Care Homes in Warminster

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

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

Choosing the Right Care Home in Warminster

What residential registration means in practice

A care home of this type provides a room, meals, help with washing and dressing, support with medication and the company of others, with care staff available at all hours. Every home listed for Warminster is registered for personal care, so a qualified nurse is not based on the premises. Where a district nurse currently attends to a wound, a catheter or a feeding tube, raise it at the enquiry stage, because it determines whether this registration can meet the need. Being clear at the outset prevents a placement that has to be unpicked a few months later.

What the inspection record does and does not tell you

Five of the six homes are rated Good and one is too recently registered to have been inspected, so the grades will not narrow the field on their own. Open each report and look at when the visit took place, what the inspector said about staffing levels and training, and which areas were identified as capable of improvement. On a home rated Good, those improvement paragraphs are usually the most informative part of the whole document. For the unrated home, more of the judgement rests on what you see yourself and on what other families report.

The questions that separate one home from another

Ask how many staff are on duty during the day and overnight, what training they have completed, and how long most of the team has been there. Ask how care plans are written and reviewed, who checks medication when someone moves in, and how relatives are kept informed week by week. Ask what the home does when needs increase, since a setting registered for personal care cannot always continue to meet them. Then visit around a mealtime and watch whether residents are occupied rather than simply seated, and how promptly a call bell is answered.

Arranging Care and Working Out the Funding

Requesting an assessment

Having needs formally written down is the step that makes everything afterwards quicker, whether the place is eventually funded or paid for privately. The care needs assessment is free and considers mobility, continence, meals, medication, memory, mood and how sustainable the arrangement at home has become. Ask for a carer's assessment at the same time if you provide regular unpaid care, because carers have needs the law recognises separately. A relative may make either request on the person's behalf.

How the contribution is decided

A financial assessment of income and capital follows the needs assessment, and Wiltshire Council social care team is the body that conducts 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 a contract is signed.

Fees and what sits outside them

Each home sets its own weekly rate, reflecting the support required and whichever room is 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 separately. A written schedule of charges, read before signing, is the most practical safeguard a family can have.

Related searches

• Nursing Homes in Warminster
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Care Homes near Warminster

• Westbury
• Frome
• Trowbridge