Hill House

My mother was lucky to spend the last 17 months of her life at Hill House. She lived independently at home until she was 102, when she had a fall fracturing her hip. After 5 weeks in hospital she arrived at Hill House. She was very ill and End of Life Care was addressed immediately. The care she received resulted in an amazing improvement and within days she was well enough to be dressed and go down to the lounge and return to her room in the evening. The staff are amazing. They genuinely care not only for the residents but also for the relatives. We visited most days and were always greeted by name and shown great respect and friendliness.Her named nurse was great. She coordinated her care and we were always kept well informed. We really appreciated our emails keeping us up to date with doctors visits and her general well being. Her kind and friendly support worker, kept an eye on her clothes and toiletries and attended her funeral with the manager, which we really appreciated. We cannot praise the staff highly enough. Everyone is so cheerful and caring and it is good to see the continuity of care with no use of agency staff. It was a pleasure to visit Hill House and we miss our visits. The staff coordinating the daily activities of the residents were brilliant. My mother loved singing and dancing and would join in happily. Even our grandchildren enjoyed visiting and joining in the quizzes. As an observer it is great to see staff from every area being so good at what they do. Hill House is expensive. However it is a beautiful home, well maintained with good quality furniture and furnishings and pleasant gardens There always seemed to be plenty of staff available who have time to talk and care for the residents. We feel it was money well spent. Thank you for looking after her so well.
Original Comment Report...

In October 2014 my wife Joyce, aged 94, ended up in hospital following a period of progressive dementia that had culminated in a disastrous fall. During her stay there I came to the realization that I could no longer provide the constant care that she had come to need. My daughter travelled from her home in Italy to help me in our search for a suitable care home that was reasonably near to my house in Fleet to enable me to visit her frequently. We saw several - two or three that we visited had fantastic facilities that might have been more suitable for the younger elderly folk. However, we finally decided that the most important factor should be the quality of care. We chose Woodlands which is a beautiful, if quirky, building having some 39 private rooms each with excellent facilities to suit elderly residents in varying stages of disability. Dining rooms and restful sitting and TV rooms, kitchen, laundry and hair salon are all on the ground floor. A local doctor is appointed to attend whenever necessary. The staff were many and varied but all were very capable and showed great sympathy and friendliness to Joyce in making her life as comfortable as possible. On each of our family visits we were struck by the quality of care, dedication and friendly atmosphere, especially during the last few weeks when she was bedridden. Joyce passed away peacefully in her sleep on 8th July 2015. We could not have chosen a better care home to help her through the last months of her life.
Original Comment Report...

My mother was cared for by Hill House Nursing Home for the last five months of her life. She had increasing care needs as time went on, suffering from arthritis and other conditions such that moving around the home on her own was impossible. She received a superb level of care, receiving the help she needed but being given the dignity of retaining a good degree of independence. The Home is particularly well equipped and very well staffed, with specialists running activities (including group crossword solving, walks in the beautiful grounds, and trips out to the local garden centre) aimed at keeping residents as active as they wished. The nursing and care staff went well beyond simply carrying out their duty, showing enormous commitment and dedication, and enthusiasm for their work. The catering and maintenance staff also maintained a cheery approach throughout, and it is clear that they take real pride in their work. The Home enjoys the full support of the local parish clergy, with regular services of Holy Communion. All the staff became real friends and we won't forget our Hill House family.
Original Comment Report...