The quality of retirement homes really does vary from town to town and across the country. A great deal get money from the government to survive, although their are many privately funded homes also. The Care Trust, a company who audit all manner of government departments has criticised the government-run homes for their below-par levels of interior design quality.
Very recently the government has announced that they will increase their budget on retirement homes by 10% over the next 5 years. The money will be spent on getting new painted furniture into the homes and improving the overall interior design and decorations to both modernise and brighten up the buildings.
A Care Trust representative, Alister Pride was keen to point out the retirement homes they visited were clean and tidy. “We were actually very pleased with the overall cleanliness standard that was being maintained” noted Pride. “We just felt the many homes had not kept up with the times and the décor was very drab”.People living in care homes don’t have a great deal of input into the interior design, despite many not being happy with the current one. He continued to say that they were very happy that the government had listened to their recommendations and they look forward to seeing the improvements.
Teams of decorators and professional designers are going to used to provide consultation to the retirement homes. “The last thing we wanted was to just give the homes more money and watch it disappear on admin costs” stated a government spokesman. These teams will visit the homes over the next 5 years and bring in new furniture like dining furniture. They will also be implementing colour schemes into the buildings and replacing old and decrepit items with new pieces like bedside tables and dining chairs.
