Care homes

Care homes provide 24-hour care for people who need support which cannot be provided either at home or in other types of supported accommodation on a permanent basis.Support is available for people who have a variety of needs such as physical frailty, mental health needs or a diagnosis of Dementia or Alzheimer’s.

There is a range of homes available across the Scottish Borders run by the Local Authority and private providers.

Considering a move into a Care Home

If you are considering a move to a Care home, on a permanent basis, the first step is for you to get a Social Work assessment.

• One of our Care Managers will be in contact with you. A Care Manager can be a Social Worker, Nurse Care Manager, Occupational Therapist, a Paraprofessional or a Community Care Assessor.
• This will involve one or more meetings with you to talk about all the options available to you.
• Your family and carers can be involved in these meetings if you agree to this.
• Together we will agree on the care which will be best for you. Normally we would look to assist you to remain at home.
• If we think a care home is the best option, we will help you to arrange one that is right for you. You will be allocated a named worker who will support you through the process.

How do I arrange an assessment?

• If you already have a named worker, they will be able to arrange this for you.
• If you do not have a named worker, you or someone you know can call us on 0300 100 1800 (option one). You can also visit your nearest What Matters Hub for advice.

Assessed needs

The Assessment will establish if your needs can be met in a residential and/or Nursing Care Home. There are three identified levels of needs:

• Residential: Where a person has identified critical care need that can be met by social care staff, together with community health services. This would generally mean that their care needs are assessed as being of low or medium complexity and are relatively stable and predictable, regardless of how often the intervention is required.
• Enhanced Residential: Where a person has an identified critical care need which is frequent, prolonged and/or unpredictable, but without an identifiable nursing need. This need only applies to Care homes in the Scottish Borders.
• Nursing: Where a person has care needs that are unstable and unpredictable resulting in changing health that requires frequent or regular intervention or treatment. This would include where care needs are highly complex with a need for frequent technical or therapeutic intervention, including the presence of a Registered Nurse onsite.

Financial Assessment and contracts

Once the assessment of needs has been agreed, the Care Manager will offer you a referral to our Care Resource Team to enable a financial assessment to be carried out. The outcome of the financial assessment will inform you on the type of contract and the cost to you. At this stage we will provide you with a leaflet called “Moving into a Care Home – Information on charges for Adults”, detailing this process.

There are two types of contracts: Council contract (individual Agreements) or Free Personal/Nursing Care contracts (Letter of Agreement). The type of contract will inform the Care Homes you can move into. Some Care Homes only accept Private Contracts, and your Care Manager will be able to advise on this.

 Finding a care home

Once your care needs (Residential/enhanced/Nursing) and the type of contract (Private or Council) have been established, you can look for the appropriate Care Homes online and / or visit them.The Care Manager will ask you to choose Care Homes in order of preference. Whilst we will strive to obtain a placement in your Care Home of choice, this may not always be feasible as it will depend on vacancies, capacity, etc.

• The Care Information Scotland website provides useful advice on what to look for when choosing a home.
• The Care Inspectorate’s website explains more about how they regulate and inspect all care homes. Their reports will tell you about the quality of care in each care home.

Hospital discharges

A plan for the type of care home that will best meet your needs will be created in partnership with you, your family, carer and/or proxy. From that point, you will be offered a list of suitable homes that can meet your needs.

You must choose three suitable care homes ranked in order of preference, preferably at least one with a vacancy, from the list provided to you by the Care Manager.

If there are no current vacancies in any of the preferred homes, an interim placement will be found in a temporary alternative home with a vacancy that can also meet your needs. You will remain on the waiting list(s) of the preferred home(s) and the care home will get in touch when a place becomes available.

You will then be given the option to move there if you still want to go there.

Moving out of the Scottish Borders

If you are considering a Care Home outside of the Scottish Borders, please let your Care Manager know so they can provide you with further information about this process.

Care Homes in the Scottish Borders

Residential/Enhanced

• Bonchester Bridge Care Centre, Bonchester Bridge - 01450 860241 (Private)
• Buccleuch Care Centre, Hawick - 01450 373984 (Private)
• Deanfield, Hawick - 01450 373072 (Local Authority)
• Galahill House, Galashiels - 01896 753264 (Private)
• Grove House, Kelso - 01573 223181 (Local Authority)
• Knowesouth Care Centre, Jedburgh - 01835 863161 (Private)
• Lennel House, Coldstream - 01890 882812 (Private)
• Millfield Gardens, Jedburgh - 01835 862688 (Private)
• Saltgreens, Eyemouth - 01890 751440 (Local Authority)
• St Johns, Melrose - 01896 822168 (Private)
• St Ronans House, Innerleithen - 01896 830625 (Local Authority)
• Thornfield House, Selkirk - 01750 22808 (Private)
• Victoria Lodge, Coldstream - 01890 882112 (Private)
• Waverley Residential Home, Galashiels - 01896 752659 (Local Authority)
• Whim Hall, West Linton - 01968 678434 (Private)

Residential/Enhanced/Nursing

• Galashiels Nursing Home, Galashiels - 01896 752414 (Private)
• Grange Hall, Melrose - 01896 848802 (Private)
• QME Care, Kelso - 01573 224886 (Private)
• Peebles Nursing Home, Peebles - 01721 208380 (Private)
• Riverside Healthcare Centre, Selkirk - 01750 722701 (Private)
• St Andrew’s Care Home, Hawick - 01450 372360 (Private)