Archived: Hilbre House

'My sister was recently in your care for several weeks until her death. You could not have done any more than you did to make her short stay as comfortable as possible and also to make the whole extended family welcome each time we visited. Her end was obviously a very sad experience for us all, but could have been much worse had you not shown the care and consideration that you did ' without exception.'

We looked at the comments that people had made on a recent satisfaction survey and these included:

'When I was looking for a care home for my mother I did not imagine I would find one as excellent as this.'

'Both care staff and management keep us well informed re hospital/doctor appointments and general well-being.'

'We experienced one problem which was quickly and completely resolved ' please keep it up!'

'We have always been well informed as to doctor's visits and treatment prescribed.'

'Unfortunately due to a recent accident mother has suffered a broken bone in her leg and is getting a daily visit from the district nurses and we are very happy with the extra attention being provided by all the staff.'

'We have always found the staff to be very courteous and nothing seems too much trouble.'

We spoke with four people who live at the home. One person said 'I think we are very lucky to be living here. I couldn't be in a better place. We're well looked after, we're kept warm, what more could we want?'. Another person was sitting in her bedroom which was a very attractive room with a sea view. She said that she stays in her room in a morning but goes downstairs in time for lunch. She told us that the food is pretty good; she doesn't really get a choice but has never had anything that she didn't like. The main meal is at lunchtime and someone told her what it would be that day but she has forgotten. She enjoys the activities like painting pots and the activities person is very good. Another person was sitting on a sofa in the entrance area reading a newspaper. She said that she had lived at Hilbre House for four years and she is happy there. They have activities twice a week and she enjoys joining in a quiz.

One person we spoke with said that she gets up about 8.30 to 9am and goes to bed when she feels like it. She said: 'We can please ourselves, they don't tell us what to do.'.

We spoke with a person who had come to live here six weeks ago, and a relative who was visiting him. They said that a member of staff from the home had visited him in hospital before he came to live here. He has a spacious room with a sea view, and this is important for him as it is similar to his own home. So far the family are very pleased and consider that he has improved a lot since leaving hospital. They particularly appreciate that staff support him to maintain a smart appearance.

One of the people we spoke with said that all of the staff are OK and she would speak up if they weren't. One of the people we spoke with said: 'I can't fault the carers, they are very good.' Another person told us: 'The staff are really nice people, very obliging.' A relative said: 'the staff are lovely'.