Care Homes in Newbury

Newbury has 7 CQC registered care homes. 5 are rated Good, 1 Requires improvement, and 1 has not yet been rated. 6 of the 7 were last inspected more than three years ago.

Source: Care Quality Commission register, kept up to date as ratings change.

What Residential Care in Newbury Involves and What to Look For

What a care home actually provides

A residential care home offers a room, meals, help with washing and dressing, support with medication and the company of others, with care staff on duty around the clock. All seven homes listed for Newbury are registered for personal care rather than nursing, which means a qualified nurse is not based on site. Where a district nurse currently attends to a wound, a catheter or a feeding tube, say so at the enquiry stage, because it determines whether this type of registration is the right answer. Asking plainly at the outset avoids a distressing move a few months later.

Making the ratings work for you

Five of the homes are rated Good, one is rated Requires Improvement and one is too recently registered to have been inspected. A grade compresses a great deal into a single word, so open the report and look at the date of the visit, which areas were criticised, and whether the concerns touched residents directly or related to records and audits. Where a home is rated Requires Improvement, check whether the manager has changed since and whether an improvement plan has been published. Reports on homes rated Good still name areas that could be stronger, and those are often the most useful paragraphs of all.

The questions that separate homes

Ask how many staff are on duty by day and overnight, what training they have completed, and how long most of the team has been in post. Ask how care plans are written and reviewed, who checks medication when someone moves in, and how relatives are kept informed week to week. Ask what happens if needs increase, because a home registered for personal care cannot always continue to meet them. Then visit at a mealtime and watch whether residents are occupied rather than simply seated, and how long a call bell rings before anyone comes.

Getting an Assessment and Sorting Out the Funding

The care needs assessment

Getting the person's needs written down is the step that makes every later conversation shorter, whether the placement ends up funded or privately paid. The assessment costs nothing and considers mobility, continence, meals, medication, memory, mood and how sustainable the current arrangement at home has become. Ask for a carer's assessment at the same time if you provide regular unpaid care, since carers have needs the law recognises separately. A relative can make either request on the person's behalf.

How the contribution is settled

A financial assessment of income and capital follows, and West Berkshire Council Adult Social Care is the body that carries out both stages and confirms the outcome. Funding may be granted in full, granted as a contribution towards the weekly fee, or declined on the basis of capital, in which case the place is arranged privately. Where a personal budget is agreed, taking it as a direct payment leaves the choice of home with the family. Ask for the decision in writing before signing anything.

What the fees involve

Each home sets its own weekly rate, shaped by the support required and the room that happens to be available. Ask what would trigger an increase, how much notice is given, and what the contract says about a spell in hospital. Ask too what falls outside the basic fee, as hairdressing, chiropody, escorted appointments, transport and toiletries are commonly charged on top. A written schedule of charges, read before signing, is the most useful safeguard a family has.

Related searches

• Nursing Homes in Newbury
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Care Homes near Newbury

• Thatcham
• Tadley
• Hungerford