Rosie admits she waited “too long” to look for a care home for husband David, but after discovering Sanctuary Care’s Watlington & District Nursing Home, she knows she’s made the best choice.
“I kept him at home too long – it was a mixture of guilt and loyalty, and you feel you’ve got to just cope,” Rosie explains.
“But I went to sleep one day and woke up to find a policeman at my house – David had got out and had been walking down the road banging on people’s doors.”
Rosie had to keep calling out ambulances because of David’s falls, and wasn’t getting any sleep, leaving her struggling to care for David the following day.
“I had a look around lots of homes and they were alright, but there was always something that made me feel uneasy,” she adds.
“The minute I walked into Watlington, I can’t tell you, it was like walking into a family home.”
A true sense of belonging
David moved in and four years later, Rosie could not be happier with her choice and they both feel a real sense of belonging at Watlington.
“One day he blew me a kiss – then I realised he was doing it to all the staff! He loves them and they love him!
“I can drive away with a big smile on my face – he knows its his home and he’s happy there.”
Rosie is so happy with the team at Watlington, she recommends the home to everyone she meets, with a neighbour’s relative moving in as a result.
“I am their biggest fan,” she adds. “There’s no other place, it’s different from everywhere else. I looked round so many homes and none of them were right for him. But at Watlington I can’t praise them enough.”
For more about Sanctuary Care are enriching lives at Watlington, or any of its other care homes in Oxfordshire, please call the Enquiry Support Team on 0800 331 7412.
