I am on a mission to inform members of the public that they can become dignity champions and help to influence how their relatives are treated within care homes and any other care environment. I have even got my mum and dad involved as they are the reason I feel so passionately about this - check out http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/dignity.php if you would like to meet mum and dad and see how I am trying to encourage people to become Dignity Champions. Are you one?

Personal recommendations about care homes are rarer than hen's teeth and yet it seems to be that most people rely on the views of others when they choose a care home. I have even seen statistics that suggest one third of people only see one care home when making their choice - presumably through lack of information about the others.

If you don't have access to unbiased information it is easy to see how the first one you see could become the ultimate destination.

My ethos as I explained in my first blog, is that if you have a problem with an area of care try and find a solution. So I have set up www.best-care-home.co.uk. Initially I simply wanted to provide an online register of the best care homes, with a lot more information that simply a name, address and telephone number - so I encouraged lots of photos, links to CQC reports, videos (more of that later). Anything that will really give a prospective resident and their family a realistic and valuable insight into the home, before they visit it; and I made this free to the care home so that there were no barriers to providing information.

I also encouraged personal recommendations of the homes; and if I believed everything I read in the newspapers, I wasn't expecting to receive very many - how wrong could I be. I have received hundreds in a few months and they are moving and genuine and would really encourage me to visit that home.

So congratulations to the homes and the staff that have received these pesonal recommendations and thank you to the members of the public, residents, health visitors and everybody else that wanted to share their positive experiences with others.