Frequently Asked Questions

Paxton Hall currently offers care to a broad spectrum of elderly residents. We have places for able and competent individuals as well as individuals who suffer specific difficulties such as immobility, incontinence and confusion and illnesses including Parkinson’s, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease. This wide spectrum enables us to offer “a home for life”. It is our policy to care for our residents in the home through increasing frailty and we have the support of local Doctors and District Nurses to enable us to do so.

Where space allows, residents are always welcome to bring in any personal furniture and possessions including a favourite chair or a television for example. Residents are encouraged to personalise their rooms as much as they wish. Rooms are painted to their preference and our handymen are available to hang pictures, shelving etc.

We run an open visiting policy and relatives and friends are welcome at any time.

All food is freshly cooked on the premises and we offer a wide variety of nutritious meals and snacks. We try to cater for diverse preferences and tastes as well as specialised diets for diabetics or residents with swallowing difficulties.

We have a designated Activities Co-Ordinator who organises entertainment, games, painting, outings, gardening and other physical activities as well as reminiscence therapy and the ever popular bingo. There is a well-stocked large print library as well as the services of a mobile library that visits regularly. There are modern televisions in all lounges.

Paxton Hall is set in magnificent and spacious grounds laid mainly to lawn with trees and flower beds. Residents are able to walk in the garden and or sit and relax under the shade of a tree. The garden is walled and set well back from the main road.

We are committed to the principle of staff development and there is therefore an ongoing staff training programme. We also have a dedicated training suite within the home.

We have a loyal and mature staff group and our levels of staffing comply with, and in some cases exceed, registration requirements.

Our fees range from £950 per week. Fees are all inclusive depending on the level of care required and type of room. In addition, residents pay for their own personal expenditures such as hairdressing, chiropody, newspapers, tobacco and alcohol. Should you require any further information or have any queries please feel free to call and speak to either the Administrator.

Most people these days do an internet search (e.g. on Google) for a Care Home in the vicinity of their own home and/or ask their GP, family and friends for advice or recommendations. It’s also useful to visit Care Homes’ own websites. The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of care homes, publishes detailed inspection reports of each registered Care Home which are a valuable source of information for prospective residents and these are available online. You can also find independent reviews on Google and websites like carehome.co.uk.

This research should enable you to shortlist potentially suitable Care Homes and following this, the next step is to visit this shortlist of Care Homes. You can either visit the Care Homes unannounced (but at a reasonable hour) or call their Administrator and make an appointment to visit at a mutually suitable time. Visiting a Care Home in person is a unique opportunity to assess the feel of the home (there is no short cut to this), ask questions (e.g. about staffing levels, food, activities, services) and raise general concerns that you may have about life in a Care Home. If you wish, you should also, visit the home again at a different time of day. An initial respite or short-term stay is an invaluable way to experience life in the Care Home before making a long-term decision and most Care Homes are quite amenable to this

Various charities for the elderly, such as Age UK publish lists of questions you could ask Care Homes in order to help you make the right decision.

A Care Home for the elderly is a communal home for elderly people who cannot look after themselves in their own homes for a variety of reasons such as physical frailty, illness, loss of memory, and dementia. All good Care Homes these days offer a person-centred service tailored to the needs of individuals rather than an institutional approach to care.

Rooms in most Care Homes are personalised to the likes and dislikes of residents who can create their own personal space (for example by bringing in their own furniture) while benefiting from the care and centralised services such as catering and activities. All Care Homes in England are regularly inspected and monitored by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is an independent regulator of health and social care in England, to ensure that they meet the legal requirements of Care.

All Care Homes in England are registered with the Care Quality Commission as either Residential Care Homes or Nursing Care Homes.

Residential Care Homes for the elderly can cater to a variety of residents not requiring a high level of medical intervention – e.g. the frail and elderly, people with dementia, people with learning difficulties etc. A Residential Care Home for the elderly, as distinct from a Nursing Home, does not have qualified nurses on duty. Any medical needs of the residents are looked after by the GP and visiting District Nurses.

Nursing Care Homes for the elderly are primarily for residents with continuous and high level of medical needs and the staff is therefore made up largely of qualified nurses in addition to general care staff.