Care Homes Owned by Abbeyfield The Dales Ltd

Managers always happy to talk and listen.. Care staff seem kind and caring. They talk and listen to the residents. The rooms are very clean. Several lovely gardens. Residents can help gardening if they wish. Lots of activities. Residents kindly encouraged to join in. Lovely building.

My wife has been at Fern House for nearly two years now. The attention she gets from the care staff on Level 2 is excellent. It is obvious that they have her welfare at heart. The food is also excellent. The whole experience is not only good for her, but also for me in that I can relax more, knowing that she is in capable hands. The activities staff also go out of their way to include her in many of their events. I click favourably on "Value for money" because I get benefit, in the form of peace of mind and sense of freedom, from the outlay as well.

She always comments on how friendly she finds the staff especially as she is a bit of a solitary soul herself.

I cannot envisage my wife being anywhere else . The senior staff are very supportive. There is a high turnover of junior staff who need training. Many personal items go missing without trace. The real heros are the laundry and cleaning staff, likewise some of the mature carers. The place is very welcoming and well run.The deterioration of mental health in some cases (inc my wife) presents ongoing challenges

We are always feel happy leaving them knowing they are safe and well looked after. The staff are great, always accessible and friendly and we definitely feel like part of the Fern House family when we visit.

Dad was a resident at Fern House for 12 months. Our family cannot compliment the staff at Fern House highly enough. They were always caring, compassionate and professional, often going over and above expectations to ensure dad was happy and comfortable in his new environment. It would have been our wish that dad had moved into Fern House a little earlier if we had known how happy he would be in the company of new friends and a team of caring staff who really do care. Thank you to all the team at Fern House.

For us, here is what makes it exactly where we would want Dad to be

- The Senior Care Team, particularly Residential Floor 1 has been incredible Their responsiveness to Dads evolving care has instilled a confidence and trust within us that has been important to us through this journey

Since my beloved mother in law moved into Fern House she has been given a new lease of life.

Thanks to effective control of her medication, her confusion has diminished and she has regained a level of independence not seen for many years.

She has gained weight, eats like a horse, sleeps well, loves the comfort and privacy of her own apartment and has learned to enjoy many of the varied activities available to residents. Seeing her taking part in organised activities (via your social media page), gives me and my husband great pleasure, reassurance and comfort. Thank you to every single member of staff at Fern House; together you are doing something wonderful.

Dad has been at Fern house six years and it has been a life saver. He has significant dementia. He has always been treated with great care, dignity and respect. As he has aged we have steadily increased his care sometimes at very short notice when he is ill or has fallen. The staff are super professional and very patient, they always put Brian first. Fern house is beautiful, always very clean and his flat is lovely. He loves the meals, that he has lots of choice There is lots going on which keeps his failing mind going and the rhythm of going down for coffee, or for meals, has helped him stay orientated. He still thanks us 'for finding this place'. We recommend it whole heartedly.

We, the family, cannot thank the staff and residents at Fern enough.

All in all a very successful experience meaning that a return visit is anticipated with much less anxiety on mine and her part.

My dad has recently started using the bathing facilities at Fern House Care Home. When you walk through the door, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. The carers are lovely and put my dad at ease. The manager has been so lovely and helpful and always says hello to us if she sees us. I can highly recommend the services of the spa bath at Fern House. The spa room, where the bath is located, is lovely and modern.

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.

My mum was accepted here in 2017, aged 82. She thought she had landed a 5* resort. Her flat, carers, activities, food and feel for the place were all fantastic. Over time I had occasional questions to ask but every time they were responded to and things went extremely well for years. Late last year 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.

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.

I write to make families aware Abbeyfield is not a dementia home. Our situation took our mother aged 85 years and resident for the last 15 months self-funded until recently with Alzheimer’s and ended with a forced notification of 10 days to remove her from the home. The reason given her dementia was 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.

My mum is 85 with dementia and had been at Abbeyfield for 15 months and I had to move her this week to another care home which was very distressing for her. Management gave me verbal notice over the phone then by email giving me 10 days to move mum as they didn’t feel they could meet her needs. Coincidentally 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!

My father-in-law moved to this home in December. He was taken in without a care assessment and on leaving six weeks later we still hadn’t reviewed a care assessment. Whist staying there he had other residents walking into his room at night, one occasion this was made as a complaint but continued. The 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!