WORK by Healthwatch Surrey has helped to inform a new national report on peoples’ experience of care homes.

Between January 2016 and April 2017, Healthwatch staff and volunteers across England visited 197 care homes across 63 different local authority areas, including Surrey, to find out what day to day life is really like for many of those living in care homes.

The Healthwatch report outlines key next steps for care homes, how feedback can be used to identify a whole host of small, low-cost changes that ensure all residents feel ‘at home’.

The majority of residents and relatives Healthwatch spoke with considered the care they received to be good, with innovative homes showing what is possible without breaking the bank.

Healthwatch representatives also saw staff going above and beyond the call of duty to connect with those they care for and really helping them to live their lives – including one home in Surrey in which residents had been supported to use Skype, email and the internet to explore hobbies and keep in touch with their relatives across the world.

Visits carried out by Healthwatch Surrey highlighted a great deal of inconsistency in the way meaningful activities were provided for elderly care home residents.

Although many of the reports produced by Healthwatch organisations raise concerns about people’s experiences, the vast majority of care home managers have responded to the feedback very positively, often agreeing to review processes and making changes very quickly.

In Surrey, 79 of 93 care homes who responded to the local Healthwatch report, ‘My Way, Every Day’ agreed to review the activities they provide to ensure residents can participate in a flexible way that overcomes changing health limitations like dementia or physical disabilities.

Surrey County Council has also agreed to investigate the extent to which smaller care homes, without an activities co-ordinator, provide activities for residents.

Matthew Parris, evidence and insight manager of Healthwatch Surrey, said:

“We are pleased that many care homes in Surrey are making improvements for residents as a result of feedback from Healthwatch, but there is still much more to do.

“Part of our plans for this year will be to look at visiting care homes to see the changes that have been made and find out more about those services that we’ve yet to visit or hear much about.

“We are now calling on local people to volunteer to get involved in this work to make sure we see and speak to as many residents as possible.”

Imelda Redmond, national director of Healthwatch England, concluded: “Care homes are not institutions, they are people’s homes, and the only way to ensure they feel like this for residents is to put them at the heart of shaping how the care home runs.

“Healthwatch is here to help with this and I would urge anyone who wants to share their experiences, good or bad, to get in touch.”

The report, ‘What’s it like to live in a care home?’ is available at www.healthwatch.co.uk/news/life-care-home-whats-it-really.