The care
We are a residential care home. The first question at every assessment is an honest one: can we meet this person's needs? If we can't, we will say so and help you find somewhere that can.
Who we can look after
People living with age-related frailty, sensory impairment or mild to moderate cognitive impairment, and anyone who needs support with the ordinary business of the day.
How long for
Respite, short stays and permanent places. The first month is a trial, for both sides. Either of us can say so if it isn't working.
Before anyone moves in
Vicky Curphey, our registered manager, comes to see the person, at home or in hospital, and talks to them, their family and whoever else is involved.
At the end of life
People who want to stay can stay. We care for people here to the end, with the district nursing team alongside us.
How a move happens
From first phone call to the end of the trial month
No one should be surprised by any part of this. If you want to know where you are in it, ring and ask.
You ring, or you turn up
Either is fine. You do not need an appointment to look round.
Vicky comes to assess
At home, in hospital, or wherever the person is. She talks to them first, then to family, then to whoever else is involved in their care.
We say yes or no, honestly
If we cannot meet the person's needs safely, we will tell you, and we will help you look elsewhere rather than leave you to start again from nothing.
Funding is confirmed in writing
Before anyone moves in. Council funded or privately funded, it is agreed and written down first.
The first month is a trial
For both sides. At the end of it we sit down with the family and say plainly whether it is working.
Care planning
Knowing who someone is, not just what they need
Everyone has a key worker. Everyone has an All About Me, a life history in their own words or their family's, and a one-page profile, so that whoever is on shift knows who they are talking to.
Care plans are written with the person and their family, and reviewed as things change. You are entitled to see the plan for your relative, and to say when you think it is wrong.
Doctors and nurses
We are not the only people involved
When someone moves in we ask them to register with the local surgery. It is a request and not a condition, and nobody is made to change. It does make a real difference though: prescriptions and repeat orders run on one cycle, and the doctor who visits the home is the doctor who knows the resident.
Other services come in as they are needed, including but not limited to district nurses, community mental health, speech and language therapy, dietitians, chiropody, opticians, the pharmacist, advocacy services and the community social worker.
We are a residential home, so clinical care comes from the NHS teams around us and we work alongside them.
Medicines
Who gives them, and who checks
Medicines are given only by care workers who have completed medication training and been assessed as competent, and that assessment is repeated at least once a year. Boots dispense for the home on a 28-day cycle and supply the charts.
Every prescription medicine in this building belongs to a named resident. Controlled drugs are given by two members of staff together, signed by both, and the balance is checked at every administration and in full every week. There is a medication audit every month, and every resident's chart is checked monthly.
Care staff do not give injections. Those are done by the district nursing team.
Our medication policy is written to Regulation 58 of the 2017 Regulations and follows the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group toolkit. Ask and we will show it to you.
Come and see
The only way to know is to walk in
Any member of staff can show you round. You are welcome to turn up without an appointment. You will see the place as it actually is, which is the point.