SummitCare Baulkham Hills

New aged care residence which opened Dec 2017 Exceptional staff Very caring and interested in residents needs and family concerns Residents happy with the food

Pros: Great nursing home for day to day basic needs with caring staff. The front of house is very well organised and friendly, the nurses and staff are very caring BUT...Cons: DO NOT let your loved one go through the palliative care/end of life process here - even though they advertise that they have the facilities & capability, this is not at all adequate with nursing support.We chose for our loved one (who was already a resident) to return 'home' so she would be comfortable in her own space during her final weeks of life. After being transferred back from hospital we had a horrid experience at Summit Care where her morphine/pain intervention needs were not able to be met due to inadequate staffing levels of registered nurses to give breakthrough medication when needed. With the primary nurse being already being very busy (with their normal day to day schedule) and needing a secondary nurse from another busy section to be also present, it meant we were waiting a long time before my grandmother's urgent needs were able to be met. It was a traumatising experience compared to other end of life experiences I have unfortunately had to experience.At numerous times, my usually resilient grandmother would be crying in my arms in acute & crippling pain, with me running back and forth to the nursing station trying to find a nurse and also asking for more morphine and using the 'call' button. We would frequently have to wait for 30-45 mins for the nurses to be: 1. available and 2. to find another busy nurse to administer the medication.The nurses were always very apologetic and I really felt for them in their situation also but it was also a very traumatic experience to watch and observe in my grandmother's final weeks/days in extreme discomfort.The home is lovely for standard needs for an aged care facility but for higher than normal needs (e.g. palliative care) I would not recommend as the nursing staff are already so busy, and expecting them to take on higher needs in addition to their normal workload with no additional support is a lot to ask for.

I cannot day enough good things about the way the nursing staff at summit care look after my mum who has dementia. They always keep me informed of her progress and how she is doing. The staff and nurses are doing a great job during COVID.

Many thanks to Ankur, the management and the wonderful for looking after Mum Robyn so very well, during her time at SummitCare Baulkham Hills, in respite care.The location, facilities, management, staff and services been very good. Mum Robyn loved having her meals in the balcony area.Wishing everyone the very best. Warmest & best regards.

Since my sister moved to SummitCare at Baulkham Hills she is noticeably happier than she has been for a while. She particularly enjoys activities like accompanied walks outside in the courtyard, playing Bingo, having her own ensuite and telephone where she can receive calls directly and being able to be contacted by iPad from time to time. Her happiness is hardly diminished by the present very long lockdown in NSW, but she will happily go shopping with us once it comes to its completion.

My mother is a resident at SummitCare Baulkham Hills. She recently celebrated her 99th birthday there. We approached them for a space where our family could gather and celebrate this occasion. The chef baked a delicious cake, the staff dressed mum beautifully, the balloons and table setting was done with care. We felt like SummitCare was celebrating this important event with us and we commend the staff for making this birthday so special.

This place is obviously very upmarket in appearance with very impressive furnishings however when it comes to care it is not acceptable. This place is very understaffed. On several occasions after pressing the help button for my Mother in Law, nobody came to our aid, so we have had to go walking in search of help. Very poor indeed.

My dad has been cared for at SCBH for 1 year. We are thankfull for the medical & nursing care, great meals and all the facilities that he is receiving.GP, RNs, nurse assistants, to Admin staff have been very helpful and attentive.SCBH gives a new, positive insight to Aged Care Facility to our family and friends. We are impressed!!

The staff are lovely and friendly and I love that mum is always dressed colour co-ordinated which makes me very happy. I know that she is well cared for and nothing is a bother to the staff.

Summit Care Baulkham Hills came to media attention when it had a staff member and three residents test positive for COVID. Since then there have been other facilities similarly affected but as someone with a family member at SCBH, I can say that i believe no facility could have managed this situation better.Every precaution and consideration was taken and I was particularly grateful that all residents had been offered the Pfizer vaccination back in April when not all facilities were so quick to act. This undoubtedly prevented a much bigger outbreak and best of all, no resident died as a result of COVID.We received twice daily communiques to update the situation and two webinars were held with management, Health Dept officials and advocacy groups present and at which residents and family members could attend virtually and ask questions.Prior to this current COVID outbreak we chose SCBH for our relative because of the high standard of accomodation and general environment on offer, the high quality meals and RN stationed in each neighbourhood 24/7.No aged care facility can be perfect and concerns will always arise but what I have found and what is most important to me is that any concerns I have had have been carefully listened and responded to and ultimately addressed. .Since admission to SCBH my family member's health has improved. She came in undernourished and has made significant weight gains. The worries she had in trying to manage her day to day life, which made her frustrated and angry, seem to have slid from her shoulders and she is now calm and seemingly content.Those staff that I deal with are warm and caring people who I believe are genuinely concerned with providing the best care possible for their residents and working with family members.She who fought so hard against leaving her own home, when finally admitted to SCBH said to me upon the day of her arrival at SCBH, 'I can't believe it - it's a dream come true!'Aged Care is not where anyone wants to go but it is sometimes where people really need to be., As hard as the decision was to come to and as difficult as COVID lockdown has been, I have confidence that the choice of SCBH was the right one.