Barchester Healthcare Reviews 125

This place is an absolute joke, it is dirty, dangerous and no one cares. I have raised this with management before and nothing has ever been done, hence the review.
I have video evidence of other residents walking into my mother's room and taking things from her.
When I did raise this with a nurse in person, she blamed my mother and said my mother knew the person who was coming into her room which I know for a fact is not true.
I noticed my mother didn't have a duvet one day as it was being cleaned so I asked a nurse to make sure my mum had one for that night.
When I looked on the camera in her room later on, there was no duvet, and she also didn't have one for another night after that.
For £7000 per month, this is absolutely appalling.
This place has 56 rooms, even at the lowest price, they take in around £300,000 per month, let that sink in.
If you need a care home, I would choose one that actually does basic cleaning, maintenance and upkeep. It's no wonder they have a 1.6 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot.
It's dated, filthy and is in dire need of renovating.
When I informed management I have video evidence of all these things, including a dementia patient walking into my mother's room at 5.30am and dropping his trousers, I got threatened with legal action from their Managing Director Angela Bradford.
A disgusting, vile, evil company who exploits the elderly for profit.

Applied for a role with Barchester, staff not aware of interview booked, left waiting around in the care home while staff tried to see who could interview me, then after chasing them repeatedly for an outcome. Not a great experience, would not want to work for a company so disorganised.

We all know about the issues that exist within the care industry, even the use of the word "care" is open to interpretation, especially by those who are supposedly in receipt of it.
I have had a recent experience with this organisation, which led me to question the ethics of this business, which unsurprisingly, i found to be based on minimum standards and maximum profit.
I won't go into detail on my review, as many of the points i could make have been reflected in the below reviews already published.
I would strongly suggest that anyone who is considering placing a relative or loved one, within a home run by Barchester, to think twice, as below the very thin veneer lies an organisation who's motives are at the very least questionable

My mother spent 3 years in The Fernes Care home in Hampshire. She had the best care, with wonderful staff. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

Never been racist - however, with over 90% of staff being foreign at the site I’m talking about, white English staff are being prejudiced against. Review the management of sites and the recruitment - if racial discrimination can work one way, surely it should work the other.

I wasn't surprised to see 1.7 stars for this company...
Most feedback is from carers, however my experience as an RGN with Barchester has been horrible too.
The home manager made me stay after my night shifts to interrogate me about minor things. (As an example; why I ignored a resident that asked me for a cup of tea. 1. I would never intentionally ignore a resident and 2. Does this justify an urgent meeting after a 12.5 hour night shift?).
The extra hours she made me sit in her office and the emotional strain was too much.
I contacted HR and they basically said it was my own problem.
That same day I was sacked in a very disrespectful way. Not surprisingly after a long night shift when I just got into my bed, I was called to come in urgently. I was met by HR and my so called manager, she had to leave the room once during our conversation to regain control of her emotions (as if she was the one getting sacked) and she was visibly annoyed that I didn't make a scene with HR present.

All I wanted was to deliver good care to people and Barchester made this impossible, like most people here I've seen some things that the CQC would not appreciate to say the least.

My qualms are with the way HR conduct correspondence. I email a query or question it does not get acknowledged but behind the scenes attention has been paid to my query as I see results. But the initial acknowledgement of someone writing an email to them.. almost like there is something to hide and they need to move swiftly to address it. BUT NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Not professional at all!

Decent care for my Mother who is 93 and has Parkinsons. The carers are absolutely fantastic but as a company they really rinse as much money out of you as then can. This year it is just the 8.5% rise which is simply outrageous. They willl come up with any old feeble excuse (N.I rise) to justify it. It is nothing more than opportunism. No wonder they make > £60m a year profit and have a chairman on £2.2m a year

Even 1 star is too much customer service and complaint department are appalling I have made numerous calls and nobody responds to the calls........I have not been called to discus my complaint or to see if there is anything that I wanted to add nor have I ever been contacted by the complaints handler......they don't care!! If you want your family member to be treated with dignity compassion and respect do not ever send them to a home run by this company they are awful!!

I worked for Barchester for 3 months, started to speak up about unsafe practices, with health and safety, medication, and hygiene, and yes like Adam, who made a post, I resigned. (Barchester do not like being called out) they say that they are the best but this was not my experience.
I have brought all of the bad practices to Barchester’s attention and they decided to treat my concerns has whistleblowing, I am still thinking I should report them to CQC, because the Fernes in Farreham Hampshire has not been independently over seen for nearly 5 years.
On a personal note, I was ignored and bullied, I am a very experienced carer who knows what bad practice looks like, and what can be hidden behind closed doors, and how care homes can hide unsafe practices. This care home has some very good fed back from some families which is nice I guess, but I have seen different. I spent 3 months in hell, it was a horrible place to work for me, and some others that started at the same time I did, and left.
It was not all the staff, they were at least 3 members of the care staff that were nice but that was it.
I did not fit in because I know what bad care looks like, cutting corners, lifting people not safe guarding against falls, terrible.
So if you can avoid please do not go to work at the Fernes, I cannot speak about the other homes, but everything I have written in this post is sadly true
This experience has left me feeling anxious and very sad, but what happens in social care is not down to me or the other people that call them out, the lessons have already been learnt, and I should not be the one to have to teach, I know what I know because I have worked in social care for over 25 years, plus like a lot of people looked after family members, I do not or ever have loved the residents I have looked after, but the one thing I have always cared about is care. I will ask one question is, who do you think funds the next Barchester project?, pays the area managers the district managers and the regional managers plus the solicitors the board of directors, and last but not least the share holders, how far do you think the one thousand five hundred pounds to two thousand pounds a week goes, plus HR, and the decoration teams. It takes at least 3 to four years to fill a home that has just been built, and if you think 2 carers can take care of 20 residents needs, or 1 carer can take care of 10, then you are delusional. Your family member are just a number, bums in beds, cash cows, no more no less. The word care should never be given to care homes, care in a business people do business to make money care is the last thing that is thought about.

Avoid at all costs. Don't apply! You'll get a quick phone call (in which the interviewer will turn up atleast 10 mins late), you will be told everything is good and get an interview time and date. But you won't actually get booked in for this... they'll leave it a week then email you telling you that you're not successful. Absolute jokers. Please read other reviews too. Clearly a shabby company that doesn't give a damn!!!!

Good luck everyone

A dear friend recently passed away at the Barchester Care Home in Chichester. Perhaps, most likely, he would have passed away despite the negligent care provision. Yet still I feel compelled to write to you.

My friend was hoping to be cared for in a professional manner, due to becoming increasingly weak due to his cancer. Unfortunately he was not given sufficient attention. When I spoke with the managing director and wished to give her a letter from my friend requesting assistance by another friend, the management refused to accept the letter and refused to acknowledge its receipt. I found another employee of the home (Marriot House) who did sign for the receipt of this note.
I visited my friend two days later. He told me he had been forced to take morphine against his will. He passed away that night (03.01.2025).

Look beyond the fancy furnishings and flowers. The management are insensitive to grieving families so what do they treat their residents like? I wouldn’t trust them to look after an animal never mind a loved one. Just another uncaring large company who cover their backs and protect those who should be sacked.

I loved my father deeply, and it breaks my heart to share this experience. Please, do not place your loved ones in Beaumont Care. My father was terminally ill and had limited time left, but during his stay, he contracted an infection in the home. He passed away shortly after in the hospital.
What has been most distressing is the complete lack of care or accountability from the nursing home. I have repeatedly requested incident reports since August, but the manager of Beaumont Care has been uncooperative, offering no explanation or support. A straightforward request has turned into a frustrating ordeal, with the management seemingly unwilling or unable to fulfill their responsibilities.
This is not how families should be treated during such a vulnerable and painful time.

To summarise my experience of Broadway Halls is it was the worst experience that I have encountered of the care of frail and elderly adults.
Basic care needs not met, let alone any attempts made to maintain and protect the dignity of two proud adults.
Ask questions to a member of staff, well don't bother. You will be answered by a shrug of the shoulders, it wasn't me or I wasn't on shift.
Record keeping on falls, welfare and medication, all I can say is very unreliable!
Cleanliness,disgraceful although house keeping records are very robust apparently!
Despite, raising concerns, nothing materially improved to the point that I was asked to remove my mother from the home due to not being able to meet my expectations of her basic care needs.
Following 2 internal investigations, apparently we were wrong and the home is not there to make sure their residents are cared for in the way that we thought are the basic principles of being fed,dressed, clean environment and selves, and being given medication.
However, my mother is now in a nursing home where she is cared for amazingly and staff can surprisingly fulfil her basic needs and well beyond.
So thank you Broadway Halls for ending my mothers contract.
It was the best thing you did during the 3 month period of being with you.

This place looks lovely inside and out, but don't be fooled by all the glitz and glamour.
The only thing Barchester cares about is taking the money of your loved one and not always honestly.
The first week of July, I had to make the hard decision to put my parents in a care home.
At the time, the only place near to me I could find was Parley Place, which had two rooms available.
The rooms were amazing, the staff friendly and so helpful, who could not like it.
I was informed it would be best to put them onto rolling rest-bite and that I would get 12 wks disregard by the council, so not to worry, we would get our money.
Each week, my parents paid just over £3000 to pay for their stay while I waited for either the house to sell or social services to get involved.
It was social services who said that , at those prices, my parents could not stay there and they would have to move.

To cut the story short. My parents stayed at Parley Place for 8 weeks, paying them over £19,000.00 out of their life savings.
While looking for a new care home, I came across a site stating that Barchester homes do NOT take payment from council or top up from council. Money must be paid for by the resident. I was NEVER at any point told this by any of the staff, in fact they led me to believe that I would get help.
Since moving 6 weeks ago into another care home , Dorset Council has attempted on numerous occasions to have our money returned to us, but they have still not complied. Leaving my mum with less than a third of her savings left.
What makes this story worse is that
1. Since moving my step dad has died and Parley are aware of this.
2. The council will actually refund Parley for the time my parents were in there.

So please, unless your loved ones are able to foot the bill for any of Barchester care homes or your plan on paying for them to stay there. Stay clear before they take their hard earned savings too

My recently deceased father in law was not treated well at this home - Westwood House Care Home - Three years of bad ‘care’. All we wanted was for him to be treated with respect and kindness and have his basic needs met - hygiene and hydration ! -which was not the case. Belongings going missing, unexplained bruises, safeguarding issues, two hospital visits, one of which nearly resulted in his death. Left in dirty clothes frequently. Some staff apathetic and not having a clue when asked for info about our loved one ! To add insult to injury , his possessions were thrown away before we could collect🤦🏻‍♀️. I’m in communication with management but it’s futile as they will not accept culpability - something must be done about these private care homes, who are a law unto themselves. Please DO NOT SEND your loved ones here !! Especially if they have dementia. The only positive thing I can say is that two staff members Liz and Sheila were the only ones that truly looked after him when they could and treated him like a human being - they even attended his funeral. The shocking fact is that we actually paid for this mistreatment !

I have volunteered today with a group from work for an impact day. An impact day it was indeed, the staff at Barchester hold great pride in the amazing work they do. Within 4 hours we had completed a quiz, skittles, a beauty session & toddler visiting with the residents.

The residents clearly enjoy the daily activities & are kept active throughout the day. They're well looked after whilst also maintaining their independence.

Thank you to all the staff and residents at Barchester, keep doing the amazing things you do!

Poor management. If your face doesn't fit, forget it. 12 hour shifts, you leave dehydrated and exhausted as not enough staff on the floor. If you are 'in' with the management, you are laughing, this is dangerous for the residents. Appalled by the whole company in Much Wenlock. There are some really kind and caring carers there but unless you suck up to junior management, as many do, you may as well not bother. I was bitched about and made to feel inferior. It's a form of bullying. Employ people who have management skills and want their colleagues to succeed. Empowerment is key and will help with retention.

Barchester is the most corrupt company I have ever known. The ‘top dogs’ are protected at all costs, while the staff that actually do the work are totally disregarded. Senior management cover up everything, and when someone does ‘speak up’ they then suspiciously ‘resign’, or in other words are pushed out. Staff are treated unfairly, and unless you have a connection to the hierarchy, you don’t stand a chance.