Lavender Fields

I have two residents, my mother and father-in-law, living at Lavender Fields for approx 2 years. No care home experience will be perfect (I have experience of others in Sevenoaks), but I feel the standard of care and support is excellent. Recently, the social activities have become even better with regular parties, in addition to the fullsome program already in place. My father-in-law doesn’t have dementia, so is a reliable witness!

Positive feedback of quality of meals and dining experience.

Lavender Fields is a beautiful, bright and airy building surrounded by woodlands and gardens. It has improved significantly under the current management and the gardening club is a big hit with Dad. The staff are all respectful and caring. Administrative communication could still be improved, but things are definitely going in the right direction. For the first time in over two years, Lavender Fields feels properly managed.

Very kind staff. Dining room staff so welcoming. Very caring of resident and my mother.

£2,500 per week for the low standards they produce is disgraceful

I find the staff kind and understand and keep me well informed about my mother's state

My friend loves to look out of her window and watch the birds. Recently she mentioned that the bird feeders were no longer replenished. When I passed this on to a staff member, it was dealt with promptly and efficiently. The bird feeders are now nearer to her room and always full. Thankyou.

While we have been displeased by the lack of a manager and poor leadership over several years, (and hope this will soon be rectified) we cannot fault the care mum has been shown over 6 years.

On a visit to my mother, the care staff were incredibly kind and sensitive to her needs. We especially like the lack of turnover in regular carers - it is obviously a good working environment. Our mum is beautifully cared for - even when she is being frankly 'difficult'. Thank you to all.

The care she and I received in the days after the fall was exptional. Thank you for looking after us both

On the downside, Lavender Fields have struggled with recruiting senior managers, and also use quite a few agency staff, which isn't ideal. But day to day, our family's experience of Lavender Fields over the last 10 months has been a good one.

My contact with Lavender Fields has been for the past 3 years. In the past 2 years there has been several temp managers. I have seen several members of staff arrive and depart during this period. 3 months ago a new manager was appointed. It now appears that a period of stability has commenced which is reassuring especially with the closure of a home nearby. I would like to thank all of the staff at the home who always have been so kind and considerate for my relative despite the changes and challenges it is really appreciated. I just hope that the senior management recognise and support their fantastic staff.

My mother has been in Lavender Fields for nearly five years and we have not had any complaints about her care. The staff on her floor have all been caring to her and friendly with us. There seems to have been a lot of problems in setting a permanent head of the home but hopefully the latest will be good. There have also been some problems with paying the bills but they seem to be satisfactory now.

I'm am disappointed at the level of care given to my relative. There is no consistency in care a large turn over of staff. Pore and non existent management, no explanations as to high turnover of management. My relative has been in this care come for 2 1/2 years and has spent over £300k on care. We were told when she entered the home it was a home for life however this is NOT the case. After a stay in hospital due to negligence of staff she has been refused return. Management still a week later have provided no explanation or will even engage with us. All her things are in her room. They are only interested in your money. On the surface it's lovely but they really don't care. Residents are just a cash cow. Avoid at all costs. It's a shame only a bad review will actually get a phone call from management.

Our experience with staff has found them caring supportive and friendly. Their tasks carried out efficiently but making sure dignity of resident and comfort are at maximum. They listen and take on board any information we have given to help them converse or understand mum's speech. Any questions we have had have been answered.

My mother had been at Lavender Fields for just over a year. The staff made her very comfortable and as she came to the end of her life they showed enormous affection and care. I cannot express sufficiently how impressed I was. My mother was aged 100 at the time of her passing.

I would highly recommend it.

We recently had to say goodbye to our lovely mum, shortly before her 103rd birthday, after five years and eight months living in Lavender Fields. Having had a stroke at 97 and the subsequent sale of her beloved house, Mum was really not happy to find herself at Lavender Fields. However, nothing was too much in order to make Mum feel at home, in her own lovely room, with her own possessions. She gradually adjusted, enjoying the companionship, meals, activities, hairdresser, manicure, FaceTime on her tablet and her visitors. We found the occasional management/relatives meetings to be very useful. The new management is a positive improvement. There are too many wonderful carers to mention individually, save to say that Mum's care, particularly in the latter months was exceptional. Mum was very closely monitored in those last few weeks, and treated with loving care, dignity, compassion and understanding. We are so grateful and we thank you all. We made the right choice with Lavender Fields.

My Mother lived in Lavender Fields for the last 8 months of her life. Once settled she never complained of care, comfort, and those looking after her. She left her home at age 103, I could no longer except she was safe there. I never had any regrets introducing her to Lavender Fields the whole setup. She did not make life easy for the staff at first naturally she ended up loving them all. I have nothing but thanks and the dignity she was shown when she peacefully went to sleep in her chair was a credit to all involved. Thank you all.

Since Covid I feel that the opportunities for trips out (even short walks) have disappeared. The food on offer every day can be good to very poor, consistency is needed here as with good ingredients recipes can be easily made to be tasty and appetising. The lack of permanent staff and a manager is unsettling and use of agency staff does not allow residents to build relationships.