From a residents' family - Craghall

"The family-run ethos is evident in the home, it is spotlessly clean and the staff are absolutely clean" - Carol Crowther

Any decision to put a loved one in a care home is difficult but when it comes suddenly and without warning it can be even tougher.

Twelve months ago, 93-year-old Arthur Dennison was still driving a car, but in June 2010 he fell over in his home and broke his hip.

This proved to be very traumatic for him and his family and as he lived in a flat it became very quickly apparent that his reduced mobility (he now needed a Zimmer frame to move around), would result in him having to move into a care home.

While he was in hospital receiving treatment for his hip injury, Arthur's daughter Carol Crowther and her husband Keith began to look at suitable homes for him. One of Carol's nursing colleagues, who had recently been through the same process, had been able to recommend some homes to visit, one of which was Craghall, which is owned by Wellburn Care Homes.

When Carol visited Craghall she was struck by the friendliness of the welcome and at her first meeting with one of the senior staff members at the home her worries about putting her father in a home were immediately put at ease.

To get a second opinion she came back with Keith and as they were walking through the door they saw someone visiting the home and asked him what he thought of Craghall. He gave it the thumbs up and this relaxed the couple even further.

Arthur moved into Craghall in July 2010 and after that inevitable period of getting used to his new surroundings, he is now well settled and realises he is in the best place.

Keith said: "We visited 5-6 homes and the difference was that with Craghall you have the feeling of home and not just being in a home.

"The family-run ethos is evident in the home, it is spotlessly clean and the staff are absolutely superb."

"The activity programme is also fantastic and is something there was no evidence of in the other homes we visited. "Just a day after he moved in we discovered Arthur has been taken out ten-pin bowling for the first time in his life and he loved it."

"We knew instantly that we had made the right decision and Arthur is happy in the home too, which is the most important thing."

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