Finding a care home for your elderly parent is a big decision with many considerations.
Most of all will you, Mum and Dad be happy there? Here is our guide to help you find a care home.
Top tips for finding a care home
1. Understanding the different types of care home
There are two main types of care home: residential care homes, which provide full-time living accommodation with additional support (personal care, or help with washing and dressing, for example), but without on-site fulltime medical care, which they will bring in as required and nursing homes, which provide medical care on site as standard, in addition to full-time living accommodation.
Increasingly there are additional types of home, or care within homes – such as specialist dementia care, or stroke support. All types of care home have accommodation for individuals and couples, although where a couple have very different needs you may have to look further afield to accommodate them both. Some care homes allow pets, but not all.
2. Choosing the right location
Your first priority is probably location – near to their own home, or perhaps nearer to you or another family member. Your parent may have identified a care home they would be happy to move in to.
It may be a very difficult decision to make, but considering a location convenient for you and family members to visit can become very important. If your parent becomes “marooned” in a care home close to where they used to live when their friends and neighbours are no longer able to visit, your visits become even more important. Distance can be a real challenge.
You might also want to consider if the care home is in a town or out in the countryside. Access to services, shops and other facilities may be important for your parent or relative, so whilst a rural idyll may seem like a good idea, it may not be the right choice. And if public transport is important for visitors then this is also a consideration.
There are a number of websites and sources of information to help you choose a care home.
The local authority may have a list or map of care homes on their website. You could also look at this location finder.
As part of your research we recommend that you check the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website. Not only will they give you a list of care homes nearby, but they also provide reviews and ratings of them. There has been some controversy over CQC since the pandemic with many care homes not being reviewed for a number of years. So, whilst they are important, you should also do your own research.
Personal recommendation or referral in conjunction with the CQC review is perhaps the best way to find a local care home. Speak to as many people as you can – the GP, friends and neighbours, social services – who have some experience of any care homes in the area you are looking at.
Your parent will have an assessment by your preferred care home to check that they are able to support them and their needs, should they move in. It can be harder to find a home that can provide the care for someone who has particularly complex needs, so you may need to be flexible.
3. Understanding the level of care needed
Establish the level of need, and kind of care and home you are looking for. You may already have a care assessment by the local authority so you know what level of care and support you’re looking for.
Some homes have specialist dementia units for example, which while you may not need these services yet, you might prefer not to move your mum to another new home should this be necessary at some point in the future.
Someone with a complex medical condition who needs regular nursing care will need to be in a nursing home which has a registered nurse on duty at all times.
4. Visiting care homes in advance
If you can, it is strongly advised you visit the care homes you would like to consider. If someone is being discharged from hospital sooner than you thought, or needs to move into a home quickly, this might just not be possible.
So the best advice is perhaps to try and visit care homes before you actually need them. Easier said than done of course.
If you are in urgent need of a care home bed, the local authority may provide a weekly update of available beds. The local Age UK also sometimes has this service.
If you can visit, ideally you should be able to turn up unannounced and be given a tour of the home. This will depend upon the available manpower at the time, which might also tell you something about the home.
Use our guide to choosing and viewing a care home that contains some useful questions to ask when you’re there and helps answer how to choose a care home.
5. Whittling down the choices
Choosing a care home is difficult as there are so many. The CQC reports should help prioritise.
When you visit, ask to see their most recent CQC report and talk it through with the manager; find out what the staff turnover is and the numbers of agency staff that may be used regularly.
Agency staff are no different from employed staff in terms of their qualifications to care, but it may mean that there is less continuity and cohesion amongst the staff. It is likely that the staff team will be supplemented by agency staff – but there needs to be a balance.
6. Researching the day-to-day life at each care home
Speak with residents and their families and ask if they are enjoying living there. What do they do during the day and in the evening?
Are there activities which would be suitable for your relative to participate in and are outings organised? Is there an activities co-ordinator on the staff – ask them what activities are taking place this week.
What are the dining room or eating facilities like – have a look at the menu and even stay for lunch. Is alcohol served?
7. Learning how each care home operates
How is medication administered? What other health and well-being services are available – toenail cutting or dietary advice for example. What is their medical emergency procedure?
How does the staff rota operate over a 24-hour period and who is in charge at night? What happens at weekends? Who can give medication, particularly at night? You may find that they have to ask the district nurse or GP to come in at night to give certain drugs, like morphine.
8. Researching the staff training
Ask if the staff are trained in safeguarding, manual handling, first aid and hygiene, as everyone working within the home should have up to date training.
9. Finding out how they will communicate with you
Ask how the home communicates with and involves relatives, particularly if there are complex needs to be considered. You want to know how you get involved in any care plan and ensure everything is being done for your relative
Finally, does it pass 'The Mum Test'
Would you feel happy to leave your mum in the home that you are looking at? That’s the real test of a care home. Some of the questions you might think about include:
- Does the entrance look cared for?
- Are you made to feel welcome by the staff?
- Do the staff seem happy and competent?
- What facilities does the home have – garden or activity area, for example?
- Are bedrooms personalised by residents?
- Do residents seem content? Are they out and about in the home, or sitting in their own rooms?
- What does the menu or food look like?
- Is there a circle of chairs in a day room and a tv on constantly?
- Does it smell?
A word about care home fees
Funding a care home privately is expensive, depending on the location and the need, it can be in the region of £1800 per week.
The component parts of care home fees are:
- Board and lodging – the payment for the room, meals and services
- Nursing or medical help – provided by the NHS directly to the care home which onward charges you or your parent, or the local authority if they are contributing to the costs
The local authority may part or fully fund a care home resident. This will depend upon a funding assessment. If this is the case, then they will likely choose a care home that fits within their budget guidelines and be less than a privately funded care home place.
If you are able and willing, you can “top up” the local authority payments so your parent is in a care home more closely aligned to your choice.
If your parent is eligible for NHS Continuing Care then all care home costs will be covered by the NHS, including the board and lodging element.
Funding a care home place is complicated. Even if you are funding it yourselves, discuss different room options with the provider as you may well be able to negotiate the cost for a smaller room, or a lesser view.
Finding a care home: further reading
For information on care homes, you might like to look at the advice given by Age UK. For advice covering the rest of the UK, go to NHS England, NI, Health in Wales and Health Scotland.
Information on the regulation of care homes and care agencies is available at: England – CQC, Wales – Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales, Northern Ireland – Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority and Scotland – Care Inspectorate.
You might also be interested in our section on making life better in a care home.
