Nursing Homes in Bath

Bath has 13 CQC registered nursing homes. 12 are rated Good, 1 Requires improvement. 8 of the 13 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Choosing the right nursing home in Bath and what to look for

The registration is the difference

A nursing home does everything a residential home does and keeps registered nurses on duty around the clock as well. That distinction matters most for anyone whose needs cannot safely wait until morning: complex wound care, a feeding tube, unstable diabetes or a condition likely to deteriorate. Where the need is mainly for help with washing, dressing and meals, a residential registration often serves just as well and usually costs less.

Ask about nurses, not simply staff

When visiting any of the thirteen homes here, ask specifically how many registered nurses are on duty during the day and overnight, and how many residents each of them covers. Ask how cover is arranged when a nurse calls in sick, because heavy reliance on agency staff tends to show up in continuity. Ask which GP practice covers the home, how quickly a doctor attends, and what happens when a resident becomes acutely unwell at night.

Reading a consistent set of ratings

Twelve homes rated Good will not arrange themselves into an order for you, which makes the reports behind the ratings more useful than the ratings themselves. Look at when each inspection took place and what inspectors singled out, paying particular attention to anything said about medicines. Homes such as Larkhall Springs Nursing Home, Cranhill Nursing Home and Woodside Nursing Home will each differ in ways no summary conveys.

Arranging and funding a nursing placement in Bath

Who assesses what

Anyone who appears to need care and support has a right to an assessment, whatever their savings, and it is carried out by Bath and North East Somerset Council, which considers what the person can manage safely and what support would close the gap. For nursing placements there is often a further step, because health funding may cover part or all of the nursing element. Ask directly who is assessing what and when, since the answer determines who pays for which part of the care.

What a nursing placement costs

A financial assessment establishes what, if anything, the local authority contributes towards accommodation and personal care. Savings and most income are counted, and the value of a property may also be taken into account for a permanent placement, depending on who else still lives there. Weekly fees are typically higher than for residential care and vary between the homes listed here. Ask for the figure in writing together with a clear statement of what falls outside it, and ask how any contribution towards nursing costs appears on the invoice.

Allowing time for a longer process

Nursing placements involve more parties than residential ones and each adds days. Where a move follows a hospital admission, ask the ward team who is leading the assessment and what is being funded, and establish whether an arrangement is temporary or permanent before agreeing to it. Ask too how the home contacts families when a resident's condition changes overnight, because in nursing care that single habit separates the homes families come to trust from those they end up chasing for answers.

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