Margaret Norton

Margaret Norton has been a resident at Robertson since June 2023. Margaret and her family first visited Robertson when looking for a placement for her husband who sadly passed away before he could join us. After Margaret suffered a fall, she needed some extra support and immediately knew Robertson was where she wanted to be.

Margaret tells us about her experience at Robertson since she moved here and why she is happy to call it her home.

“I chose the home for my husband when he was in the Royal Surrey Hospital. My children came to help me look at homes and we were all impressed by Robertson. When we came to look around, as soon as we got in the front door it felt like home, it didn’t feel clinical like some others, but homely.”

“When I collapsed at home on my own and struggled to reach the phone to call for someone, I knew I needed some extra help. I knew I wanted to come here if they had any rooms, I didn’t mind what room they had available as long as I could come here. I had a smaller room to begin with and moved to a bigger one when it became available.”

“My room is the perfect size, I have a reasonable sized wardrobe, bedside tables, my pictures up on the wall and my own radio. I have everything I need and am happy as larry. Everyone has their own facilities and everything we need is given to us, like toothpaste, towels, tissues etc. It is wonderful that we don’t have to worry about anything.”

”The home is absolutely lovely. The care staff couldn’t be nicer people, I leave my door open and they all smile and wave at me through the door as they are walking past. The nurses here are very good and they are here 24/7 in case we need anything. There is a bell to push that is always in reach, I know when I press it someone will come straight away.”

“There is a lovely girl that cleans my room every day. She is very thorough when cleaning the bathroom and she dusts my room very well. I leave my laundry out after my shower and they take everything to wash it then bring it back later that day, they even put everything away in the wardrobes and chest of drawers for me.”

“They arrange for the hairdresser who comes once a week and we get our hair done, there is a podiatrist who comes in and the opticians who come to check your eyes,  if you have a toothache they will get you seen by the dentist.”

“Mark, the maintenance man come and fixes anything that is broken and he always does it with a smile. It’s much better than being at home and having to wait around for days for a workman to come out, Mark always comes straight away. They are replacing our bedroom doors and we get a choice of what colour they will be painted, which is lovely and makes it feel like home.”

“They will do anything for you here, I couldn’t ask for more. My daughters always comment on how well looked after I am here. I can ring the bell for anything – I’m an early riser so I wake up early and ring the bell, straight away they will come and bring me a cup of tea. Whatever you want, whenever you need it.”

“The carers are beyond brilliant, the same ones come and check on you regularly so you get to know them. They will come and give you a hug if you feel down and need one, because we all have down days sometimes. It’s that personal touch that makes the difference here, and makes it really feel like home.”

“I used to live only a mile down the road so lots of my friends are nearby. My children and my friends will come to visit me, we will have a chat over a cup of tea. I can ring the bell when I have visitors and they will bring a tray of tea and some lovely biscuits for us, bless their hearts. It’s like five-star hotel treatment. All my friends when they visit, say what a lovely place it is and how lucky I am.”

“I like to sit in the dining room and fold the serviettes, that’s something I do here. We use hundreds of serviettes and I like to help out by folding them. When my friends come to visit they like to join in and will ask if we can go and fold serviettes.”

“I had a major operation recently and they couldn’t have looked after me better, I’ve been on bed rest since and have been so well looked after. They have brought my meals to me and all medication is brought to me at the right time of the day, so I don’t have to worry about anything.”

“They looked after me so well after I came out of hospital. As I had my gallbladder removed I have been on a very restricted diet, but the chef has been in to see me every day to talk about what I can have to eat. She tells me what is being made for that day and what I can have that I am able to eat, they are looking after my diet very well.”

“I was sent back from hospital too soon after my operation and got an infection. Angela, the lead nurse checked me over, realised I had an infection and needed to be sent back to hospital. In the hospital they checked me over and were impressed with how well cared for I was considering I had come from a care home.”

“We are looked after so well by the care workers here, I can’t recommend them enough. I looked forward to getting back here after the hospital. I looked forward to good food that I could actually eat rather than hospital food, and having a good shower where they help you wash and they make sure you are all clean, very different to being in hospital.”

“We have a roast dinner each week, like roast gammon, with roast potatoes and vegetables, dessert is bread and butter pudding. I can’t fault the food here. We have our cup of tea in the morning and then lunch, with our afternoon cup of tea we very often get a handmade chocolate brownie or piece of cake which the chef makes fresh every day. We get all these treats, lots of little things that make a big difference.”

“They put on wonderful entertainment, a young man with his long keyboard comes once a month and plays beautiful music. Another man named Chris sings and we sing along with him, there are always a lot of things going on. Steve and Don who lives here, used to be a professional guitarist and they play all the old songs for us.”

“We had a wonderful party in the summer. They decorated the dining room and we had scones with cream and strawberry jam. We had tea in the china teapot and teacups, they got all the lovely china out specially for the party. Our relations came as well, there was music and we were singing and having a lovely time. There was a marvellous raffle, we were all were given a ticket and we bought extra tickets for our relations, there must have been at least 100 lovely prizes. We all had a very happy time. We will be having a Christmas party in December, relations are invited and I’m sure it will be first class.”

“There are always lots of activities going on, something for everyone to get involved in. The entertainment officer will come to see us in our rooms and asks if you want to come downstairs and join in with the activities.”

“The rector from the church comes in to visit and perform holy communion which is lovely. One of the carers brings in his dog and there is a man who brings in a rabbit and other animals, they will sit on our laps to be stroked which is so wonderful.”

“There is a lady who comes in to decorate our tree, I saw her and recognised her straight away. I knew her in 1993 when I worked in Guilford, we used to walk to work together. She comes to the home every Tuesday and always brings me a newspaper and we have a chat, which is so kind and lovely of her. Everyone is lovely here it is a wonderful community.”

“You can take a walk around the garden outside which is just beautiful.  When the sun has been out, we have been sitting in the garden and they will bring us sun hats, they even brought us ice cream in a cornet which we loved.”

“It gives you a feeling of security being here, and that’s what my family like about it, knowing I am in a secure place and being well looked after. Everyone here is so kind, everybody is kind to everybody else and they are all very patient people. All the staff smile at you. It’s a first-class place to be, I recommend to everyone to come here.”