“I have felt extremely confident that the home has managed Covid-19 well”: Why I placed my uncle into care during the pandemic
26/11/2020
The niece of a resident at C&C’s Rathmore House care home has shared why putting her uncle into care in June was the right decision, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Lucy Clark, from Hampstead, moved her 85 year old uncle Nigel Service into Rathmore in June 2020. Nigel has followed both of Lucy’s parents, father Julius Schofield, 90 and mother Diana Schofield, 91, into care homes run by C&C over the past two years.
“For the last four years, my Uncle Nigel had been living at my parents’ house in Hampstead – initially while they were both still there themselves, but more recently he had been alone with carers cooking him meals. We were planning to look for sheltered accommodation for my Uncle, but then lockdown happened, and with the carers no longer able to come, I moved to my parents’ house to look after him.
“It became clear pretty quickly to both my Uncle and myself that sheltered housing wouldn’t be sufficient. Uncle Nigel has Alzheimers – he often forgets things, and didn’t really understand why he wasn’t allowed out during lockdown. He had become paranoid and angry at me, as he thought I had made up the rules.
Nigel with his sister Diana in Rathmore House
“When we moved him in June, Uncle Nigel was quite relieved, which was a blessing to us. He was already familiar with Rathmore House. He had visited my mother every few days since she moved in. Uncle Nigel had worked as a horticulturalist, and still holds a strong love of plants. The home took him to a garden centre, and he chose some plants which are now in place at the home.
“I have felt extremely confident that the care home has managed Covid-19 well. There was one instance where someone had a temperature for a while (not Covid-19, as it turned out) during the early lockdown, and Rathmore protected its resident, isolating and testing them while continuing to give them support.
“I know there have been some well-documented care home ‘horror stories’ during Covid-19, and of course those need to be talked about. But no credit has been given to the hundreds of homes which have looked after residents really well over the pandemic. That hasn’t been properly celebrated. The carers are incredible people. It’s comforting for me to know that my uncle is now there with my mum, in a controlled and safe environment.”
C&C is running a special introductory offer for new care home residents, providing the first two weeks of their stay free of charge. This offer runs until Sunday 13 December 2020.