Transition to retirement home care can be a complicated and difficult process when dealing with the limitations of ageing. My recent experience in supporting and guiding my 93-year-old mother to a successful and happy outcome in this change in her life has been enlightening and reassuring and has seen her comfortably installed in Leighton House.
After more than 70 years in the family home she loved, it was apparent that her safety and security at home had become compromised. After careful consideration of residential care options available in Gisborne, I made an initial visit to view Leighton House. I was received by Teresa McGregor and given an extensive tour of the facility and I arranged to bring my mother for a viewing. Teresa’s welcome to my mother was warm, informative and fun. A wheelchair tour made the experience convenient and comfortable. My mother formed a clear impression immediately of an efficiently and professionally-run organisation offering a safe, supportive and inclusive care plan operating in a comfortable and beautiful home environment. Leighton House offers a ‘family home’ style of living, providing privacy and a restful environment while encouraging social contact and support among its residents. My mother was fortunate in being offered a trial week almost immediately and this was followed by the option of transfer to resident status. The approval process was conducted professionally and sensitively and my mother felt fully consulted and informed. Together we prepared her for a significant life change. The attention and care of Leighton House staff, at all levels of care, was faultless and my mother felt reassured and confident that this was the perfect next stage in her life and she settled in happily.
From an administrative point of view, Teresa provided extensive paperwork and the formalities of entry including funding, partnership and responsibility were clear.
My mother is enjoying a safe and restful life at Leighton House. She has rekindled old friendships with residents she has known through her long life lived in Gisborne and has established valued new friendships with other residents, enabled through the easy, warm and social nature of daily life and routines. The staff at Leighton House have been responsive and attentive and have established friendly relationships with my mother and my family. They understand her needs, and she feels safe and protected.
My family and I unreservedly recommend Leighton House as the provider of professional care for our mother and grandmother, meeting her medical, emotional and physical needs.
Jude Conway