Care Homes Owned by Abbeyfield The Dales Ltd

Fern House in June and took some time to settle.
Working together with the professional team at Fern House and aided enormously by caring and sympathetic staff at all levels together with the wide range of activities on offer, both indoors and outdoors, and continual reviews, we now have a happy and safe relative!
We, the family, cannot thank the staff and residents at Fern enough.

was lovely and easily navigable.
My mother felt comfortable enough to investigate the dining room and lounges and even joined in a quiz.
The staff are all very kind and she has always emphasised that nothing was too much trouble for them.
Also the accessibility for visitors meant that she had plenty of them.
All in all a very successful experience meaning that a return visit is anticipated with much less anxiety on mine and her part.

the services of the spa bath at Fern House. The spa room, where the bath is located, is lovely and modern.

were both looked after with respect and allowed to keep their dignity.
My mother for the last two years of her life had severe dementia, and the care and love she was given were truly outstanding, and something that my family will always be grateful for.
When your parents lose the ability to look after themselves, it is one of the most difficult and heartbreaking times of your life. The facilities at Fern House are good but the staff are absolutely superb.

things were deteriorating for her mentally and Fern House raised the question of moving her to the residential side. After a number of discussions we decided to do it. Dementia! She was in fact delighted with her new room and the closer care from the staff on that side. Sadly in March her health collapsed and she passed away in April '23. I don't think Fern House management could have handled it better. A lovely concession she had was to go to Copper Kettle, a centre on-site for outsiders to come and chat, quiz etc. She adored the place, and managed to keep going almost to the end. So we the family cannot thank or recommend Fern House highly enough for all they did for her.

Abbeyfield's responses were to ignore, to lie and to cover up. There was never any serious intent to learn from mistakes and improve matters.
Apart from the incidents, my relative's physical care was generally good.
But the importance of looking after residents' mental health is not part of the culture. While some carers manage to find the time to engage with their charges (and it can be quite a struggle to find the time), there doesn't seem to be any understanding in management circles that this is a good thing to do. Most residents now have a form of dementia but Abbeyfield does not, in my opinion, have the training or equipment to deal adequately with the more serious cases.

disruptive to other residents. Those aware of the nature of dementia it is inevitable over time a person’s character suffers from the disease and will change requiring more supervision. But surely a home that advertises they provide dementia care is adequately equipped to deal with it. Not here. This home caters for the easy to manage bed/chair-bound residents. The day-to-day care team are terrific. You could not wish for a kinder set of people. This review is aimed at the insensitive way in which management expected the relocation with zero assistance. We challenged about time, but were informed there was no flexibility. If your loved one is showing signs of losing mental capacity enquire elsewhere.

she had stopped self-funding in January so wasn’t paying the full costs. Their behaviour was disgraceful and having to move mum was cruel when she doesn’t remember living anywhere else. The carers are all amazing, loving, and caring. They were upset she was having to leave and didn’t want her to go. They were happy to continue looking after her but management didn’t want her there. So if your loved ones have dementia do not move them into Abbeyfield. One manager commented that mum wanders all day carrying a cushion and won’t sit down! My mum is chatty, sings dances, and wanders around. She was never going to sit in her room all day and watch TV - she never has in the 15 months it's been her home!

basics of handing out napkins at mealtimes were not noticed, my father in law always had food down him and his wheelchair. The young and often agency workers were either never seen or sat on their phones. I would certainly never recommend this place, they are more interested in how the home looks on the outside than the care for the residents!