How do you know which care home is the most suitable for your beloved relative or friend? How can you decide where they will be happy and well cared for? This book has been written to help relatives and carers who want to find the right home for their loved one.

Many hospitals complain there is a bed shortage. It is claimed elderly patients cause this because they have nowhere to go after leaving hospital as there is nobody to look after them at home and so they have to stay in hospital. They now need care and help with the activities of daily living such as washing and dressing etc. Some elderly patients are fit enough to be cared for in a residential care home, others need some or total nursing care. There are also elderly patients in the early or middle stages of Alzheimer’s disease and others who suffer from a mental illness.

Hospital staff are anxious to free the beds as soon as possible to make way for new patients who need surgery or urgent medical treatment. This puts pressure on care managers and the patient’s relatives to find somewhere where their loved one can be cared for on a temporary or permanent basis.

Having been a matron of various nursing homes for many years I have tried to address some of the problems relatives have brought to me for advice when they have come to view the home. They are mostly desperate people trying to find the perfect place where Mum and Dad or another much loved person will soon feel at home, be comfortable, happy and make new friends in addition to maintaining contact with relatives and old friends who visit so faithfully.

You will find this book full of useful information, which, I trust, will make your task easier for you and your loved one. When all the hard work is done and your relative has settled down you will be able to relax and congratulate yourself on a job well done.