Worthing charity with three care homes answers common question

Caring for a loved one as they grow older comes naturally to many. However, needs progress and providing elderly care can become too difficult to do alone. Professional help may be required.

Guild Care, which operates three care homes in Worthing, has provided the answer to a common question those looking for care have: “What is the difference between a residential and a nursing home?”

So, to start, what is a residential care home? This type of home is for individuals who find difficulty with day-to-day routines and need a little bit of extra support with personal care but they wish to remain as independent as possible. Help could be provided with eating, washing, cleaning, using the toilet, or any other tasks that an individual finds themselves struggling with.

These homes can be a short-term or permanent residence, depending on the needs of the individual. They will include 24-hour service, both care and support, provided by professional care staff. You can expect dining facilities with a catering service, planned activities and outings, and many amenities found at hotels, such as WiFi and secure access for residents and staff.

So, what does a nursing home offer on top of this? Also known as a residential nursing home or a care home with nursing, a nursing home provides all of the care and support a residential care home does but with the added support of 24-hour nursing care and monitoring by a registered nurse.

Individuals with complex medical requirements who need regular treatments, such as injections, or have evolving needs that require bespoke care plans and monitoring, would be best suited to a nursing home. These homes have specialist staff and equipment to recognise changing symptoms and to safely and effectively administer care for a wide variety of illnesses and conditions.

Guild Care’s nursing homes are Caer Gwent, Linfield House and Haviland House and the latter two also cater for residents living with dementia.

These are anxious times for everyone and making the decision to put a loved one into a care home is very difficult. However, Guild Care is safely accepting new admissions. It can provide safe admissions and outdoor visits, thanks to its plentiful stock of PPE, continuous risk assessments and the hard work of the incredible, kind-hearted, professional care staff.

If you would like to find out more, please visit www.guildcare.org or give the friendly customer service team a call on 01903 327327.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.