Wentworth Court Cheltenham

Basically, if you’re looking for a care home for someone with dementia please look at Wentworth Court. It has a culture of kindness and staff who are properly trained in supporting people suffering from dementia. If you look elsewhere make sure the home has multiple staff properly trained in dementia support, not just one like the 2 homes my mother stayed in before Wentworth Court.

Finding a care home for someone you love is so hard. As my mother’s dementia developed we researched and chose a care home in a beautiful rambling old house… aperitif before lunch etc and most importantly a dementia support lead. They asked us to move her after 6 weeks as it was obvious they weren’t really geared up to support people with advancing dementia.

It’s incredibly hard to find a care home for someone once they’ve been asked to move out of one. There was just one who offered a place, part of a chain… and there were staff there who were super kind and supportive but we realised only one who was properly qualified in dementia support. The activities lead there was amazing, not just kind – she knew what she was doing. Mum formed a strong bond with her, but she really wasn’t happy there on the whole.

You think to yourself “is this because of the illness?”, “Is there anywhere that could support our mother better.” And you visit as often as you can and there are times of happiness but a lot of unhappiness.

When we discovered the only person who really knew what they were doing was leaving and at the same time heard from a concerned resident about the extreme rudeness of the head nurse to our mother we looked for an alternative. We knew it risked adding to the confusion but we also knew our mother would have done anything to try to make a difference to our lives and we had to try.

We were recommended to look at Wentworth Court. I hadn’t wanted my mother to go into a specialist dementia home because she was still so full of life and I thought she’d be horrified. However, I looked at it due to enthusiastic recommendations from people qualified in dementia support, combined with despair over how best to support our mother.

The day Mum moved into Wentworth Court she was very confused and could barely walk. I’d been ill for a couple of weeks and hadn’t been able to see her and was shocked at the sudden decline. I pushed her in a wheelchair round the building to show her the different lounges and outside to see the hens but nothing could ignite a spark of interest. She just kept asking to come home with me. The Wentworth Court team were very sympathetic to the distress I couldn’t hide and asked me to trust them and leave Mum to settle in with them. They advised it could take 2 weeks for Mum to settle sufficiently for me to see her again – this seemed hard at the time but believe me, they know what they’re doing. I had almost daily calls with Katrina or Kristina, two of the nurses. They were so kind. It seemed amazing but it sounded as if Mum was settling in quickly.

Then the super spreader COVID event of Cheltenham Races happened, just as we were gearing up to see Mum again. Wisely, Wentworth Court locked down early, before the government mandate, in order to protect the residents. So the team there organised a video call for Mum and me. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. She was happy, she looked well, she was smiling and she was joking again.

Due to COVID restrictions I couldn’t physically see Mum again. Unfortunately my beautiful, kind, fiercely intelligent and utterly generous mother rests with God now. I wish that we’d found Wentworth Court sooner, but I do take comfort that she was in a care home with staff who were kind, went above and beyond duty to support my mother, and where they’d been properly trained in supporting people who suffer from this terrible disease. This is rather lengthy but I hope it helps you if you’re looking for a care home for someone you love who suffers from dementia.

My visit to Wentworth Court has left me with lovely reflections of time spent also questioning why homes in other organisations are not of the same experience. I have visited 100’s of Care facilities in various regions and can honestly say have never been received as I was on my visit to Wentworth.
On entering the premises I momentarily thought this isn’t a Care facility from the visual on arrival. I saw a cafe/coffee shop and people going about their daily life: on closer observation I could see it was residents and relatives and a dog. Discreetly to my left was reception and lovely staff were greeting me with hellos, smiles and handshakes. I was introduced to a gentleman called Jez who was upbeat, happy and humorous on greeting me this set the standards that I was about to experience in my meeting which I have to say was “Outstanding”. I was very fortunate to meet a lady called Suzanne who clearly is very passionate in her delivery of all she does for those in care.
I met other staff members who also were clearly genuinely happy in this working environment and again passionate in their job roles to deliver the highest level of care they can. It was apparent to me that team members stepped outside of their job requirements to deliver “more”.
Also my observations showed me that the thinking, processing and actions in the delivery of what’s needed is a “Holistic” one. As a person who works “Holistically” daily I know how hard this can be but especially on such a grand scale as Wentworth Care are doing to an excellent standard.
My memory will be one I will carry and most definitely share with providers as the standards to meet and examples to follow.
I came away feeling inspired by what this Care Provider has achieved. Thank you for a wonderful insightful experience. I wish all my meetings could be like my meeting with incredible team members at Wentworth Care Home.