Families

Choosing a care home: ten questions to ask

What we’d ask if we were looking for our own parents, from staff turnover to who answers the phone at 3am.

By Helen Pryce

A mother and daughter talking over tea at the kitchen table

Visit at least twice, once unannounced. Ask how long the staff have worked there. Ask who answers the phone at night. Ask to see the menu, a room that’s free now, and the latest inspection report. And watch how the staff speak to residents when they think no one is looking. That tells you more than any brochure.

  • Feeding the hens in the garden
  • Hair day in the salon
  • Watercolour class at the long table
  • Off the minibus for market day
  • Quiz night in the library
  • Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings
  • A visit from the therapy dog
  • Planting bulbs in the raised beds

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