Barchester Austen House Care Home

Kilnsea Drive, Lower Earley, Reading RG6 3UJ
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9.7 124 Reviews
  • Barchester Austen House Care Home, Reading
Austen House is a purpose-built Nursing Home in Reading, set in a semi-rural location and within easy reach of Wokingham and London. The staff at Austen House are dedicated to meeting all residents’ needs.

Austen House boasts an established, well run Nursing Floor with dedicated, experienced nurses 24 hours a day.

Austen House’s specialised Memory Lane Community (for people living with dementia) was refurbished in Summer 24. The team have also been awarded certificates by the Alzheimer's Society for passing a course that helped with enhancing their understanding of dementia. It involves improved insight into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and learning that feelings matter most.

Austen House welcomes enquiries from anyone and is pleased to show everyone – whether they're looking for advice or support – around if they would like to drop in to investigate for themselves.

Please get in touch and they would be thrilled to assist you with your enquiry.
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Care Provided

Primary Care Categories

  • Older Person Care
  • Dementia
  • Physical Disability
  • Visual / Hearing Impairment

Length of Stay

  • Permanent Care
  • Respite Care

Care Types Provided

  • Residential Care
  • Nursing Care
  • Dementia Residential Care
  • Dementia Nursing Care
  • For a maximum of 79 Service Users

Dementia Care Types

  • Mild Dementia
  • Moderate Dementia
  • Advanced/Complex Dementia

Other Care Provided

  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Stroke
  • Palliative / End of Life Care
  • Convalescent Care

Facilities

  • Own Furniture if required
  • Smoking not permitted
  • Close to Local shops
  • Near Public Transport
  • Minibus or other transport
  • Lift
  • Wheelchair Access
  • Gardens
  • Bar/Café
  • Phone Point in own room
  • Residents Internet Access

Funding & Fees

Weekly Charges per Person

  • Self-Funded Residential Dementia Care: £1900 – £2100
  • Self-Funded Nursing Care: £1900 – £2100
  • Self-Funded Nursing Dementia Care: £1900 – £2100
  • RESPITE Self-Funded Residential Dementia Care: £1900 – £2100
  • RESPITE Self-Funded Nursing Care: £1900 – £2100
  • RESPITE Self-Funded Nursing Dementia Care: £1900 – £2100

This Weekly Fee rate is an indication only of a typical standard fee rate for a resident living in a standard, comfortable room. A final Weekly Fee rate will be confirmed once we have carried out a pre-admission needs assessment. For nursing care, Weekly Fee rate will be dependent on personal needs.

These prices are only a guideline, please contact Barchester Austen House Care Home to find out the exact price for your requirements.

Funding Types Accepted

  • Self Funding (Private)
  • Local Authority with Top Up
  • Local Authority
  • NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)

Support you may be entitled to

If you chose a care home based in England, you may be eligible for NHS Funded Nursing Care (FNC), which helps cover the cost of nursing. This is worth £254.06 per week and is usually paid directly to the care home.

Good to Know

Person in charge

  • Katherine Mahoney (Registered Manager)

Local Authority / Social Services

Admission Criteria

  • Enquiries welcome from all agencies and individuals
  • Ages 45+

Care Home Design/Build

  • Purpose Built: Yes
  • Year Purpose Built: 1994
  • Last Refurbishment: 2024
  • Number of floors: 2

Room Information

  • Single Rooms (79)
  • Couples/Companion Rooms (0)

Parking

  • Free parking on site at Austen House

Barchester Austen House Care Home Reviews (124)

9.7

Barchester Austen House Care Home has a Review Score of 9.7 (9.714) out of 10, based on 24 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Barchester Austen House Care Home has 124 reviews.

Overall Experience
  • 84
  • 38
  • 2
  • 0
  • 0
Date Published
  • 124
  • 10
  • 21
  • 24
  • 100
Reviewer Connection to Barchester Austen House Care Home
  • 39
  • 17
  • 16
  • 15
  • 14
  • 5
  • 3
  • 3
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
Total of 124, showing 121-124
Review from Malcom C (Husband of Resident) published on 4 January 2017 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 3.0 out of 5
Carers good. Could be better! Response to residents call varies depending on carer on duty. Has improved since new manager appointed.
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Review from Pam H (Daughter of Resident) published on 12 December 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My Father has been a resident at Austen House (Bourne Unit) since August 2015. He has Vascular Dementia... The care he receives is very good. Communication from Austen House to my family and I has much improved over the last 4/5 months in that we receive proactive updates on his well-being, health
etc. - through telephone calls and newly-commenced "Relatives Meetings". This was not the case when he first went there. There has been a large turnover of senior management staff and Dementia Nursing Staff (which is being addressed). Most, fortunately, the same wonderful Carers have been looking after my Father since his arrival there, so they know him and they know me and my Family.
Barchester Homes are finally investing in Austen House with planned (long overdue) redecoration in all Units. Alas, my Father's Unit will be the last one to be completely updated, although some walls in corridors have been painted thus making it brighter (& helpful & calming to the residents).
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Review from Ian A (Son of Resident) published on 30 November 2016 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My father moved into Austen House in June of this year. From day one I have been impressed with the care and attention he receives. He is a very frail 96 year old with vascular dementia.
The staff in his section are helpful, caring and efficient. He has a choice of meals and tea and cakes are provided
throughout the day. They ensure he is fed, clean and shaved on a daily basis. For the past eight years, I had to look after him and after hospitalisation, the council suggested he went into a nursing home. This was the right decision and now I also have my life back.
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Review from Anita R (Daughter of Resident) published on 12 January 2016 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My father was a resident in Loddon Unit for 20 months until his death on Christmas Eve 2015. His behaviour could be a little challenging at times, but he was cared for by the nurses and carers with kindness, patience and even a little gentle teasing and fun. He clearly grew to love them for this and
was known for the beaming smile he wore when interacting with staff. The atmosphere on the unit was almost like a family home and visitors (sadly he didn't have many) were made welcome. Dad was always dressed in clean clothes, he had a good choice of food and was fed by staff at mealtimes, and when he wanted to go to his room staff would select something for him to watch on his TV, as he was unable to do this for himself. I could think of him at any time at Austen House, warmly confident that he was being properly looked after. This had not been the case at the previous home (not a Barchester one) he had been in, so I visited often in order to check on his care. Dad's residence at Austen House became an immense relief to me and the rest of Dad's family. We are so grateful.
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  • Treated with Dignity
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  • Value for Money
Current Review Score: 9.7 (9.714)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.7 (9.714) out of 10 for Barchester Austen House Care Home is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 24 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 24 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Care Home is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.714 for Barchester Austen House Care Home is calculated as follows: ( (209 Excellents x 5) + (67 Goods x 4) + (7 Satisfactorys x 3) ) ÷ 283 Ratings = 4.714
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Barchester Austen House Care Home is based on 24 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the registered maximum number of service users in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Care Home registered for a maximum of 50 service users has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 79 registered maximum number of service users is 15.8, which has been reached with 24 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Care Home does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Regulatory Rating

Care Quality Commission (CQC) Rating

Date: 4 Oct 2022

Overall Requires improvement

  • Caring Good
  • Effective Requires improvement
  • Responsive Good
  • Safe Requires improvement
  • Well-led Requires improvement
Care Quality Commission is responsible for the registration and inspection of social care services in England. View Latest Report

Bed Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (88)

Meet the Team (13)

Katherine

Katherine Mahoney

Job Title: General Manager Joined: 2025

Hello, I am Katherine Mahoney. I am the General Manager at Austen House. Welcome to our Carehome profile!


I have worked in Health and social care for 25 years, and was a registered manager in various care settings for 15 years. Most recently, I have been registered manager of a premium care home for the last 4 years.


I am very passionate about delivering outstanding care to our residents, empowering them to make choices and live their lives to the fullest. I believe resident wellbeing is paramount and should be at the centre of everything we do, and I enjoy making a meaningful impact on their lives.


I am very excited to be part of the team at Austen House, and look forward to continuing to make a positive impact, ensuring every resident’s journey with us is filled with dignity, respect and high quality care.

Khizra

Khizra Ain

Job Title: Clinical Deputy Manager Joined: 2024

Hello, my name is Khizra, and I am proud to be the Clinical Deputy Manager here at Austen House Care Home. I joined the team in 2024 as a Registered Nurse and, through dedication and commitment to providing the very best care, progressed to Senior Registered Nurse before stepping into my current role.


I began my career as a Military Nurse in Pakistan, where I served for two years before moving to the United Kingdom to continue my nursing journey. My passion has always been to ensure the highest standards of care, and I strongly believe in a person-centred approach that values the dignity, individuality, and well-being of every resident.


For me, making a positive difference in people’s lives is at the heart of everything I do, and I am dedicated to supporting both residents and colleagues here at Austen House.

Lind

Lind Immaculate

Job Title: Home Administrator Joined: 2015

I'm Lind, and I have been a part of the team since 2015. I am very passionate about my role at Austen House and love spending time with the residents and getting to know their relatives. During my time at Austen House, I have developed my skills and completed the Level 2 Accounting course.


I am always around to help and happy to assist wherever possible.

Charlie

Charlie Burns

Job Title: Senior Activities Lead Joined: 2017

Hello, I'm Charlie and I am the Senior Activities Lead here at Austen House.
I have proudly worked at for Barchester since 2017. As Senior Activities Lead, I tailor enriching, engaging and individualised activities for our wonderful residents here at Austen. I am supported by my amazing team of Activity Coordinators to deliver activities on a daily basis across the home.
I look forward to welcoming you and your family to Austen House!

Ainsworth

Ainsworth Brown

Job Title: Chef Joined: 2015

Ainsworth started working in the hospitality industry in 2004 as a second chef at a different care home. He gained further experience as a Chef De Partie, preparing various English, Asian and French authentic dishes, before being promoted to Head Chef.

Gihan

Gihan Jayasinghe

Job Title: Head of Housekeeping Joined: 2023

Hello, I’m Gihan and I am the Head of Housekeeping.


I have been working for Barchester since 2023 and am proud to lead my team of housekeepers and laundry assistants in ensuring the home is clean and looking beautiful.
I really enjoy working at Austen House alongside our residents and my team.”

Soniya

Soniya Sharma

Job Title: Head of Unit Joined: 2019

Hello, my name is Sonyia and I am a young, dedicated, committed nurse, willing to explore and develop my knowledge and skills.


I enjoy working with a variety of people and enjoy a challenge, using my initiative to solve a problem. It is important to me to ensure that within the care home, my residents are comfortable and satisfied with their surroundings and care.

Josephine

Josephine Shingwele

Job Title: Head of Unit/Care Practioner Joined: 2005

Joesphine has been employed by Barchester Austen House since/02/2023 and ever since she has been a very valued member of staff, she is reliable and flexible and her committed to her role as she helps other staff members to deliver possible person-centred care to our residents.

Prathistha

Prathistha Karhi

Job Title: Registered Nurse Joined: 2021

Hello, my name is Prathistha and I have joined the nursing team at Austen House, I moved from the Nepal to qualify as a nurse and really enjoying getting to know and caring for our residents

Karen

Karen Lay

Job Title: Laundry Assistant Joined: 1998

Karen has worked with us for over 20 years! She is a Laundry Assistant within Austen House.

Domestic Team

Domestic Team

Job Title: Hostess Team Joined: 2016

Hello! Meet some of our hostesses who are very passionate about the art of hosting and creating unforgettable experiences at Austen House.

Sunita

Sunita Biyani

Job Title: Activities Assistant Joined: 2008

I joined the team at Austen House in 2008 and passionate about fulfilling residents lives by getting to know each individual on a personal level and supporting them to continue enjoying their hobbies, I hold this very close to my heart 

Jo

Jo Austin

Job Title: Hairdresser

Jo is our home hairdresser at Austen House, appointments with her are available two days a week and she is very flexible over what time residents would like, we all love a pamper and she also visits residents in their rooms if they prefer!

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