Last month the Your Care Rating survey of thousands of UK care homes – think Trip Advisor for social care – announced its results.

The insightful research, based on the opinions of residents, gives a useful and honest snapshot of the state of the UK’s care homes.

The ipsos/MORI study focused on four key criteria when judging a home; staff and care, home comforts, having a say and quality of life.

At the CAP Awards our attention is very much on home comforts, the quality and choice of food on offer, the standard of the laundry service and the cleanliness and general tidiness of the home.

Many homes fared well on this metric, but some not so. So what’s the key to rating highly when it comes to providing ‘home comforts’?

Firstly let’s look at the quality of food on offer. The key factor here is to listen to the resident’s wants and then ensure the food is appropriate, well cooked and well presented.

Quality of food is often seen as being expensive ingredients whereas the resident’s needs are often for simple food but cooked with real love, care and attention, for example a cottage pie and of course home-made.

Feedback is vital and should be in many formats, both formal and informal, even just a verbal discussion in the dining room.

Secondly laundry. This must be clean, fresh and in good order. There can be no threads, staining or fading. To help keep on top of this formalise the pillow and mattress assessment process as this provides real comfort for residents.

Make sure there are good systems and procedures in place to ensure regular cleaning of all soft furnishings. In the laundry put in place a simple labelling system to avoid losses of clothing, inconvenient and at times upsetting for some residents.

Finally cleanliness. There must be timely and appropriate completion of cleaning duties. Ensure all parties (housekeeping, care staff and maintenance) know their cleaning responsibilities so no stone is left unturned in the upkeep of the home.

If care home managers and providers follow these simple but effective guidelines they can be assured residents will always rate them highly for home comforts, something that is absolutely critical in the provision of quality care.