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 used to work in a care home and there were a lot of things going on that were not right. I tried to alter things with management but ended up whistleblowing to the CQC. Thing's did improve then but I was forced out of my job by those in charge after.

Sadly the cqc werent much cop when my mum was around. She went for respite in a place for adults where the door wasnt locked and there was free access in and out anything could have happened when i complained they weren't interested. Care is all about the staff who must be well managed and paid

My nan bad some great care and need 24/7 care. There were a few ladies who stayed with her by her deathbed which I will be forever greatful for, they seemed to genuinely care about her

My grandad is in a home and looked after really well. But he is just a shell and has been for a long time. Family talk about it and we all hope that suicide pills are available when our turn comes around.

This was hard to answer as my mother refuses to have any kind of care but she struggles I would choose to have care for her.

Getting care for my Father when he was very ill with MND was incredibly difficult to source and in my opinion far too late. I have sympathies as it's still an illness that's difficult to identify and obviously no real treatment but definitely feel as though it was more difficult to speak to the right people that it should have been.

For my family it was my father's cancer. We all pitched in to help him. He was always a very proud man and would try to do most things himself. The help of local hospices and mcmillan really made a difference. He passed at home with his family nearby.

At present being honest i have not a lot of actual experience to speak of, but it is an interesting thread, and i have always harboured anxiety around this subject, we see so much abuse aired on the tv, and all know that it goes on, but when the time comes, I will be researching thoroughly to ensure we pick, if needed, a great loving and nurturing care home....

it is always a hard decision finding somewhere that will be suitable, it has to be both a place you feel happy that they will be looked after properly and also that it will feel like somewhere they will feel at home.

I think it is only about going and visiting a lot that you can really see what somewhere is like. Reports mean not a lot - you have to investigate a alot yourself

I took real care and time looking for homes x

I have a friend who has had to avail herself of their services for a grown up son and she has had dreadful toubles for the following reasons: -
poorly trained
Uninterested
Failing to act on what has been agreed
Being unreliable
Not trustworthy
Stealing
If I had my way it would be made into a career with a proper full time college course and a decent qualification. I would like to see the health service and social care running the programme and proper pay with decent pension and regular top up training and decent management. We need people who really care and are able to treat others as they would like to be treated.

When my grandfather went into a care home we researched throughly but still visited him everyday to ensure he was well cared for. Big decision and responsibility

We cared for my nan in her home and had fantastic support from the local hospital and hospice. My nan was terrified of going into a home ( which is sad she felt that way as put a lot onto my Mum) it is lovely there is support out there to care for loved ones in your home.

I work on behalf of a chain of care homes, so I'm not sure how appropriate it is for me to be commenting!

One thing I'd really advise anyone to seriously look at before choosing a home, is how they treat their carers. Their happiness has a massive impact on how parents, grandparents, etc. are treated. And we all want our family members to be happy and adjust well into their new home.

It's well acknowledged that there's a recruitment crisis in care, and you need to think about how the consistency of carers impacts on those in the home. I think it can be hugely beneficial for residents to know the carers, build relationships and trust. Use of agency workers is no reflection on this, if homes try to ensure the same 'regular faces' are there. I think it's good to do several visits, different days of the week, in the absence of the home manager, and look carefully at what you see. The last thing you want (which we have all seen) is a bunch of carers gossiping round the coffee machine while leaving residents to vegitate for hours in front of the TV when that isn't always what they want to do.

I'd also ask about staff retention, development (CHAPS programs for senior carers for example), and see if they're actually happy in their work. If they show an interest in residents. Do they take them out on trips? Have one to one time with them? Do group activities?

I just think care can be so isolating for some people. Decent carers make all the difference.

My gran went into a care home, and spent nearly 2 years in there. My grandpa got a taxi up everyday, so that along with the fees for the care home (they had to pay for it themselves as they had savings), meant he started to struggle financially. It was hard to see.

My Grandma had to go into a care home and the whole family were dreading it as we had heard so many bad experiences and read a lot of them in the papers too so we weren't sure what to expect but we did our research and found a home that had a good rating and hoped for the best and I can honestly say it was a revelation. The people working there obviously cared about the old peoples wellfare and dignity and we were all so grateful to them for everything they did for my nana.
Although I don't have a lot of experience my advice would be to make sure and do some research and visit the home and get a feel of how the staff are because that's the thing that is most important in a care home whether or not the staff are good.

I'd looked after my mom for 26 years with Parkinsons disease but she sadly developed dementia and I had 4 children and it was becoming very distressing for both of us, Her social worker said i need respite, they booked her into EMI care and eventually we took a week but they didn't want mom to come out when they saw how bad she was, I was upset, exhausted and felt like I had betrayed her but she was so happy in there and I visited every day at first eventually going to twice a week so I could carry on looking after my young family. She sadly passed away in her sleep after being there about a year and a half but I know she was safe while there and the care she had was above amazing, the patients were all so happy there and I felt a happy atmosphere in the home. Ive spoken to my family that if ever I was in need of care that I wont allow my children to care for me because it drained me and I lost out on a lot of my young years and I would be happy in care as long as I get to see a couple of different places first to see where I feel happier.

Its a massive decision. When my nan went into a care home quite a few years ago she wasn't happy there but at the time there didn't seem like there was a lot of choice. Home care wasn't really an option and it was hard to see her go through it.

Really hard coping with elderly mother - adamant she doesnt want to go into a home, but struggling to cope on her own - very stressful times

I have my own private carer now who is a friend of a friend & is an absolute treasure as I had a bad experience with care agencies. The carers used to turn up if they felt like it so some days I was left unable to get myself dressed or showered & at the time I couldn't even get into my kitchen so couldn't even get myself a drink & had to wait till lunchtime for a drink & food if they failed to show in the morning. One of the carers was renting a house across the road from me & she even used to turn up in her pyjamas & dressing gown until the day she stole from me & then she did a moonlight flit. I complained to the agency & apparently she'd stolen from other clients too but they didn't seem interested at all in trying to find her & the police were useless, apparently her husband had been arrested a few days earlier & was in prison, he'd only just got out a few weeks earlier where he'd been for years for armed robbery. How they managed to rent that house I do not know as it's such a beautiful house & was so expensive, they probably never paid the rent, thankfully we've always had nice neighbours since. I never did get my camera & jewellery back.

My gran was in a fair few care homes, some of them were so shocking me and my mum couldn't bear it and transferred her. Her final one was lovely, the staff really loved her. When she was at the end of her life she requested to go back 'home' (care home) instead of the hospital because she felt so happy there.

Depression at various levels in my friends, and in myself too. I have found talking about it with others really helps to better understand and share the experience. The sense of community is possibly the biggest factor in helping beat depression for me - but I know this is not the case for all

We had to choose a care home for both my mother and father. Visiting beforehand and then with a relative is essential and a frank discussion afterwards. It was a decision which was not easy for me or my parents but one that had become necessary as we had gone down the route of carers and my parents care had become more difficult.
Both my parents realised that this was the most practical solution but it would have made things easier if we had had the conversation beforehand.

I helped my mum look for a good care home for my Grandma who had dementia. We looked into everything thoroughly, went off recommendations locally, chose somewhere nearby so easy for everyone to visit regularly, ensured staff were approachable/friendly, rooms were inviting and that there was lots going on to keep residents minds occupied. We think we chose the best for her and were very very happy with it.