Top spots for retired
MEDIEVAL Durham is the best city in the UK in which to grow old, according to a survey.
The North-east’s gem beat 49 others to top the rankings for elderly care, proximity to hospitals, parks and restaurants.
All 19 of Durham’s care homes earned stellar reviews, giving it a total of 8.79 points out of 10.
At the other end of the scale, Bradford, West Yorkshire, was found to be the worst place, with an overall score of 1.62 out of 10.
It had a poor care home review rating of 0.2 and hospital proximity score of 0.82, found researchers for online care home finder Lottie.org.
Swindon was the highest-placed southern spot, the Wiltshire town’s poor restaurant quality score preventing it from coming top.
In third place was Doncaster, its score significantly bolstered by 9.8 ratings for park access and nearness to hospitals. Its care home review score of 6.94 prevented it from ranking higher.
An average care home rating of 6.33 put Colchester in fourth place. It logged excellent scores for hospital proximity and park access.
Will Donnelly, co-founder of Lottie, said: “Care home communities are so much more than providing a high level of care.
“That’s why our new study has included factors such as restaurant quality and local park access. As you get older, your physical appearance may change, but your interests, hobbies and values often remain the same.”
Fifth-placed Swansea scored a perfect 10 across its 22 care homes – top of the major cities – but a lack of green spaces cost it dearly.
Stockton-on-Tees, in County Durham, was second on the list of the 10 major UK cities with the worst elderly care.
It scored just 1.22 for average care home ratings. As with Bradford, Stockton achieved poor ratings in most categories but was saved from bottom place thanks to a slightly improved hospital proximity score of 4.29.
Portsmouth was poor for elderly care, too.
And with a low score for hospital proximity, the south coast city received a lowly rating of 2.42, which ranked it as the third-worst place for pensioners to live.