Care Homes Owned by Garad Care Homes

My 104 year old mother has been a resident for 9 years. and bed-bound for over 4 years. She has been well looked after despite her limited capacity due to advanced dementia. The staff are exceptional and always caring and positive, I am kept up to date by management

I wanted to acknowledge and specifically commend one carer in particular for the outstanding care and support he has provided to my dad. The care team as a whole shows compassion to my dad, who is happy and settled in the environment.

My Dad has been at Ashburton House now for 4 years and is very much at home there. The staff know and love him and I can't ask for more than that. They understand his needs and work hard to meet them, in a cheery and caring manner. His room feels personal to him and is usually clean. Staff are sometimes able to take him out for a walk or to church, which means a lot. I always feel welcomed; managers are ready to listen and lead well, as demonstrated by the now stable and professional team there.

Pleasant environment, great communication with staff regarding Mum's needs, it took Mum a while to settle due to her dementia diagnosis but she now seems happy, settled and safe.

Yes, they could do with a few more hands on deck in all departments but the care is wonderful.

Recommendations would be 100% for the home, as he would put himself.

Overall, we are happy with the care my mum is receiving.

My dad has been a resident for the past few months, on my visits he seems to be happy and settled in his room. The staff are very attentive and he appears to be well cared for. There is a good variety of well cooked meals.

Our father has recently carried out a stint here. There are a few good members of staff who are overworked but the management is completely inadequate. The registered Manager should spend less time posing around and more time ensuring the home doesn't stink and facilities are improved. The whole place smells and could be avoided by simple measures to keep furniture dry, I don't even want to think about how this affects infection control. Doors to upstairs areas broken leaving vulnerable patients able to access the stairwell for days. Patients are being left with medication and untrained staff dishing it out. Residents left sitting in mess and no attempt to clean properly. I have worked in busier care homes that were able to maintain a clean and lovely environment and this is beyond unacceptable. The food is absolutely awful, cheap horrible overcooked stodge for lunch that looked totally inedible and 2 dry crackers with a piece of cheese dished out for supper. I could go on and on.

My mum has been resident for two and a half years. From day one she has been well cared for. Difficult times through Covid were handled well. The only concern I have had is the shortage of staff over a long period.

Unfortunately, I cannot give a good review of this home. My parent was in here for a time and within that time was not looked after or protected enough. Certain issues were raised because a member of staff was not following general safeguarding rules and regs. There have been months of heartache for the family trying to resolve the issue which has left a damaging trail of destruction in its wake. I have ticked one star because it wouldn’t let me score 0.

My mother has been a resident now for more than 10 months. =She is very elderly and has many needs that we [her family] could not meet after she had a spell in hospital. She settled quickly and my experience of the care she has received has been extremely positive. She needs help with all aspects of her life and sometimes I chat with her about her views about the staff and the care she receives and she says everyone is very kind. Thinking about the interaction that our family have had with Ashburton House staff team I would also say that this has been first class. We pop in and out frequently and everyone is very helpful and positive towards us and we are kept up to date with how she's doing. For example she's putting on weight! We are all very happy with her placement and would recommend Ashburton House very highly.

Perhaps, though, the best recommendation for the home has come from my mother, herself. One day as I was leaving her after a visit, she told me (completely unsolicited), 'you mustn't worry about me being here. I'm very well looked after and the food is very good, too'.

The staff are very polite, supportive and friendly, the food is also very good and clients are given a choice. The care home also do activities for the residents to help them, I would not hesitate to recommend The Old School House.

I moved my husband to The Old School House in June 2022 after he had been in care for eighteen months. He settled immediately and is very happy. His multiple needs are catered for sympathetically and he is looking much better than when he arrived. The care team are attentive and his medication has been reduced so his appetite has returned. I have every confidence in the care team and management.

I would recommend Ashburton House very strongly.

Throughout the pandemic, the manager and her team at The Old School House have done really well. The care that Dad has received has remained first class and the fact that he has gained some weight is testimony to the quality of the care and the food. The staff are always pleasant, polite and cheerful which has really helped in these difficult times. Now that visits are possible again, the safety measures in place give a sense of security and reassurance. The manager and her team have maintained superb professional standards whilst remaining friendly and helpful. To have done this in such demanding circumstances must have been exhausting both physically and emotionally. I would like to thank them all for keeping The Old School House covid free, an outstanding effort!

Mum and Dad went into The Old School House 3-weeks ago because Mum has Alzheimer's and Dad has severe movement difficulties along with other medical conditions. They were initially reluctant to leave their home and enter the care home, which is understandable, but all of the staff from the manager down have been wonderful. Whilst the family cannot enter the home because of Covid, they have set up a system where families can see and speak to relatives from behind a glass screen. This is reassuring for us all, and we can see how much more happy and relaxed they are now. It is great to see how the staff interact with our parents and treat them as friends rather than patients. I would recommend this home to anyone who has care needs.

My mum and stepdad have been resident in this care home for the last 3-weeks, during which time they have settled and been so well looked after. This is a great relief to the family, and we are finding all the care staff, including the manager, to be extremely kind, compassionate and helpful. It is also lovely that we are able to visit behind a glass screen, ensuring that everyone is kept safe. Nothing is too much trouble for any of the staff, and we would be more than happy to recommend this home!

The staff have been wonderful in taking care of my mother and making sure she is happy. Keeping in contact, especially when myself, my sister, and our families have been unable to visit ourselves. Thank you.