Questions to ask when visiting
If you are visiting a care home, make sure you ask as many
questions as you like. If you can, write down the things you want
to ask before you go.
You might want to ask the following questions:
- Can residents have personal possessions in their rooms such as
pictures, plants and furniture?
- Are you allowed to take your pet?
- Do you have a choice of what and when to eat every day? Are
special diets catered for?
- Can you invite your relatives and friends to come and have a
meal with you, as you would do at home?
- Can you prepare food or drink yourself if you get hungry or
thirsty in the middle of the night?
- Will you be free to have people visit you at any time, as they
would be able to if you were living at home?
- Will you be able to have a phone in your room to make private
calls? If there is a shared phone, is it in a place where you can
talk without being overheard?
- Will you be able to come and go as you please, for example, to
the shops, to the pub or a club in the evening?
If the answer to any of these questions is 'no', think about how
this would impact on your life.
Find out if you can set up a trial period before deciding
whether a social care service or care home is the right one for
you.
It is also helpful to talk to the people using the care
service you are interested in and see what they have to say about
it.
Remember: You should feel totally confident
that you have chosen the right care service for you.
Find out more
- Choosing care checklist: This
checklist will help you decide how helpful a care provider has
been in giving you the information and advice you need
- Example of good and bad care homes:
Here are some examples to give you an idea of what a good care home
or care service is like compared to a bad one
- Your rights: Find out about the
minimum standards care services have to meet and what you have a
right to expect
