Agincare Care and Nursing Homes Brochure

Quality care since 1986

Why Agincare?

These are just some of the reasons why residents and their families choose our homes.

Family-owned

Agincare are a family-owned business that have been providing reliable and professional care since 1986

National coverage

We are one of the largest care groups in England with over 3500 staff

High quality care

90% of our customers rate us ‘Excellent’ or ‘Great’

Fully regulated

All our care services are fully regulated by the CQC for your total reassurance

Fully trained staff

Our care staff have nationally recognised qualifications and are enhanced DBS checked

‘Person

First’ approach

Our unique approach to dementia care means we fully understand the needs of each individual

No private equity

We are not financed by private equity meaning our future is more safe and secure, and our clients are not a temporary money making venture

Resident’s family

“My father-in-law is extremely happy and well looked-after. He regularly tells us he couldn’t be anywhere better and I totally agree.”

Derek Luckhurst, Chairman & Founder of Agincare

Our philosophy

We opened our first care homeAgincourt - in 1986. Since then, our service has grown to provide live-in care and home care, as well as residential care.

However, Agincare is still proudly a family business, with our founder and Chairman Derek Luckhurst taking a personal interest in the way each of our care and nursing homes is run.

“People want to know that they’re getting good quality and reliable care at a reasonable price. Delivering high-quality, affordable care to those in need is our passion, and it always will be.”

While each of our homes has its own style and facilities, they all offer their residents comfort, security and the support they need.

We work with all our staff, residents and families so every resident feels happy, respected and cared-for.

Our care

We offer different levels of care, from residential and nursing care, right through to palliative and end of life care.

Residential care

An Agincare residential care home will give you:

• A comfortable and safe environment to live in

• Day-to-day personal care support from experienced care staff - help in getting up or going to bed, eating, washing, dressing, using the toilet and taking medicines

• Tasty and nutritious meals, freshly-prepared by the home’s chefs

• The option to get involved in a range of fun and sociable activities

• Your own private room to personalise as you wish

• Physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and social support

Dementia care

Agincare was one of the first providers to offer dementia care. All our staff are trained to provide dementia care, and some of our homes offer particular specialist facilities and support.

Most research on creating an environment suitable for people with dementia focuses on the need for a ‘homely’ and ‘household’ feel. That’s why we work hard to create a home-fromhome environment in our care homes, where familiar objects can help with orientation and conversation points. This includes reminiscence activities, as well as residents continuing to helping with daily domestic tasks around the home if they want to.

Each home has a Dementia Champion who leads on this area of work, maintaining standards and incorporating the latest good practice.

Respite care

Some of our care homes have respite care beds, crisis placements or ‘step down’ beds supporting people after being discharged from hospital. Please contact the home you’re interested in for more details - we’ll always try and accommodate short stays if we have space. The same applies to day care - whether it’s for a ‘taster day’ to see if the home would suit you, to meet new people, or to give a carer a well-deserved break.

Nursing care

As well as providing round-the-clock intense nursing care in a safe and caring environment, we try to make our nursing care centres a home-from-home. We believe that happiness, comfort and dignity will not only improve your quality of life while you’re in our care, but could also help you feel better in yourself.

Learning disability

We offer short-break residential and day support services, working to the personcentred principles of choice, dignity, individuality and empowerment. We work closely with everyone in a person’s circle of support to help them lead a full, independent and happy life.

End of life care (palliative care)

We work closely with health professionals to make sure that wherever possible people can stay in a home, surrounded by the staff they know and trust.

Our compassionate care home staff are experienced in providing end of life care, in a sensitive and attentive way. We work hard to support the person and their family and to achieve the best quality of life for them. We take into account their cultural and religious needs, as well as their physical and emotional well-being.

Highlytrained staff Staff training

Our care home staff go on an intensive two/ three day Agincare induction before starting at one of our care homes. Training includes:

• Safe moving and handling

• Infection control

• Dementia and cognitive impairment

• Nutrition and hydration

• Fire awareness

• Food hygiene

This is then followed by a 12-week induction, competency and training period.

Once our care staff have completed a threemonth probation they move on to a QCF Level 2 or 3 qualification in health and social care.

As well as regular reviews and supervisions we carry out mandatory annual and twoyear refresher training, plus specialist training including Alzheimer’s, end of life care, epilepsy, diabetes, stroke and Parkinson’s.

We’re incredibly proud of our care home staff.

At each of our care homes there are care staff, housekeeping staff and kitchen staff all working together to help you feel at home, cared-for and valued. Each person plays a key role in the smooth-running of a happy care home.

Taking time to understand you as a person

We’re passionate about treating our residents as people. We take the time to get to know you as an individual – your history, likes and dislikes, hopes and stories.

Understanding you helps us tailor our care to you. And our bespoke person-centred care helps you stay as active and independent as you can be –with choice and dignity.

Each of our care homes has an experienced registered manager. They’ll get to know you and your family, and are on hand should you have a question, suggestion, concern or complaint.

In turn our managers have a strong Agincare support network. We have operations managers and a Chief Operating Officer, all of whom have years of experience of working in a variety of roles in care homes and other areas of care.

Positive feedback for our care homes

Our 2020 satisfaction survey of residents in our care and nursing homes paints an extremely positive picture of life in our residential homes.

Listening to our clients and their families is important to us. We want to know what people think and feel about our care, whether that’s home care, livein care or our care homes. This year we heard back from 222 care home residents and family members.

The survey was sent out during the 2020 COVID pandemic. We were therefore delighted that 99% of people who responded said that they felt our care home teams managed well during this unprecedented time.

“The final question in our survey asked our residents or their family members whether they were satisfied overall with the service they receive from us. It is heartening that 95% of people said they were. However, we are never complacent about the quality of our care and strive to keep improving. Our aim is for our care homes to be the number one choice locally.”

Respondents overwhelming (97%) agreed that they felt comfortable and safe with staff and in the home. And the same percentage (97%) told us that their care or nursing home is comfortable and clean. We try hard to give our residents options and support for them to choose what they want to do. So it’s reassuring that 96% of people who responded said they felt able to contribute to the activities and events in the home should they so wish.

Tim Buckley, Chief Operating Officer for Agincare care homes, said:

How we use technology

Our care and nursing home staff use ‘Nourish’ - an online tool giving them immediate, real-time access to residents’ likes, dislikes and care information on a handset.

Using Nourish means our care teams can easily keep track of a resident’s day, including medication, activities, hydration and how much they’ve eaten.

Residents and visitors are welcome to use our homes’ free wi-fi.

All our residential homes have a tablet for residents to use – Skype calls work really well – and for families to use when they visit. Visitors often bring in their own devices and use our wi-fi to show loved ones videos and photos, and to play games.

And our wi-fi has proved very popular with the children of visiting families!

Our homes’ environment

Our homes offer comfortable, homely accommodation with your own privacy, plus space to be sociable and spend time with family, friends and other residents.

We pride ourselves on maintaining the homes to a high standard, inside and out. We have created clean, safe, relaxed and comfortable environments for all our residents.

All our homes have well-kept gardens with areas to take a stroll or sit outside in warmer weather.

Some of our homes have ponds, water features and well-fed koi carp. Others have barbecues or space for residents to grow their own flowers and vegetables. And all our homes have plenty of bird-feeders and tables for their feathered friends!

Food and nutrition

As we get older, it’s crucial that we eat and drink properly. A nutritious diet is one of the most important factors in staying healthy.

That’s why at Agincare care and nursing homes, we take nutrition and hydration extremely seriously.

Mealtimes are really important to us. We encourage our residents to eat together as there are so many social and nutritional benefits. However, people can choose to eat meals in their room, if they prefer. Because we get to know our residents’ likes and dislikes so well, we know what, when and how they like to eat. Our care staff also know how best to encourage our residents to eat and drink the right amount.

Something delicious and nutritious for everyone

Our chefs work hard every day to create appetising meals which are not only nutritionally-balanced, but delicious too!

They use local and seasonal ingredients as much as possible in designing their menus. They also involve the residents, asking for feedback and listening to ideas and suggestions.

We cater for all dietary needs, from Coeliac and gluten-free, to vegetarian and vegan. Our residents living with dementia often find it easier to eat finger foods.

Our homes have picture and written menus, but staff always re-offer before serving, to check our residents haven’t changed their minds about what they’d like to eat.

“Our residents’ firm favourites are pie, mash and peas, and shepherd’s pie. Every plate is clean when it comes back to the kitchen, so I make more as there’s always requests for seconds!”

Chef Beverly, Agincourt Care Home

Social life & leisure

Our activities co-ordinators make sure there’s always something fun and stimulating going on in our homes.

Animal therapy visits are always a big hitfrom owls and birds of prey, to therapy dogs and alpacas, with everything in between!

Another great favourite is music, and our homes arrange entertainers depending on what their residents like. Other activities in a week could include:

• Arts and crafts

• Manicures and beauty treatments

• Hair-dressing

• Singalongs

• Memory boxes

• Baking (and eating!)

Being part of the local community is important to us, so that the people we care for are connected, not isolated. Our residents love spending time with toddler groups and school classes. And visits to gardening clubs, local places of worship and the local library are popular choices.

We like to be sociable and enjoy our Christmas parties, summer fêtes, and the annual Care Home Open Day.

We Believe In Good Care.

All our care and nursing homes are fully regulated and regularly inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Commission monitors and inspects care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety in five areas: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. They then publish what they find to help people choose care. We are very proud of our ratings.

We have our own Believe in Good Care scheme within Agincare to remind existing and prospective staff, customers, carers and partner organisations what good social care means to the lives of those who receive it.

We collect comments and feedback on our services and publish them on our website. We are proud of what we do in social care, and want to share the good things that happen and remind people to Believe in Good Care.