Recovery Stays: Convalescent Care After Surgery, Illness or a Hospital Stay

Recovery Stays at Berkley

Being well enough to leave hospital is a long way from being ready to live at home. A Recovery Stay closes that gap. You come to us for a few weeks after surgery, illness or a hospital stay, with physiotherapy support and 24-hour reassurance around you. You have a suite of your own to recover in. All of it there to help you return home stronger.

Usually within days of a discharge date
One all-inclusive rate, no hidden extras
Someone on the phone who can help today

Get in touch

Request a Brochure

03330 428 188

Berkley homes offering Recovery StaysAvailable now at Jubilee House, Leamington Spa·Badminton Place, Bristol

What is convalescent care?

Convalescent care is short-term care in a care home. It is for someone recovering from surgery, illness or a hospital stay, in the weeks between being medically fit to leave hospital and being ready to manage at home. You may see it called convalescence care. We call it a Recovery Stay.

A gap no one plans for

A hospital discharges on medical grounds. It cannot always ask whether you can manage the stairs on your own, whether anyone in the family can take three weeks off work or whether you feel ready rather than simply well enough. That gap usually gets filled by worry and a rushed search for help.

There used to be a word for this. Convalescence. Families had a spare room and someone at home to keep an eye on things, and the NHS had beds set aside for exactly this. Most of that has gone.

A Recovery Stay brings it back, with physiotherapy support and 24-hour reassurance built in, somewhere with a bistro and a garden rather than a ward at the end of the corridor. Recovery is the clinical part. Feeling like yourself again is the point.

Who a Recovery Stay is for

Some guests book ahead of planned surgery, so the recovery is arranged before the operation happens. One less unknown in the diary, and a bed waiting on the day it is needed.

Most arrive in the gap this page is about: medically fit to leave hospital, not yet ready to manage at home. The stay starts when the ward ends and finishes when home is workable again.

And some come for the last stretch. Strength mostly back, confidence still catching up. A short stay with support around it lets independence return at its own pace, which is the point of the whole thing.

A guest having her nails done in an armchair at a Berkley care home

From the journal

Recovery Stays: A New Place Between Hospital and Home

Being well enough to leave hospital is not always the same as being ready to live at home. Berkley’s new concept closes that gap, allowing convalescence in style.

Read the full story

A short stay in a private convalescent home

A Recovery Stay is short-term convalescent care in a private convalescent home. You have your own suite with an ensuite wet room, your own door to close and a team who know how you take your tea by the second morning. Nobody is in a rush.

Families searching for private convalescent homes near them are usually weighing two things: how fast a place can take a discharge, and what it will feel like once they get there. What a luxury convalescent home changes is the second one.

What's included

Physiotherapy and rehabilitation support

The physiotherapists and healthcare professionals set the plan. What we do is arrange that support, keep it joined up and make sure it fits around your own goals rather than a generic timetable, so it is one less thing on your list.

The hospitality of a Berkley home

Meals cooked by a chef and served in the bistro. There is a bar, a screening room, a hair and beauty salon and gardens worth going out into. Recovery here does not mean putting your life on hold.

24-hour clinical reassurance

Expert nursing support whenever it’s needed, with the same peace of mind our permanent residents rely on every day.

A smooth path home

We plan around your discharge date and your goals, so the stay ends when you are ready. Not before, and not longer than you need.

Where you can stay

If you have been searching for private convalescent homes near you, this is the part that matters: Recovery Stays are running now at Jubilee House in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and at Badminton Place in Bristol. The homes below are where the service runs today.

Jubilee House

Queensway, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV31 3JY

Badminton Place

Catbrain Lane, Patchway, Bristol BS10 7TQ

Leaving hospital: arranging a Recovery Stay

Most families ring us with a discharge date already in the diary, sometimes that same morning. It takes one call and a short assessment, and we can usually have a suite ready within days. Short-term care after hospital is only any use if it can be arranged at the speed a real discharge happens, and that is what we are set up for.

Choosing a care home after hospital discharge is not a decision most people have made before, so we will talk you through what the assessment covers, what the fee includes and what happens on the day you arrive. There is no rush from our end. Having the conversation early about rehabilitation after hospital discharge just means one less thing to sort out when the discharge date lands.

Post-operative care after surgery

Post-operative care after surgery is the most common reason guests come to us, and they arrive at any age. Hip and knee replacements, a fracture after a fall, general surgery, an illness that has left someone weaker than they were before. Sometimes there has been no operation at all and the stay is simply cover while family support is being arranged.

Arranging one works the same way as any other Recovery Stay. It takes one call and a short assessment, and we can usually have a suite ready within days of a discharge date.

Families searching for post-operative convalescent homes near them are usually after two things at once: somewhere that can take a discharge quickly, and somewhere that does not feel like more hospital. Post-operative care homes vary enormously on the second count. Come and have a look at ours before you decide.

A guest reading a newspaper in an armchair at a Berkley home offering post-operative convalescent care

Lavender in flower in the gardens of a Berkley convalescent home

Rehabilitation and physiotherapy support

A Berkley home works as a rehabilitation care home in the way that matters most: the physiotherapy happens where you are living, so there is no taxi to a clinic and no waiting list. We work with physiotherapists and healthcare professionals so the goals they set are ones you can picture yourself reaching, whether that is the stairs, the garden path or getting back behind the wheel.

Progress is not a straight line and nobody here will rush you along it. Some weeks the walk to the bistro is the achievement. We are not a specialist neurological or stroke rehabilitation unit, and we will tell you so on the phone if that is what you need.

Award-winning care

Our homes have been named among carehome.co.uk’s top 20 more than once, and our teams have been winners and finalists at the Care Awards. On a Recovery Stay that shows up in smaller ways. A chef who will remember you would rather not have fish again. A carer who notices when you manage the corridor without the frame.

Awards

Frequently asked questions

Who do I call right now?

03330 428 188. Our enquiries team can check availability today, including while you are still on the ward or sitting in the hospital car park working out what to do next. If it is easier to write than to talk, get in touch here.

How quickly can I arrange a Recovery Stay?

Often within days. After a first call and a short assessment we can usually welcome you within days of a discharge date, and we can move faster than that when a discharge is brought forward at short notice.

How much does a Recovery Stay cost?

Fees are charged per night or per week, and vary by home, by suite and by the level of support you need. One all-inclusive rate covers care, dining, housekeeping and hospitality, with no hidden extras. We coordinate your physiotherapy for you. Ring the enquiries team and we will give you a clear figure rather than a range.

What is convalescent care?

Convalescent care is a short, supported stay in a care home for someone getting their strength back and heading home again. It covers the weeks after surgery, an illness or a hospital stay when home is not quite enough support and a hospital ward is more than you need. Most people arrive straight from hospital and leave for their own front door.

Do convalescent homes still exist?

Yes, though far fewer than there once were. The dedicated convalescent homes of the last century have mostly closed, and the care that went on inside them now happens in care homes that take short stays. Ours is called a Recovery Stay. It runs at Jubilee House in Leamington Spa and at Badminton Place in Bristol.

How long is a typical stay?

Most Recovery Stays run from one to four weeks. Some guests stay longer while a home is made safe to come back to, and a few decide part way through that they would rather stay for good. There is no assumption either way, and no pressure from us.

How soon after a hip or knee replacement can I arrive?

Usually straight from the ward on the day you are discharged. Hip and knee replacements are among the most common reasons guests come to us, so it is familiar ground for the team. We will agree the arrival day with you and the discharge team together.

Can I arrange respite care after surgery?

You can, though a Recovery Stay is usually the better fit. Respite care is arranged to give a family carer a break. A Recovery Stay is built around structured recovery after a medical event, with a goal and a departure date from day one. If it is a carer's break you are after, our respite care page covers it in full.

Talk to us about a Recovery Stay

Tell us the discharge date, or tell us there is not one yet. You will get a phone call, an honest answer about whether we can help and no pressure either way.