"My Mom receives excellent care, attention and support"

Dear Linton,

Your decision to entrust the care of your mother to others is something many of us struggle with daily. You are not alone in your worry over finding care that is as good as you can do for her yourself. But there often comes the day when all you do just isn’t enough, and you must look elsewhere. Luckily there are a handful of very good places in the city providing high level care to our loved ones. Springwood is grateful to be able to offer a good experience to both you and your mother. So thank you! Your praise is very warmly received by all of us here.

Unfortunately, good quality experiences in care homes are not always the case, as the media constantly reminds us, further adding to the panic and apprehension of many family carers. Bad publicity can be good if it spurs people to action, and family carers can be a powerful voice for change. I encourage you to keep on top of the issues in social care and make your voice known loud and clear. There will always be a need for care homes for a small percent of older people, and we are obviously happy that you found us.

But we also need very good home care. Families also must be properly supported to continue in their caring role, as long as they are willing and able to do so. Furthermore, caring for older people is highly rewarding and it needs to be an attractive career path for younger people to take up, with good training and opportunities for advancement. These and many other issues need to stay on the government agenda. Again, let me thank you for your kind and heartfelt feedback. And let me also encourage you to try in whatever way you can to see that your Mom’s experience is the norm, rather than the exception.