From Geraldine Parmenter, Shanklin:

I DON’T agree with everything Rebecca Roncoroni said (CP, 26-04-19) in her column on the care industry, but Ian Bennett’s’ letter paints a picture which just isn’t true of some of the care.

My mother had three weeks of respite care after a fall, she was self funding, so I had to trawl the websites to find the best care I could. Based on the CQC ratings and availability, (the best homes are always full), she went to one that turned out to be understaffed, adopted cost-cutting exercises when it came to the food provided and most of the time my mother was left sitting in her room.

When she challenged the fact she was only given half a sandwich for her evening meal she was told a whole sandwich was too much for old people.

The pudding was always a sponge cake cut up into individual squares with custard dolloped on top. Two of the staff resigned whilst my mother was there, as they were fed up with being promised additional staffon their team. If they did have a spare moment they were expected to help out in the laundry, when they should have been available for the residents. And yet this home had a good rating.

I managed to move her to the wonderful Springfield in Shanklin, fully staffed, wonderful food and run for the residents not solely for profit.