Family and residents praise St Marys care homes in national survey

Staff at St Marys care homes in Suffolk are celebrating after they performed strongly in the first nationwide care survey answered by families and friends who have relatives living there.

Anchor’s St Marys in Woodlands Road, Holbrook, scored highly in the Your Care Rating survey which also asked the residents to comment on the care they receive. 

The results show St Marys was given an overall performance rating score of 905 out of 1,000 and 915 out of 1,000 by the residents and their families and friends respectively.

The homes’ scores were well above the national averages of 878 for the residents’ survey and 836 for the relatives’ survey. Anchor, which runs the care home, also scored above the national average in both surveys.

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. 

The care home 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.

Karen Curle, Manager of St Marys, which is also 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.”

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 St Marys can phone 0800 731 2020.