Search for care in your area

www.carechoices.co.uk

With so many providers to choose from, where do you start?

• Find care providers quickly and easily

• Search by location and care need

• Information on care quality

• Links to inspection reports

• Additional information, photos and web links

• Brochure requests

We suggest that you take paper with you when visiting care homes so that you can make notes. You can download and print this checklist at www.carechoices.co.uk/checklists

Staff

What is the minimum number of staff that are available at any time?

Are staff respectful, friendly and polite?

Do staff have formal training?

Are the staff engaging with residents?

Activities

Can you get involved in activities you enjoy?

Is there an activities co-ordinator?

Does the home organise any outings?

Are residents escorted to appointments?

Do the residents seem entertained?

Does the home have a varied activities schedule?

Life in the home

Is the home adapted to suit your needs?

Can you bring your own furniture?

Are there enough plug sockets in the rooms?

Are there restrictions on going out?

Is there public transport nearby?

Does the home provide any transport?

Can you make/receive calls privately?

Can you decide when to get up and go to bed?

Does the home allow pets?

Does the home use Digital Care Planning accessible to families?

Personal preferences

Is the home too hot/cold? Can you control the heating in your room?

Is the décor to your taste?

Are there restricted visiting hours?

Is there somewhere you can go to be alone?

Does the home feel welcoming?

Catering

Can the home cater for any dietary requirements you may have?

Does the menu change regularly?

Can you eat when you like, even at night?

Can you have food in your room?

Is there a choice of food at mealtimes?

Is alcohol available/allowed if you want it?

Can visitors join you for meals?

Fees

Do your fees cover all of the services and activities?

Are fees likely to change regularly?

Is the notice period for cancellation of the contract reasonable?

Could you have a trial period?

Can you keep your room if you go into hospital?

Can you handle your own money?

*See page 14.

We suggest that you take paper with you when visiting care homes so that you can make notes. Please use this checklist in conjunction with the care homes checklist on page 27. You can download and print this checklist at www.carechoices.co.uk/checklists

Design

Are there clear signs throughout the home?

Has the home been designed or adapted for people with dementia?

Are the home and grounds secure?

Are there prompts outside the residents’ rooms to help people identify their own?

Is the décor familiar to your loved one?

Choices

Do residents get a choice in terms of what they wear each day?

Are residents encouraged to be independent?

Can residents decide what to do each day?

Can residents have a say in the décor of their room?

Activities

Are residents able to join in with household tasks like folding washing?

Are there activities on each day?

Can residents walk around outside on their own?

Are residents sitting in front of the TV or are they active and engaged?

Are there rummage boxes around?

*See page 14.

Health

Can residents get help with eating and drinking?

How often does the home review residents’ medication?

Does the home offer help if a resident needs assistance taking medication?

Do GPs visit the home regularly?

Staff

Are staff trained to identify when a resident might be unwell?

Are staff trained to spot when someone needs to go to the toilet?

Do the staff have any dementia-specific training/experience?

Will your loved one have a member of staff specifically responsible for their care?

Approach to care

Does the home follow a specific approach to dementia therapy, for example, validation therapy?

Will the home keep you informed about changes to your loved one’s care?

Does the home have a specific approach to end of life care?

Does the home keep up to date with best practice in dementia care?

Care homes with nursing

If your needs are too great to be met in a care home that offers personal care only, you may need a care home that also offers nursing care. A care professional or a registered nurse will visit you to look at what care you will need. This visit might be in your own home, a hospital if you’ve been ill, or a care home. You will be fully involved in planning your care needs.

If a care home providing nursing care is the best setting for you, the care professional will give you information to help you find a home that meets your care needs. The cost of the nursing care part

Paying for your care

Financial assessment

Whatever your circumstances, whether you receive care in your own home or in a care home, the council will assess your finances on an individual basis to determine how much you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support. The amount you must pay will depend on your income, outgoings, savings and investments. Anyone who has over £23,250 in savings and investments will need to pay for the full cost of

NHS Nursing Care Contribution

If you are a temporary or permanent resident in a care home that provides nursing care, you may be able to get an NHS Funded Nursing Care contribution towards the cost of that care. An assessment of your nursing needs will be of your fees may be paid by the NHS directly to the care home. It is important that you get your nursing care needs identified before you go into the care home with nursing. You may be entitled to ‘fully funded NHS Continuing Health Care’, although the eligibility criteria for this are strict. any services they receive.

This will be looked at during the assessment process. You may want a carer, family member or friend to be part of this assessment. This Directory contains details of residential care homes and care homes with nursing on the Island starting on pages 33 and 36 respectively.

To help you understand the financial assessment process, the council has produced some factsheets that can be accessed on its website at www.iow.gov.uk (search ‘adult social care services factsheet’). Alternatively, you can request a copy to be sent to you by emailing fac.team@iow.gov.uk or calling 01983 823479 required to assess your eligibility. This is not means-tested and is paid directly to the home. You will still require a financial assessment to determine your contribution towards the cost of that care.

Essential information

Healthwatch Isle of Wight

Healthwatch Isle of Wight is the independent consumer champion for health and social care services. Healthwatch is influential at a local and national level. It listens to what local people like you want and need from local services and uses this information to help you get the best out of your local health and social care services – whether that means improving services today or helping to shape services for tomorrow.

Healthwatch Isle of Wight also provides information, advice and signposting for health and social care services. It works closely with SWAN Advocacy, the local provider of NHS Complaints Advocacy. If you would like to access the information, advice and signposting service or would like to share your experience of a local health or care service, please contact Healthwatch Isle of Wight.

Why your views are important

All organisations are happy to receive your feedback on the services provided, whether the feedback is a compliment or a complaint. Feel free to tell organisations what you think; your comments can be used constructively to improve the service. If you use a home care agency or move into a care home, you should feel able to complain about any aspect of your life that affects your happiness or comfort. This might be anything from the way you are treated by staff to the quality of the food you are served. You should also feel free to make comments and suggestions about possible improvements to your surroundings and the services provided.

Making a complaint should not be made difficult for you and should not affect the standard of care that you receive whether in your own home or in a care home or care home with nursing. Care services are required under national essential standards of quality and safety to have a simple and easy-to-use complaints procedure.

If you are concerned about the care that you, a

Finding care in your area

Looking for care in your area? Want to know the quality rating of providers you’re considering? Care Choices, publisher of this Directory, has a website providing comprehensive details of care providers as well as essential information.

You can search by postcode, county or region for care homes, care homes with nursing and home care providers that meet your needs across the country. Your search can be refined by the type of care you are looking for and the results can be sent to you by email. They can also be saved and emailed to others.

The website includes detailed information for each

Healthwatch Isle of Wight

FREEPOST RTGR-BKRU-KUEL, The Riverside Centre, The Quay, Newport PO30 2QR

Tel: 01983 608608

Email: enquiries@healthwatchisleofwight.co.uk

Web: www.healthwatchisleofwight.co.uk friend or a relative is receiving, it makes sense to speak to the manager of the service about your concerns before you take any further action. The problem may be resolved quite easily once the manager is made aware of it. However, if you need to make a formal complaint, you should initially contact the registered owners of the service. The owners have a duty to respond to any complaints made. If your complaint is about a breach of regulations, contact the Care Quality Commission at www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us

If the council has arranged and funded care and support for you, another option is to speak with your social care worker or the department’s designated complaints manager. Call 01983 823340 or visit www.iow.gov.uk (search ‘adult services complaints’).

You can also complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman www.carechoices.co.uk/reader-survey

Visit www.lgo.org.uk for further details.

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