Staff at St Cecilia Care Home in Shepton Mallet are celebrating the news that they have been awarded the highest possible score by carehome.co.uk for the care they provide, thanks to the large number of positive testimonials submitted to the industry-leading website by residents' families.

The platform is the UK's most visited care home review website attracting over 15 million visits per year, largely from families seeking a care home for a loved one, and it features nearly 17,000 listings.

Tracy Woolfrey, manager of St Cecilia, said: "Before reviews appear on carehome.co.uk they are all read by a dedicated team, and independent checks are carried out to verify authenticity - which means people know they can trust them.

"That's so important when you're facing the daunting task of trying to identify which home will be the right one to entrust your loved one to if that time comes.

"We are absolutely thrilled that the families of our residents have been prepared to take the time to write and submit such lovely reviews for our home.

"To be awarded an overall 10 - the top mark - for the service we provide is incredibly gratifying. It makes all our hard work worthwhile.

"And no-one is better placed to judge our service than the loved ones of those we support, so this really means a lot. We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed."

Excerpts from the reviews published which enabled St Cecilia to achieve its top score include:

·       The whole team are professional and diligent with the care they provide to Mum, and they do it with smiles, hugs and kindness. Thank you to everyone.

·       The atmosphere at St Cecilia is very relaxed which is important for someone like Mum who can be over-anxious. The manager keeps us all well-informed, and the rooms are always clean and tidy.

·       Friendly staff, happy we know he's safe there. He settled in very well… They are very well cared for, the manager is excellent and very friendly.

·       St Cecilia Care Home is a very nice, friendly place to visit. Residents are treated with respect.

The website calculates a home's score by comparing it against the average review score for all care homes in the relevant region and scores range from 10 (best) - 1 (worst), with the algorithm taking into account the quantity, quality and recency of a care home's reviews and ratings.

St Cecilia is a specialised residential care home in central Shepton Mallet which can care for up to 17 people with dementia. It is run by White Care Group which also runs St Benedict's Nursing Home in Glastonbury (carehome.co.uk review score of 9.9) and The Rectory in Taunton (carehome.co.uk review score of 9.9).