Visiting and fees
Come without telling us, and know what it costs before you ask
Two things that most houses make you telephone for. Both are on this page.
Visiting
How visiting works here
No appointment, no book to sign in for family
Any day, from eight in the morning to ten at night. After ten, ring the bell; four people are awake and they will let you in. We have no visiting hours in the sense that word usually has, and a house that does is telling you something.
Eat with her
Lunch or supper in the dining room or in her room. Tell the kitchen before eleven in the morning. A relative's meal is charged at cost; a grandchild's is not charged at all.
Bring the dog
If it is friendly and on a lead. Two residents have their own cats in their rooms. We will not promise about parrots until we have met the parrot.
What to bring on the first day
Clothes she actually wears, in quantity, all of it labelled by us on arrival at no charge. Her own bedcover and chair if it fits. Photographs, the radio she knows how to work, and the things on the mantelpiece. Not: valuables, large sums of money, or anything that cannot be replaced.
The room is hers
Paint it, hang things on the walls, bring the furniture. The bed and the call system stay for fire and lifting reasons; the rest can go into storage or back to you.
Children are welcome and so is noise
There is a garden and a room off the hall with a door if a visit is going badly. Nobody here objects to a toddler; several people come alive for one.
Moving in
What the first day is actually like
Ruth comes to her, first
An assessment at home or on the ward, an hour or two, with you there. If we cannot meet her needs we say so then, before anybody has paid anything or given notice on a flat.
The room is made up before she arrives
We ask you to come an hour ahead with her things, so that when she walks in there are photographs on the wall rather than a hotel room.
The afternoon is usually bad
Expect distress, repeated questions about going home, and anger aimed at you because you are the one who is there. This is ordinary. It is not a sign that we are wrong for her or that you are.
Go home, and telephone at nine
Staying until midnight rarely helps. Ring at nine at night and again in the morning; the night staff expect the call and will tell you the truth, including if she has been up since two.
Come back the next day
Some houses advise a fortnight's absence to let somebody settle. We do not, and we think it is mostly for the staff's convenience. Come every day if you want to.
A review at four weeks
With you, with her if she wants, and with whatever has gone wrong written down. Either side can say at that meeting that it is not working.
Fees
What it costs, what it does not cover, and what happens when the money changes
Weekly fees, invoiced monthly in advance. The figure you are quoted after the assessment is the figure, and it does not go up because somebody becomes harder work, only at the annual review.
| What is included | ResidentialFrom 00 a week | Residential with dementia supportFrom 00 a week | NursingFrom 00 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| The room | Single room, own bathroom, garden or street side | The same rooms, in both parts of the house | Single room on the ground floor, nearest the nurses' station |
| Included in the weekly fee | All care, all meals and drinks, laundry, bedding, incontinence pads, activities, the chiropodist's visit fee, Wi-Fi and the television licence | Everything above, plus trained staff on every shift and one-to-one time written into the day | Everything above, plus a registered nurse in the building day and night, wound care, catheter care and end of life care with a syringe driver |
| Charged on top | Hairdressing, newspapers, the dentist, optician and private physiotherapy, taxis to hospital, personal toiletries by brand, and a relative's meal at cost | The same list as above. We do not charge a dementia premium | The same list, and privately arranged equipment if you want better than what the health service supplies |
| If needs increase | No change of fee for more help with washing, dressing or walking. A change only if nursing care becomes legally necessary | Included. Needing more attention is not a reason to charge more | Already the highest level we are registered for. Beyond it, a hospital or a specialist unit |
| If the money runs out | We write to you three months ahead and apply with you to the local authority | The same: three months' notice and an application made with you | The same, and the nursing contribution from the health service is paid to us, not to you |
| Notice to end | Twenty-eight days, either side, in writing | Twenty-eight days, either side, in writing | Twenty-eight days, and seven days after a death |
| Ask for the full list | Ask for the full list | Ask for the full list |
Fees rise once a year, in April, with sixty days' written notice and the reason given. If your mother is paying for herself, we will tell you at the assessment roughly how long her money will last at this fee, because nobody else will, and we will write to you when her capital comes within three months of the threshold at which the local authority takes over. If the authority's rate is below ours, we do not evict: we will look for a room at the authority's rate, and we will tell you plainly whether a third party is being asked to pay the difference and exactly how much. A top-up must be affordable for years, not months, and we will say so if we think it is not. Nobody has been asked to leave this house because their money ran out.
Money questions, answered rather than deflected
Before moving in
Do I have to pay a deposit or an admission fee?
One month in advance and nothing else. No admission fee, no administration charge, no furniture charge, and no charge for labelling clothes.
Can we try it for a month?
Yes. Respite stays are from a week, at the same weekly rate, and about a third of the people who now live here arrived that way.
While she is here
Do I pay while she is in hospital?
Yes, at the full rate for the first two weeks and at eighty per cent after that, to hold the room. If a stay goes past six weeks we will talk to you about whether holding it still makes sense.
What if she goes home to you for a fortnight?
The full fee continues. We are honest that this is the part families find hardest to accept.
At the end
Who pays for the funeral, and what happens to her things?
Not us, and we will not become involved in it beyond helping you. Her belongings stay in the room for a week at no charge, and longer by arrangement. We have never charged anyone to clear a room.
What do you do with the money in her room?
Each resident has an account held by us for small spending, receipted, and the statements are sent to whoever manages her affairs every month without being asked. We do not act as anyone's attorney and we will not witness a will.
Ask for the written fee schedule
Two pages, with every chargeable extra and its price, and the contract you would be signing. We post it before you visit if you prefer to read it at the kitchen table.