Haviland House

Hi Janet, thank you for this lovely review. The last couple of years have certainly created some new challenges for us, but we’re so happy that you still feel connected to your mother. Maintaining these connections is so important! We want everyone at Haviland House to feel like part of our family - not just our residents, but their relatives too! Thanks again for taking the time to write this.

Thank you for taking the time to write these kind words. We understand how difficult the limitations to visits have been, and thank you for putting your trust in our staff, even when you couldn’t be there yourself. We strive to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere at Haviland House, and it’s good to hear that you feel this way too!

Hi Sally, thank you so much for your kind words. At Haviland House, it is our mission to support our residents throughout every stage of their dementia journey, and we will continue to have your mum’s comfort and wellbeing as our highest priority. I really appreciated your feedback regarding our fees, and I hope that you found our chat useful and are still happy with the high quality of care that we provide.

Hi Tony, thank you for your feedback. Communication is a key priority to us as a home, and we make sure to include all our friends and families in every key communication that we send out. Our Registered Manager will follow up on your specific situation with you directly. Thanks once again for taking the time to provide your feedback.

Hi Aaron, thank you for taking the time to write these lovely words. We truly understand how difficult this journey can be, and we strive to make every step as comfortable as possible. Despite the challenges that the last couple of years have provided, rest assured that we will continue to give your Nana the care and love that she deserves.

Hi Chris. We are so pleased that your mother has settled in so well over the last three and a half years – as you wrote, our staff love making a fuss over family members. We cannot wait to keep going the extra mile.

Dear Theresa, thank you so much for this lovely review. I am very pleased that you and your dad are happy with the care provided by all our excellent staff. The activities run by our fabulous health and wellbeing co-ordinator every day are fantastic aren't they, I wish I could take part in some of them too. I will pass on your kind and supportive words to everyone at Haviland House.

Hi Susan, thank you very much for your review. Your feedback is really important to us and we will pass on your kind words to the team. We recognise that the financial burden of care is difficult for many people. If you have your own home, you are expected to pay the full private fee rate. But, we guarantee after three years if your money runs out, you will not be asked to leave, this is a home for life. Regarding your Mum’s food, I understand she is now on a puree diet. If this is still an issue, the Head Chef would be happy to meet up and discuss what we can do. Please feel free to contact me by email helen.tidball@guildcare.org or call me on 01903 528600. Warm regards.

Thank you for your review. We know how hard a decision it is to put a loved one into a care home. But we are glad your mum has settled in so well at Haviland House and feels part of the family. Best wishes.

Thank you for your review, I am very pleased to hear that you are happy with all aspects of your mother's care. Regards, Guild Care

Thank you for your very honest feedback. I was sorry to read this review and disappointed that you feel that the home is run badly. We have spoken and met a number of times since your father joined us so I do understand your concerns and I know it was a very difficult decision for you and your family to have to place him in a care home. However, it is now very important that we work with you more closely to make sure that your father feels more relaxed and comfortable with us and I have written to you separately with some dates for us to meet formally to discuss your concerns.

We realise that Haviland House is not a care home for everyone. We have adopted the ‘Butterfly Approach’ at Haviland House, working very closely with external consultants. This means that our staff, the individuals living here and their relatives can spend the day together and we focus on people’s feelings as much as their personal care needs. We are no longer restricted by the usual routines of a care home and staff don’t wear uniforms - we are trying to create a homely environment for our family members with daily activity and engagement with the community including visits from local school children and various entertainers.

Value for money

With regards, the issue of value for money, the cost of care, dementia care, in particular, is very expensive and Haviland House is a not-for-profit care home. We also offer some subsided beds for those who cannot afford the full cost.

Basic care of our residents

Our records demonstrate that our care staff support residents with personal care 4 to 5 times over a 24 hour period.

Standard of care staff
You acknowledge there are very good staff which I am pleased to hear, and whenever individuals have been singled out for criticism or praise, this has been fed back to that person and action taken when required. If you can let us know those members of staff that you consider to be poor I would appreciate it so that I investigate properly.

Cleanliness

I disagree with your point that the cleanliness of Haviland House is poor. Environmental Health has visited and although there are some areas for improvement, they are satisfied with the levels of cleanliness within the home. If you could be more specific though about what areas of the home you believe have such poor standards that would be appreciated.

Once again I am very sorry that you feel this way about Haviland House, as we always strive to provide outstanding customer service making this feel like a home from home. It is clear though that you are not happy with the level of care being provided to your father and we will do all we can, working with you, to ensure that we can resolve the situation quickly.

Thank you for your comments which we take very seriously. We have recently adopted the ‘Butterfly Approach’ at Haviland House which is aimed at making the environment less clinical and more like a home. Taking on this approach means we have changed some of the ways we work so there are no strict routines; staff and individuals living here spend the day together and we focus on people’s feelings as much as their personal care needs. We have also removed staff uniforms and created five households which care for a particular stage of dementia. Having talked to other care homes who have also adopted the 'Butterfly Approach' we knew there would be a high turnover of staff, typically up to 85%, at Haviland, it is around 60%. Dementia care is quite different to traditional residential and nursing care but since moving to a household model we have strived to ensure consistency of staff, but attracting people has always proved difficult. We are always looking at improving our recruitment processes to ensure we get the right people.

Thank you for raising your concerns about your father’s wellbeing which we take extremely seriously. At a recent Relatives’ Meeting, we talked about the high turnover that Haviland has experienced this year. We knew from talking to other care homes that have adopted the ‘Butterfly Approach’ with Dementia Care Matters, that this would result in a high turnover rate of anywhere up to 80-85%. At Haviland, it is closer to 60%. Since moving to the household model we have strived to ensure consistency. Dementia care is quite different to traditional residential and nursing care and finding the right people has always proved difficult, but we have recently changed our recruitment methods and we will be monitoring turnover going forward. We encourage our staff to involve individuals in aspects of normal household tasks and activities such as laying the table for meals, sorting cutlery etc. as well as more planned events like watching films and quizzes and other events set up by our Health and Wellbeing Coordinator. We understand the concerns about your father being asleep on the sofa and this will be investigated further. We have commenced training for staff which focuses on providing person-centred dementia care – which is all about getting to know individuals and finding ways of connecting with people on an emotional level. The initial training has been on two households and will be rolled out to all staff in 2018. Staff also attend Guild Care’s Certificate in Principles of Dementia Care through Northbrook College. We hope that we can engage with you in person very soon to discuss all your concerns in more detail.