Care Homes in Purley

Purley has 21 CQC registered care homes. 20 are rated Good, 1 Requires improvement. 17 of the 21 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Planning and paying for a care home place in Purley

Every placement rests on two documents: an assessment of what care is needed and a financial assessment of who pays for it. Families who start with the first find the second much easier to navigate.

Requesting the care needs assessment

An assessment is free, is not means tested and is open to anyone who appears to need care. It considers washing and dressing, meals, medication, mobility, continence and safety alone overnight, and it takes account of what relatives have observed as well as what the person says. London Borough of Croydon Adult Social Care carries out that assessment and the financial assessment that follows. If residential care is the right answer, the reasons are set down in a support plan which follows the person into whichever home is chosen, and a separate carer's assessment is available to the relative who has been providing support.

What the fees involve

The financial assessment looks at income, savings and capital. Above the national threshold a placement is privately funded and the contract is made directly with the home; below it, the council contributes up to a level it judges sufficient for assessed needs. A third party top up may be sought where a family prefers a home charging more than that, and it should be affordable over the long run rather than for a year. Fees differ between homes and between rooms in the same building, so ask for the current weekly rate in writing together with a list of what is charged separately and how often fees are reviewed.

Choosing a home in Purley and what to check

When nineteen homes share a grade, the shortlist has to be built from something other than the rating.

Getting more from the inspection reports

A Good rating is made up of five separate judgements covering safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness and leadership, and homes are seldom equally strong across all of them. Read what inspectors said about staffing levels, medicines and how people are supported to make their own decisions, and note the date of the visit, since a year can change a home considerably. The single home rated Requires Improvement will have a report naming exactly what fell short and what the provider was asked to do, which is a fairer basis for judgement than the grade alone. Where a home has been inspected recently, the findings describe the team currently working there.

What to look for on the visit

Call in at a busy moment rather than a convenient one, and see the home twice if you can manage it. Watch how staff speak to residents who cannot easily reply, whether people appear occupied and how long anyone waits after asking for help. Ask how long the manager has been in post, what turnover has been like among care staff and how the home responds when a resident's needs grow. Ask about meals, visiting, night staffing and how families are contacted when something changes, then weigh what you saw against the published report.

Related searches

• Nursing Homes in Purley
• Home Care in Purley

Care Homes near Purley

• Kenley
• Coulsdon
• South Croydon
• Wallington
• Carshalton
• Croydon
• Caterham
• Sutton
• Banstead
• Thornton Heath