Garden House

The staff and management are helpful, knowledgeable, polite, kind, supportive and willing, despite being busy and short staffed.

I have told my children that if I ever need significant care, I would be happy to be in the Garden House.

When her health deteriorated, all staff – the nurses and carers, the activities staff, chaplaincy, catering and admin staff - showed much kindness and loving care towards my mother, especially near the end. Thank you.

My wife has been in the dementia care unit (Sundials) in Garden House for the past nine months. Settling in was not an easy process but the help which we both received from the administrative, medical and nursing staff enabled the transmission to go as well and sympathetically as possible. Now, after nine months, she is as contented as her dementia allows, and this is due to the excellent carers who treat her with outstanding compassion and who always seem to remain cheerful under demanding circumstances. I cannot fault them. The accommodation is good, well equipped and always clean. The food is of a very high standard and attention is given to her personal tastes and desires. She is always clean, dressed with care and her dignity maintained. The ancillary staff who clean and serve are equally friendly and cheerful, suggesting a happy, well-managed workplace. I too am happy to see and know that she is well cared for given her sad circumstances.

High-class facility set in beautiful grounds. Professional, attentive and friendly staff available at all times. Competent management. Strict Covid procedures, rigorously enforced.

I received a lot of help and support from the Garden House in my efforts to secure a place for my mum in difficult and trying circumstances. This consideration and kind approach has continued throughout the six months that my mum has been a resident. The staff are lovely to deal with, and I feel they are doing everything that can to look after my mum and give her the 24/7 care that she needs. Given that home is not a possibility, I believe the Garden House is the best home from home there could be.

The staff, needless to say, are dedicated and very kind. I imagine that's the case for the vast majority of nursing homes. But it was very important in the last year because we couldn't visit. Trusting that she would continue to be helped with care and dignity, to the end, was really comforting. I recommend Garden House without reservation.

My Mum entered the Garden House two and a half years ago painfully thin, declaring she would never be happy again. Six weeks later, she was attending every activity going (Sherry and stretch being her favourite), she quickly gained a stone in weight and achieved a quality of life we never dreamt possible at her age. She sadly had primary progressive aphasia which meant over the following two years she slowly lost her ability to speak and this is where the Garden House staff were so amazing. She was always assigned staff who knew her, they had a highly detailed care plan so she was looked after in the way that she liked and they were superb at anticipating her needs. The staff from nurses to carers, to caterers to cleaners, were all so incredibly kind and respectful. Every day they dressed Mum beautifully with her pearls and earrings and she always looked immaculate which was very important to her. I cannot praise the Garden House staff and management enough.

Mum spent a wonderful two years in the Garden House. For her it was a caring family with which to spend her final years. Mum was welcomed, encouraged, nurtured and cared for to a very high standard. Her quality of life was consistently enhanced by the way the staff team adapted to her needs as her faculties diminished. She enjoyed mealtimes, she was constantly taking part in the social programmes, she was very fond of all the staff in all their different roles - and they were fond of her. Mum's spiritual needs were carefully looked after by the chaplaincy team. I would thoroughly recommend St Monica Garden House as a care home of the highest quality.

St Monica's is the best home in Bristol, from my knowledge and experience of sheltered housing and especially the dementia unit I would put it first in any list for loved ones. Prompt introduction of Covid testing for some visitors means everyone is safe and confident. I love St Monica's and all the staff.

Garden House is the nearest thing to heaven on earth. All my needs are met. I am very happy that I am reasonably free to meet with others, otherwise, we'd be isolated which is not good for anyone. I put all staff on a pedestal, their kindness itself, and treat me with the utmost respect. I like their sense of humour. The house is beautifully run and led brilliantly. Activities keep my brain ticking over, and spiritual needs are looked after.

After many months of hospital stays my husband was given a place at Cedar in the Garden House. He had a lovely room and felt more at home. The kindness and care were exceptional during his last week of life he was looked after night and day even to calming music on his iPad. We were given updates and had help and information when we needed it. No one could have done more. Thank you so much.

Please look beyond the fixtures, fittings and gardens. Care should be given by compassionate, well-trained staff when caring for residents at the end of their life. My Mum had a really bad death with very poor personal care and little or no medical care to reduce her emotional and physical pain. Relatives have been unable to put homes under the normal scrutiny during the Covid crisis, but what I did see on the last day of my mum’s life was a dirty room, a Mum who looked uncared for and staff who were defensive and uncaring. Please don’t let your loved ones suffer the same fate.

The leadership team and staff have worked so hard to ensure we can visit our relatives during lockdown which has been incredible. Life would be bleak without being able to see our loved ones so Thank you. You have worked creatively to find solutions and ways for us to visit safely. It means the world to be able to stay connected.

I have been a resident since December 2001 and more recently the care home seems to be struggling to attract staff both in a care capacity and food service. They take a lot longer to respond to call bells and then answer and go away again. The quality of the food has also diminished both in choice and appearance. I find I don't see people much throughout the day now as there are not as many staff.

I can't think of a more beautiful, welcoming care home. Thanks to all the staff. Keep up your wonderful work.

2 sittings for lunch. I go to first and I, therefore, know no one who attends second lunch. I am profoundly deaf which means I (despite my hearing aids) feel very cut off as I cannot engage in friendly talk (as when I came here). Cleaner very good, helpful and friendly. Dinner staff excellent and very helpful. I feel very cut off being so deaf, but there we go. I am used to it now and thank God I can still read I have a 10/10 person who brings up books from the library.

My mother aged 94 moved into Garden House in September 2017 following two spells in hospital. The staff have been wonderful. She is treated as an individual, never patronising. They get to know her as a person and the family could not be better reassured that she is safe, cared for, well nourished and has appropriate stimulation through activities. The level of personal hygiene is excellent. We cannot recommend St Monica Trust too highly.

I am very pleased with the care my aunt has received over the years at the Garden House, St Monica, especially in the past year when my aunt has lost 100% of her mobility. I am confident and believe that she receives very good care. The caring staff and medical staff work as a team very successfully. They are very friendly to residents and visitors alike.

The Sun Dials at the Garden House is an amazing place. The staff are very caring and very committed to the residents they look after. They work well as a team and nothing is too much trouble. My father in law is always clean, tidy, well fed and comfortable and as socialised as he allows. It is an excellent facility, I'm sure the best of it's kind to be found anywhere. Food is great as is care, safety and the way the staff treat the residents with love, compassion, humour and laughter.