Hankham Lodge - Life Here

Entering Hankham lodge

Introduction

People move into residential care for a variety of reasons but for each person it is a
major life event. Wherever possible, it should be the result of an individual's own
informed decision but this may not always be the case. Some come direct from hospital
because a decision to discharge the patient into a supported environment where care
is available has been made on the basis of assessment. Some may come in as the
result of decisions made by their relatives or as a result of a crisis. The clinical and
other care needs of individuals will vary substantially. In many cases, residents will
have been assessed by their local authority social services in consultation with medical
and nursing colleagues as requiring residential home care and some of them will be paid
for in part by the local authority under the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. Others
will be paying for themselves.
A prospective resident is likely to be anxious that the decision is the correct one,
however it was arrived at. Coming into Hankham Lodge may mean a move away from a
familiar area, away from neighbours and friends. It almost certainly means a move into
smaller accommodation and the giving up of many personal possessions. Moving into
residential care may be occurring at a time of other significant change in the person's
life of crisis or emergency. That change may be due to the loss of a partner or carer
with all the accompanying grief which that will entail. To be moving into care can itself
sometimes feel like a bereavement.
Choice
Individuals should make their own informed decision to come into Hankham Lodge.
Other non-residential options should have been considered for example, packages of
care organised after local authority assessment by a care manager which enable both
health and social care services to be delivered in the individual's own home.