Family and residents praise Bethune Court care home in national survey

Staff at Bethune Court care home in Hastings are celebrating after it performed strongly in a nationwide care survey answered by families and friends who have relatives living there.

Anchor’s Bethune Court in Boscobel Road, St. Leonards on Sea, scored highly in the Your Care Rating survey which also asked the residents to comment on the care they receive. 

The results show Bethune Court was given an overall performance rating score of 937 out of 1,000 and 882 out of 1,000 by the residents and their families and friends respectively.

Both scores were well above the national averages of 878 for the residents’ survey and 836 for the relatives’ survey. Anchor, which runs Bethune Court, also scored above the national average in both surveys.

Now in its fifth year, the Your Care Rating survey is the country’s largest and most authoritative survey of care home residents and now of their families and friends as well.

The nationwide survey gives residents, their families and friends a voice, putting their care at the heart of understanding more about how well care homes perform.

More than 16,700 residents in 820 care homes across the UK took part while 12,000 relatives from 686 care homes responded to the survey.

Each care home was given was given an overall score based on the residents’ feedback and a second on the family and friends’ feedback across four broad themes; Staff and Care, Home Comforts, Choice and Having a Say, and Quality of Life. 

Bethune Court scored highly in the following categories in the residents’ surveys: the older people said they were happy living at the home and staff treated them as an individual.

The relatives also praised the care home, stating staff treated the residents with kindness, dignity and respect.

Manager Victoria Willard, from Bethune Court, which is rated Good by regulator the Care Quality Commission, said: “It’s great that not just our residents, but their families and friends value the care they receive here.

“Most of our scores across the four themes are really positive, which shows that life for our residents is happy and fulfilling and is recognised by their loved ones. While we’re really pleased with our scores, we obviously want to get even better and the survey helps us do that by giving us direct feedback from residents, friends and family.

“Families can also see at a glance which care homes are committed to raising standards and being transparent as they take part in the survey. Every care home resident, and their family and friends, should be able to speak up about their care and this is what the Your Care Rating survey does – it gives them a voice.”

All of this year’s results for every care home surveyed are displayed on the Your Care Rating website, www.yourcarerating.org.

The survey was compiled by leading research company Ipsos MORI with input from the care home operators taking part, plus the National Care Forum and Care England. This means the survey is the most authoritative of its type, and is also the country’s largest, capturing more views of residents than any other.

Anyone wanting to find out more information about Bethune Court, can phone 0800 731 2020.