Somerville Gardens Care Community

My mum was looked after very well. All the staff in the memory care unit were amazing with mum. Shiny was such a wonderful nurse & so caring towards my mum and kept me informed about everything. Casey too 🥰 Sonny and Rachael and Eva and all the caring staff. Lani and Kim at the admin office are beautiful 🌸 Also Hayley, Belle and Pawan the managers are fantastic! The head chef Raj is amazing and mum was very fond of him. I’m just so thankful for the way they treated mum, I knew she was in safe hands. I highly recommend Somerville Gardens Care Community 😊

Mum chose Sommerville gardens over other places she said it has a homely feel. She couldn’t be happier and I mean happy! She’s not lonely, there are activities that she is thoroughly enjoying. Outings, bbq, entertainment, exercises and the staff well…. I couldn’t say enough about how fabulous and their professionalism is. The relief that the family feels because she’s happy means the world Thank you Sommerville gardens

On the 29th August 2025 the Herald Sun reported that ‘the daughter of a dying woman inside’ Opal Healthcare’s Sommerville Gardens feared that ‘her mum’s final moments were spent in a “disgusting” room, with mouse poo, bed bugs and urine among the “repulsive” things uncovered’. ‘She said seeing the room littered with filth was “distressing”’. Please be vigilant when looking for an Aged Care facility for your loved one. Do not be star struck by how many stars any facility has in their reviews. Do not easily fall for all the bells and whistles of their websites and pamphlets. Do not be spell-bound by what you see and hear. Be aware. Arm yourself with the information and knowledge you absolutely need when making one of the biggest and most important decision of your life. The daughter referenced in the Herald Sun article stated that, “we didn’t put her in some cheap place in some dirty awful facility, we put her in the best of the best that we could find”. A perfect example of, it does not matter how much a facility costs, or how many stars it has. The most important deciding factor should always be in the history, in the reputation, and in the accountability of each facility and the company running it. All the information you need is easily accessible on the internet. Google such terms as ‘Opal Healthcare’, ‘class action’, ‘families apology’, ‘mistreated’, ‘neglected’, ‘ABC 7.30’, ‘Arthur Kirby’, ‘release results of investigation to public’. Sommerville Gardens will tell you that one of their values is ‘accountability’. After briefing yourself with all the reported information on the company you are considering placing your loved one in, ask yourself one question. Has Opal Healthcare been accountable to the souls who have been adversely affected by their actions? In this Herald Sun article, a Sommerville Gardens and Opal Healthcare member advised the daughter that they would undertake an investigation. When and if you discuss your story with Sommerville Gardens, ask them about the independent review findings, in the aftermath of the 7.30 story, that were supposedly to be made public. Ask them straight out, ‘where they ever made public?’ Accountability is everything. Please only use this review as a guide. Do your own homework. Make up your own mind. It is the very least your loved one can ask. Transparency, accountability, and truth telling is everything. You only get one shot at this. Good luck. Peter Hamhougias.

I live 50m away and there are garbage trucks coming and going at all hours of the night, shaking the big skip bins with their hydraulic claws and then reversing out with the beep beep noise. I can only imaging how loud it must be for the residents there living much closer to the noise. Hopefully the residents are deaf due to old age. We are awakened every night 50m away!

I wish I could give ten stars. Words cannot express how grateful we are that my mother-in-law could spend her final year in this wonderful home. The staff were above amazing and form strong connections not only with the residents but their families too. We will miss them.

My mother-in-law stayed here for many years, and she was very content and happy with the overall service of the carers and healthcare team. They are very respectful and warm, and they looked after my mother-in-law very well. For this, I am truly grateful to everyone at Somerville Gardens Care Community.

My mum has been here for 2 months as a permanent resident and just loves it. She has lots of friends, joins in on ALL the activities, is constantly praising the staff on being so helpful, warm & friendly. She is more then happy with the meal options and overall is very happy and content with her new residence. Which makes us, the family, very very happy. Thank you so very much to ALL the staff for being so very kind and caring. Your ALL amazing and we are very grateful and content with our decision to make your very comfortable and ultra clean establishment mum's home.