THE day-to-day reality of living in a care home has been revealed in a new report by patient watchdog Healthwatch.

Residents of nearly 200 homes across England - including some in the Bradford district - were interviewed about their experiences for the study, which reveals that even homes giving excellent care often aren’t getting the basics right.

Many people said simple gestures, like being asked what they would like to wear when they were being dressed, would make them feel more at home.

Imelda Redmond, national director of Healthwatch England, said: “It’s not easy running a care home, particularly as the sector as a whole is trying to get to grips with the dual challenge of managing rising demand with limited resources. But getting the basics right doesn’t have to cost the earth and should be the least we should all be able to expect for our loved ones and ourselves should we need care support.

“Even the best homes we visited aren’t perfect, and it is vital that managers and carers regularly speak with their residents to work out what’s going well and where they might need to improve. None of us would want someone dictating how we should live our lives in our own homes, so why should we expect care home residents to tolerate it?

“Care homes are not institutions, they are people’s homes, and the only way to ensure they feel like this for residents is to put them at the heart of shaping how the care home runs. Healthwatch is here to help with this and I would urge anyone who wants to share their experiences, good or bad, to get in touch.”

The report also reveals the experiences of people working in and running care homes.

Staff at one home told Healthwatch Kirklees about the problems they had getting dental care for their residents, saying dentists refused to do home visits unless they were private patients and that this was “unfair to residents that have to suffer”.

Konrad Czajka, chairman of the Bradford Care Association, which represents many local care home operators, said nursing and residential homes were making progress on the quality of care but still had a long way to go.

He said: “We all strive to be outstanding and there are lots of very, very good activities that are going on in our homes, but it all comes down, really, to the core values.

“The core values that we hold are ‘compassionate, adaptable, respectful and demonstrating commitment to being as excellent as possible’ and these are all things HealthWatch has brought up.

“We agree with them about the importance of making your nursing or residential home a home for the residents. They should be able to get up when they want to, go to bed when they want to and have meals when they want to.

“The home shouldn’t be closed, so people can come and visit any time, just like you would in your own home.

“These care values are really, really important and I think every provider strives for that but austerity measures sometimes make that difficult. The issue here, as shown by Healthwatch, has been the recruitment and retention of staff.”