Downs House

Downs House is an exceptional home. My grandmother has really settled in. She has gone from living at home alone to living with a lovely group of people, she has made new friends with both residents and staff. She is a new person thanks to the care and support of the staff at Downs House. We are even able to stop and have lunch with her. The home is beautiful and the staff are amazing.

Happy being at Downs House. Staff very friendly and caring. Food good.

I am very happy at Downs House.

I am happy to be a resident at Downs House. The food is good and we are looked after. The activities are good. Also security.

Happy with being a resident at Downs House. Food is brilliant. Activities are brilliant.

Happy, very happy.

The staff are very kind and there is plenty of feed and it is very good, I liked the home cooked food. The staff encourage me to do as much for myself as I can and always tell me to ring the bell if I need help.

The laundry comes back clean and the bed is comfortable in my room. I like the view from my room. I have poor vision but I can make out the shapes and colours. It is mostly trees I can see.

My Mother has lived in Downs House since October 2015 and knew from the start it was the right decision. We came to Downs House on a friend's recommendation and we have not been disappointed. Mum has had excellent care from the start. The manager is wonderful and really 'leads' from the front and is extremely caring and can always answer any queries and concerns. I cannot recommend Downs House more highly!

A very well managed care home providing a good standard of compassionate assistance to all its residents. Respect is shown and appreciated by all the residents who live there. The friendly atmosphere is obvious as soon as you walk in the door.

We have always found Downs House to be a very happy and relaxed home, with caring staff, good rooms and food much improved in recent times, my Mum was very happy there.

The room and facilities at Downs House could not be bettered and after a two week totally flexible trial period he did not want to leave. The staff are hardworking and attentive. There are activities every day and twice a day. Families are encouraged to visit and to be involved. It could not be better and my father is very happy and at peace with himself.

Downs House struck me as being different from the moment I walked in the door. Very personal, friendly and more like a home than a care home. Although it has some of the normal issues - bad laundry service/average food, the important bits are first class ie. the residents are well looked after and the staff seem to really care. The home is run by a family and this shows in the feel the care home has.

My comments are influenced by 2 factors. 1) My mother is diabetic 2) she has moved to a home in Norfolk which is near my sister but seems superior to Downs House.

The care received from carers was good, with appropriate referral to health professionals, especially with her diabetes.

However the catering arrangements seemed unimaginative especially with regards to a diabetic diet. Choices were minimal - a disappointment where food intake is so important.

It is hard to find the words to say how truly wonderful Downs House has been. A sign on the wall says 'The residents do not live in our workplace, we work in their home' and that couldn't be a truer statement of how things feel. It is genuinely like visiting Nana at home - the carers, management and owners all treat her (and us) like family. The food is freshly made (and very tasty too!) and there is no end of interesting activities. It was a very difficult decision to put Nana into a care home, but the choice of Downs House has taken away any worry. She is loved and cared for like a member of the family, and there is nothing more we could ask of the wonderful team here.

The home is owned by a family run company and all residents are made to feel part of that family. The Manager leads by example, demonstrating commitment, professionalism and compassion which is emulated by all staff we encountered, throughout cleaning, maintenance, kitchen and caring staff. The food is excellent with high nutritional value, attractively presented and no request is too much trouble. All this, together with a comprehensive, varied programme of activities mean I could not recommend this Care home enough.

Perhaps more staff are required.

Very pleasant communal sitting room with adequate room to enjoy my visitor, in comparative privacy.

My healthy, active 89-year-old mother had a fall, broke her leg and the resulting hospitalisation brought on 3 strokes and onset vascular dementia. The manager and her team took a confused and upset old woman and helped her become much more the calm, warm and caring old lady that she is. Whilst she will never be the same, Downs House and their care and calm security have encouraged her to live back at home with visiting carers. Thank you.

Downs House has cared for my husband for more than 6 years. He is well cared for, he has many health problems and needs a lot of understanding and caring. The staff are always there for him and his family. We have to trust Downs House to give him the care and help he requires every night and day.

The staff at Downs House are so lovely from the manager to all the staff. They have treated Mum with such dignity and been kind and caring. When Mum has been ill they are wonderful popping in and out all day checking on her, nothing seems to much trouble. The food is tasty and she can have the amount she wants and ask for extra if she wants it. I know we are paying for this but the home staff have been so kind and helped make a very difficult situation a lot easier not just for mum but for me also. She has been here for a eighteen months now.