What to look for in a small residential care home

What to look for in a small residential care home

A small home and a large facility are different propositions, not different sizes of the same thing. Eight residents means staff who know everyone by name. It also means fewer staff on shift and a narrower range of what can be managed. Both matter.

What to ask on a visit

Ask who is on duty overnight, and what happens if someone becomes unwell at three in the morning. Ask who is clinically responsible for residents, and whether that person is in the building or on call. Then ask what would make them turn an admission down. A home that cannot answer that last question honestly is worth being careful about.

Worth checking on the day

• Whether the kitchen is in use, and who does the cooking

• How staff speak to residents when they think nobody is listening

• Whether residents are dressed, occupied, and out of their rooms

• Trust what you see over what you are told. A home that feels like a home usually smells like one, sounds like one, and has people moving around in it.

Before you leave

Take the same questions to every home you visit. Comparing the answers side by side tells you more than any brochure.

The size of a home changes what it can offer, in both directions. Ask about both.