Share your adult social care experiences with CQC - chance to win £300! NOW CLOSED!

[EmmaMumsnet]

We are working with CQC (Care Quality Commission), who through a current campaign #CareAware would like to make the public more aware of their inspection reports and ratings which can help people make informed decisions if you are choosing home care or a care home. With this aim in mind, they would like to hear your experiences of adult social care.

Here’s what CQC have to say: "Choosing care can be a real worry for people, their families and carers, wondering who or where to turn to – but CQC can help. The public needs to know about the quality of care services available and they also need to be reassured that if there are any problems, these are being identified and tackled.

That is why we publish regular inspection reports with quality ratings on more than 20,000 individual care services registered with CQC. This means that people have access to clear, independent and trusted information to help them make the right decisions for them or their loved one.

People can be confident that we find most care services in England are providing good, safe care. For those that need to do better, or are not getting any better, we take appropriate action to ensure providers either improve or stop providing care altogether.’"

Perhaps you want to share your experience of choosing a care home for yourself or a loved one – and want to share your tips with others in that position? Maybe you chose home care for yourself or for a friend, partner or relative? Or perhaps you want to tell us about your plans and conversations you are having with your family so that you or they do not have to make a rushed decision.

Whatever your experiences are, share them on the thread below and everyone who comments will be entered into a prize draw, where one lucky winner will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

The CQC is responsible for inspecting all hospitals, including private hospitals, GP practice, dentists, care homes, residential home and care provided in peoples own home in England.

Each inspection answers five key questions: Is the service safe? Is it effective? Are the staff caring and responsive to people’s needs and is the service well led?

I have read the posts and am very concerned about if/when the time comes to put my elderly dad into a home, which I was thinking about. He has carers 4 times a day, paid for by the council, often they come early or late, have missed their morning call leaving him in bed, so I thought a care home maybe a better option, I am beginning to doubt that. If I took this step, I would not pay much heed to a CQC inspection (the comments above are really worrying) but pay a visit to the home, look at the overall condition of the home, what the residents are doing, I would approach age concern, I would ask for a trial period or short stay just to see how things went and how the staff were before committing a permanent place, and if the placement was permanent would visit at different times of the day to see whether my dad was happy there.

We will be looking into options for care homes in the near future, given my very elderly, frail parents' situation. Not for full time care, but as a respite option because the toll on caring for them is significant, and there is a need to know they are safe for a short period whilst my sibling and I have space to breathe for a couple of weeks.
The difficulty I have is in knowing what to believe. There are so many horror stories in the press, which have made me very wary of the sector at all. The costs are huge, and yet I understand wage levels are very low (with all the disaffection and staff churn that this brings). My parents are vulnerable, and the weight of the decision feels so huge. I do not want to let them down, but the CQC data feels so remote and sporadic (much like Ofsted judgements in schools) that it is hard to know quite what to make of it.
The demands for care for elderly people will continue to grow, but yet the sector feels so hard to understand.

I am going through this now. My 80 yr old father in law has been in hospital for 4.5 months and this week we were told that he would have to go to a nursing home. It's so confusing.
He'll be self funding but we will have to sell his property.
Do we find one near us (his only family) or near his friends where he had been living (40 minutes away)?!
How do we even know where to start looking? And which homes will cope with his needs? And have space?
It's very early days for us but I feel totally overwhelmed!

I have elderly parents, mom has dementia and dad is frail with the beginnings of dementia.

They have saved all their working lives so have a decent amount of money to pay for care in the short / medium term. I know that given the choice , and while it remains manageable they would want to remain in their own home.

I now have experience of a local agency we paid for two hourly calls a day to help with dressing/ leave out cold lunch and evening meal call. Very different experience to the poster who said that the carer was told off for remaining with her relative until an ambulance came. Our agency sent one of the senior carers along to wait with mom so that the regular carer could move on to her next call. There was also an incident whereby one of the carers, off duty, spotted my mom wandering down a main road with no coat in the winter. She was on a bus so couldn't stop but she called it into the agency and one of the managers came straight up and spent the next hour driving around looking for her . I was sorry to have to leave this agency when we decided that live in care was needed as my dad went into hospital and my mom wasn't safe on her own.

We are now using a nationwide agency which provides both live in and respite hourly care to cover the regular carers breaks. They seem to be quite up on health and safety, both in terms of protection of the staff, and the elderly clients.

On the other hand I have heard many stories from my friend who works in residential homes about penny pinching, the cheap quality of the meals, understaffing meaning that the carers don't get adequate time to spend simply chatting and being kind to the residents. It's all rush, rush, wash and dress and on to the next one. I asked her whether she would recommend the home she works in - which looks lovely from the outside - and she said 'God no, don't put your mom in there '

So at the moment I'm hoping that their care continues to be manageable at home .

As this thread is sponsored by CQC I should add that the home care agencies I've used are rated good and the home where my friend works requires improvement so experience does reflect the ratings.

I would recommend tackling this question long before the need arises. With my dad suffering from Parkinson’s and my mums diagnosis with Non Hodgekins lymphoma this topic suddenly hit our family. My father ended up somewhere he didn’t know and hadn’t visited beforehand with my brother having to have the difficult conversation with him after my mum was admitted into hospital (she had been my dads carer)
Eventually he was moved somewhere where his friend could visit and the carehome we chose provided somewhere he felt comfortable.
There was time for more of a choice with my mother and we were able to be isit a few homes in her local area. This is still a very stressful time for a family and I feel carehomes should have regular open days for prospective clients.

My late grandad lived with my parents and had dementia for many years. It was a struggle. In the end they paid huge amounts weekly.for private carers and also respite care when they needed a break. He did have social workers come out to assess what equipment he needed etc which was helpful.

Our experience of choosing a care Home was that seeing a lot of homes helped to set expectations.

The home we ended up with was amazing but only affordable because my granddad could afford to pay.

Every time we arrived we could just go see him. If staff were there they were holding his hand and chatting. They remembered he only liked vanilla ice cream and he always had this

When he died they gave him space and then asked if they could say good bye. Seeing people who'd only known him a year kissing him goodbye and crying will remain with me forever .

My professional experiences have taught me that the ratings are not reliable, I know for a fact that some establishments have blatantly lied to CQC and the inspections being pre arranged totally negates any chance of anything untoward being seen. The CQC need powers of investigation - some of the incidents I came across would make your hair curl. It may be that the CQC are trying their best but they do not have enough clout and they need more powers.

The CQC reports rate a home as good but this never tallies with reality. The one my mil was in, right at the end, was awful and she complained that they treated her awfully and I suspect they did.

When looking for a care home for my now late grandmother we looked at the reviews by both residents and their families - they were very honest reviews and helped us choose. We also asked friends in the area of the their experiences if they had had loved ones in the local homes.

We used this site www.carehome.co.uk

pretence prentence pretence was the order of the days of inspection.easy to cover up so much crap that went on.any attempt to whistle blow you would lose your job.or made a mockery of in work.blamed.guilted upon.
lots of inspections and inspectors we saw boxed ticked o nthe paperwork and the things that can be seen materialisticly. nothing was taken care of enough in terms of care and nurture and emotional well being of the paitents themselves.

This is a huge decision which we're fortunate not to have had to make.
However, my parents are in their 70s now and it is obvious they are getting older / struggling more. They both have health concerns and I do worry about their future. At the moment they are in their own home but I can see down the line how it may become a struggle. I wouldn't like to think of them in a care home but if needs must then so be it - as long as it was the right decision for everyone.

When my papa needed extra help at home he had a carer coming in throughout the day and night, the family met with them before to get to know them which helped. Eventually he moved into a home as his house became too challenging for him, from then he really went down hill.

Cqc need to do surprise visits and spot checks. Not announce their visit two weeks ahead of shedule so that the wards/care homes can bump up the number of staff and "spit polish" the paperwork.

From personal experience I've watched as matrons on a ward help deliver meals when cqc are visiting. I've seen staffing levels nearly double in order to make sure that the risk charts are upto date and the paper work is filed,more cleaners than I've ever seen in a whole department descend upon the ward to deep clean. I've seen rotas adjusted to display a better,more desired skill mix and I've seen senior nurses have annual leave taken back when cqc are due in order to show the better side of the staff.

Speak to families and staff who used to work in the care home/ward and you will see how the place really is.

One of MIL's agency carers stole all her jewellery.
The manager of the home my mother's friend died in stole all her property.
Even some of the nicest staff in my dad's care home left him in pain with a blocked catheter all day because they just had no training and no idea.
£900 a week and no staff who know when to call a doctor or how to prevent pressure sores.

My Dad had an emergency hip replacement following a fall and also had cerebral nuclear palsy ( a bit like Parkinson's) with associated dementia. In the large hospital he was in to begin with, the only way we could prevent him ending up lying v in n his own excrement was for my sister and I to tag team each other, taking it in turns to phone the matron on duty that day and ask them to make sure this didn't happen. If we missed a day, it happened again.
When he was transferred to a local cottage hospital, they did not seem able to give him all his appropriate medications as they didn't follow the usual drug trolley times. Having his medication on time was needed for basic things like being able to swallow his food. My mum often had to chase it up but felt like she was considered a nusience for doing so.

My job sees me in many homes and although I have experience of some excellent ones. I have also seen the not so good over the years.

Paper work and presenting a good front is easy for inspection. Present your best staff and residents etc. I always go with how the Home feels. I prefer a small home to large institutions and always talk to the people who live there. Those you pass in reception and Lounges. And if you can talk to staff about how long they have been there it can give an indication of the establishment Happy staff stay. High turn over always is a red flag to me.

I had to choose a care home for my Dad and it was a very tough decision - despite having dementia he agreed it was the right decision for him as the strain of caring for him was taking its toll on mum. He's been there three years. I looked at some terrible places - one seemed to leave everyone in their rooms and immediately after I was told it wasn't an option anyway as it needed to improve do couldn't take new residents until it had.
My parents didn't have much capital other than a house which Mum still lived in, so Dad was being socially funded. I felt we had limited choices because of that but we were very fortunate as Socisl services found a lovely private home willing to take Dad socially funded. He thrived there.
Earlier this year Mum got poorly and had to go to a care home and there was no question - she had to go to same place as Dad so they could see each other. Sadly she died three weeks later.
My parents were very different- Dad was happy to go to a care home but Mum mostly wasn't - but there wasn't another option as I work and have 2 DC.
I went in instinct and feel. Nice communal areas were important for me, and that it provided nursing care too for when their conditions progressed. I think this is important - many residential care homes don't offer nursing so then the resident must move, which is an upheaval.
I think with any care home there'll be niggles - my Dad lost 3 pairs of slippers within weeks of arriving! But I only sweat the big stuff.
Activities are important especially if the loved one likes joining in and socialising.
Specialist dementia care is essential where relevant.

As someone who has worked in various care homes, including within the community - if you absolutely can, please, please, please do not put your loved ones in a care home!

Find different alternatives so that they can live in their own home. A private 24/7 carer is a lot cheaper than staying in a care home! A care home ranges from £500-£1500 a week, but a private carer is roughly about £500-600 a week, if that! A lot more beneficial because they are still in their own environment that they have lived in for all of them years, and they get to keep their house and possibly use their savings to pay for care and best of all - they get ONE TO ONE and ATTENTION at all times. To go into a care home, they have to sell their house. It's a complete goner!

It's not because of abuse, it's really isn't just about that anymore. It's about the fact that they pay a huge amount of money to be there but they are not getting the staff or the quality of care that their money pays for. Care homes are consistently short staffed, the poor care assistants are worked to the ground and has a massive staff turnover because people cannot cope with the stress of the job, which means the residents suffer.

If you follow a specific care home on FB, then I am afraid not every picture tells a story! Staff get treated like dirt. Majority of the residents are just sitting in their rooms, watching the world go by. You see pictures of them doing activities and what have you, it's all for show! To show what an "amazing" care home it is, its another way of luring you into getting your loved ones to stay there. Giving up their house and their money that they have worked so hard for is just beyond me! All the management and CEO care about is one thing and only thing only, and that is MONEY.

All of the staff work extremely hard to ensure that it gets a Good-Outstanding CQC rating and that's because we want what's best for the company. It's an extremely unpleasant and undignified way to live your last moments!

Please don’t take CQC reports at face value. I am currently battling to remove a family member (young adult) from a CQC rated ‘good’ home which I would rate ‘requires serious improvement’. Quality of care is extremely low. Our young adult frequently stays indoors all weekend as no staff are available to take her out. Her bedroom window looks onto a fence and the lounge has no windows. Kitchen & dining room are locked outside of meal times. She calls the home prison and I can see why.

Looking for myself, I do look at the CQC reports, but unfortunately the amount the SS will pay is very limiting.

My grandmother was able to live with my parents even when she was very ill with Alzheimer's and needed daily carers, so I hope my parents would be able to live with us when they become too frail to live on their own. My gran did spend some respite time in care homes, and the CQC reports were reassuring, but she complained that she didn't like the food or lack of privacy. I think we got more of an idea of what it was like by visiting ourselves, rather than any reports. It was useful to have that respite time, but overall I think it is nicer for relatives to be at home with family if at all possible.

I do appreciate what people are saying about staying at home, but I have had to look after mum since I was a child. I simply cannot live with her for another 30yrs. Even with carers coming in, that would destroy me.
I am on another forum, who state family carers should never feel guilty when they can no longer do it. Needs trump wants, and what my mum needs, I simply cannot provide for her much longer. Having carers come into the house over 24hrs would be very distressing for her. She gets upset enough at just the 5hr visits, but was happy(ish) with her night in the care home as she was in one place with people around her and less disorientated. No one could ever say I don't love her, but when she has physically assaulted you in a spate of confusion, it's not that simple.

What a minefield this is. My family were in this position some years ago and the whole experience was immensely stressful, emotional and upsetting- Certainly not positive in any way. We did not go down this route....eventually....but I certainly feel that a 'report' alone would not be hate near sufficient to allay any concerns that I had.