Amid headlines of neglect and failure, one care home showed what dignity and compassion in later life can truly look like — and why carers deserve far greater recognition, says Maureen Sugden.

So often, we only hear of dreadful care homes, when things go wrong, so it feels important to tell you this tale - the story of a care home that was a real home to my mum in her final years and could be, in my view, a model for the way care ought to be.

I lost my beloved mum, Anne Culley, earlier this month at the age of 87, after three and a half years in the care home I speak of. After a brutal childhood in the Highlands, she cared for others, becoming a Queen’s Nurse and was also a singer, releasing an album of Scottish music in retirement, The Road To The Isles.

None of it is easy. A care home is never the scenario one wants for an adored relative, against the backdrop of the litany of stories about how dreadful some of them can be, and also against the grain of how you feel - you want to be the one caring for your loved one. But life does not always allow this.

I must also stress that being plunged into this world and trying to figure out costings and finances and make big decisions about your loved one’s life is overwhelming. But here I focus on the reality of the sector........

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