General Chat

Oh no,you an share them with Sue when she gets up

I've got some ginger and honey biscuits, but I think you said that you don't like them

Coffee is served, I will keep some hot for Sue

ooh Coffee :-D

Yes Linda - that would be the ideal solution :-D

Off to make coffee

Private "luxury" homes here do not necessarily provide the best treatment.
My father who suffered from Alzheimers spent 18 months in a HA funded home, that was basic, but excellent care.
Then he was transferred to a private EMI home, cost £400 - £ 500 a week.
He lasted six weeks there in luxury surroundings, that he was unaware of, and in my opinion died of neglect.

Just keep buying a lottery ticket Tec, then you can install two trained nurses in your top floor rooms, problem solved :-D

Bye Sylvia - enjoy your lunch and rest.

There is a better choice of homes up on the North coast, due to a much heavier population, and a high level of aged people, but that is 70 miles away.

Although I do have niggling reservations about the home the Duchess is in, I am aware there are much worse ones out there.

Enjoy your lunch Sylvia

off for lunch :-)

One problem with the HA homes is that you often do not get a choice .............. and in some smaller communities, you may actually be sent to another community that could be 2 hours drive away.


Nor will they often allow spouses to be together unless they are both need the same level of care ........... if both need care, that could mean living in different areas of the same home, or in different homes

to get decent care here, you really have to be able to afford to go private ...................


which means paying somewhere between $4000 - 6000 a month ....... that would be about £1600 - 2600


The other homes are run by the local health authorities, take about 80-90% of your pension income, and are otherwise supported by the HA ................ some can be very good, but others just "warehouse" their patients.


There is one excellent public home in a community south of here that is doing wonderful things for Alzheimer and other dementia patients ............. so it can be done!


The private homes offer more care and "luxury", if that is the correct word to use.

sorry ........


got to go and have lunch, and put my leg up with the hot pad under it.



see you later xx

It is such a shame that you have no other choice of homes because you are in such a rural area. At least in a town there is competition for customers amongst the homes, although in England the payment system is different. Here I think the homes tender for the social service patients and the cheapest tender wins. That doesn't say much for the standard of care.

I saw what my cousin and OH from Queensland brought as "snow and winter gear" when they came for Christmas 2 years ago .................... 6 weeks in Ontario, north of Toronto and a week with us.


Both her sister and ourselves had to supplement what M & R had :-)

Tec ..................


we have the same problem with many homes here ...................


it is still a pity!


actually some homes are having problems because the owners decide not to hire their own employees but to contract out all the work to a company "specialising" in it.

Then at the end of the contract, they re-negotiate with another company that offers a better "deal" ................. ie, more money in the owner's pocket.


If the residents are lucky, the staff hired by the previous company will be laid off and then immediately hired by the new company .......... so they may not see any differences



but it can be very confusing.



All our hospitals and care homes seem to, at the very least, contract out cleaning, and often food preparation and serving. Such staff are paid minimum wage ................ and often don't even speak English :-(


don't look in the corners of rooms :-|

I don't think Sue would survive our winter - especially not at high altitude :-

I agree, it would be great fun to be marooned in a pub for several days. :-D

Sylvia - these homes are run on a shoestring. This one is a business owned by an Asian gentleman living in the Midlands. It has to show a good return.
Mostly the staff are very young girls, I assume on the minimum wage.
Senior staff consist of a manager, her deputy, and a registered nurse. There are three nurses working a rota, they are all from Romania. One with a husband and children back in Romania. They are pleasant people to talk to.

Yes ................ I have all the winter clothes



Sue and her OH would have to be outfitted :-)