This well-maintained facility, situated in a lovely, quiet neighbourhood with easy motorway access, is probably a lovely place for many people to retire and be looked after in their golden years. My grandmother, recently deemed unable to live independently by her doctors, is currently in hospital awaiting a nursing home placement. We, as her family, have been exploring several options, including Arcare in Parkinson. We were able to arrange a tour and interview with the facility managers fairly quickly. We were advised there was a room available and we promptly disclosed that my grandma was on a full government-supported pension, which was not cited as an issue from the get-go. During the interview, we openly discussed her increasing frailty (hence the need for a nursing home), mobility limitations (needs a walker), and specific dietary requirements. The manager was provided with this information from the very beginning, both verbally and in writing. At no point during this interview did she express any concerns about their ability to provide the necessary care for my grandma. She is frail but she can walk with support of a walker. We were advised that it would take 1 week to come to a decision but we left the interview feeling positive. Following what we thought was a promising interview, we eagerly awaited the outcome of the application. A week later, my father received a rejection email which stated that Arcare Parkinson were unable to offer the room they had "due to the care needs and the current Resident mix we have in this area." What exactly does that mean, Arcare? Whilst my grandma does have health conditions and is becoming increasingly frail, she is still mobile. Exactly how healthy and mobile does a resident need to be to enter this nursing home? Do they need to be able to touch their toes or do jumping jacks for 5 minutes straight in order to be fit for care in this place? Isn't the whole point of nursing homes is to provide care for those who can't live on their own anymore? The ambiguous nature of the “current resident mix” raises questions about whether financial considerations, rather than solely clinical/medical needs, influenced their decision. Whilst the rejection itself is unfortunate, the facility manager's lack of transparency during the interview process is particularly disappointing and incredibly frustrating. Despite possessing full knowledge of my grandmother's circumstances and knowing what her facility can offer/cater to, she chose not to reject us whilst we were there, but instead chose to prolong the decision-making process, leading to unnecessary emotional distress for our family and grandma. Thank you Arcare for fulfilling your legal obligations of considering our application. If you have money and are easy to take care of, I'm sure this place will be a lovely facility for you.
