Nursing Homes in Aylesbury

Aylesbury has 14 CQC registered nursing homes. 8 are rated Good, 1 Outstanding, 3 Requires improvement, and 2 have not yet been rated. 9 of the 14 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Planning and paying for nursing care in Aylesbury

Two separate questions sit behind every nursing home placement, and they are easier to handle apart than together. The first is whether nursing care is genuinely the right level of support, which a care needs assessment is designed to establish, and that assessment is arranged through Buckinghamshire Council in its role as the authority responsible for adult social care. Anyone who appears to need care can request one whatever their financial position, and a relative already providing support can ask for a carer's assessment alongside it.

Who pays and how that is decided

The second question is money, and it turns on a financial assessment of income, savings and capital. Where these sit above the national threshold the placement is self funded, and where they fall below it the council contributes towards the weekly fee while the resident retains a personal allowance. There is also a health funded route to consider. Where someone has a primary health need rather than a social care need, continuing healthcare funding may cover the full cost, and that is assessed by the National Health Service rather than the council, so ask for a checklist to be completed if nursing needs are substantial.

What to expect on fees

Nursing home fees run higher than residential fees because registered nurses are on duty around the clock, and they vary between homes in Aylesbury according to room type and the complexity of care needed. Ask every home for a written breakdown showing what the weekly fee covers, when fees are reviewed and what notice is required on either side. If a council contribution is involved, ask plainly whether a third party top up would be expected, since that falls to the family and has to be affordable for the long term.

Choosing a nursing home and what to check

Fourteen homes is a workable list, and three or four visits will tell you more than any amount of reading. The homes here range from Byron House Care Home, the one provider in Aylesbury currently rated Outstanding, through well established names such as Chartwell Manor Care Home, Stone House Nursing Home, Mandeville Grange Nursing Home and The Gables Nursing Home.

What to look at on a visit

Ask how many registered nurses are on duty across a full day and overnight, and how the home covers a nurse absence at short notice. Ask what happens when a resident deteriorates, how quickly a doctor is called and whether the home can manage end of life care so that a further move is avoided. Watch how staff speak to residents when nobody appears to be assessing them. Ask about pressure care, falls and how families are told when something goes wrong.

Making use of the ratings

One home here is rated Outstanding, eight Good and three Requires Improvement, and two have not yet been rated. A rating is a summary of one inspection on one set of days, so read the report and check the date. Where a home is rated Requires Improvement, ask the manager exactly what inspectors identified and what has changed since, because some findings concern paperwork while others concern care. Where no rating has been published, ask when an inspection is expected and who registered the home.

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