Family praises staff at a Buxton care home

Janet Trueman’s sister Carole spent her last months at Haddon Hall Care Home and Janet says she can not fault the staff there.

She said: “Nothing was too much trouble for them. They went above and beyond to make Carole feel settled and happy.”Carole, 59, had Down Syndrome and other health issues including an inoperable hole in her heart.

She had moved in to a different residential facility in July of last year but got pneumonia in November and spent three months in Macclesfield District General Hospital.

In February her family secured her a place at Haddon Hall on London Road.

Janet said: “They were brilliant with her, so full of compassion and love.

"They made sure she was sat by a window so she could wave at cars and gave her colouring to do.

"Whenever there was an issue they contacted us and talked things through and we felt kept in the loop.”

Janet is a retired social worker and said you can judge a care home by how the residents interact with the staff and she said there was such a positive energy about Haddon Hall.

She said: “In Carole’s final days she was in her room lying down with her eyes shut.

"In walked the manager Mark Smith and with a simple ‘open your eyes for me then princess’ Carole opened her eyes and beamed at him and her whole face lit up.

“It’s very easy to only speak out if there is a complaint but I also think people should be speaking out about the positives and we had nothing but a positive experience for Carole in her final months so thank you to every at Haddon Hall for being wonderful.”

Mark Smith, manager at Haddon Hall, said: “It was an absolute privilege looking after Carole, but we didn’t just care for Carole we were there for the whole family as we are for every resident.

"I have been a care home manager for 17 years and these last two and a half years have been the toughest I have ever worked through so it’s really nice to know the hard work of the team has been noticed by people.”

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