Caring Times March 2021

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Staff / recruitment... Property marketplace... Innovation... Expert analysis...

Respect – care’s new-found status

Long covid – the impact on sickness rates

Pay – leaders back call for £10 a hour minimum wage

A new home for social care? The dawn of the Institute of Health and Social Care Management

March 2021

Social care business management

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inside

March 2021

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12 16 20 22

26 COVER PHOTO: Frontline staff at Encore Care Homes.

Image taken before the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Regulation

how to convince the CQC of best practice

The long march to recovery the signs and symptoms of Long Covid

Public respect

keeping the torch of social care burning

Laundry feature

Embracing smart laundry technologies for the future of care

Instituting change

we talk to the founders of the Institute of Health and Social Care

Burnout

five steps to prevention

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March 2021

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Providers call for caution over care home visits

Anxious care providers have given an extremely cautious welcome to a Government announcement that visits can begin again in care and nursing homes following Covid-19 lockdowns.

The Government announced that care home residents could have one named visitor from 8 March and that they would be able to hold hands. The visitor would have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE).

Provider organisation The Independent Care Group (ICG) gave an “extremely cautious” welcome to the Government’s announcement.

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It called for greater clarification on details of the announcement and urged providers to take care.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Care providers are very keen to enable residents to enjoy visits from their relatives once again as they have been kept apart for too long.

“But we must sound a note of caution because Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and we are caring for the most vulnerable and most susceptible to it, as the figures show.

“We need some clarification – for example, the announcement says holding hands will be allowed but warns against “close contact”. How is that going to be possible? There is going to have to be some very close but compassionate supervision of these visits.

“In truth, we might have preferred a more phased return to visiting with maybe a period of no contact visits followed by some careful contact.”

“We would also be slightly concerned that this is being introduced at the same

time that schools return, which we are being warned could lead to an increase in infections again. Is it right to do these two things together?

“Plus, many residents will not have had their second vaccine, many visitors will not have had any vaccines at all and there are concerns about the accuracy of lateral flow tests.

“All in all, we know that people desperately want to reunite residents with their families, but we have to be extremely cautious.

“These are very vulnerable people and Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 28,000 of them in the past year.

“I would still urge care providers to work with their local health professionals and local councils to ensure they proceed with care.”

The ICG said it was also concerned about the extra costs the new visits would create and called on the Government to provide more support.

“The new visiting regime is going to entail a lot of hard work and extra staffing. With the current infection control fund coming to an end next month, we must have more support to help make this visiting work,” Mr Padgham added.

Care provider fined after man falls to his death A magistrates’ court has ordered a care provider to pay over £80,000 after a 57-year-old man died following the failure of a window restrictor that had not been upgraded for 15 years despite warnings.

St John’s Nursing Home Limited in Hailing Park Road, South Croydon, Surrey, pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court last week to failing to provide safe care and treatment, resulting in avoidable harm to Mr Stephen Verrall while he was resident at the home.

The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £3,474 prosecution costs, plus a £170 victim surcharge at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on 3 February in a prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

St John’s Nursing Home Limited is a registered nursing home for people who require nursing or personal care.

On 17 October 2017 Mr Verrall was found in the car park outside, having had an unwitnessed fall from his bedroom. He was taken to St. George’s Hospital where he later died on 19 October 2017.

The window from which he fell had been restricted by a single metal chain attached by screws to an aluminium frame. This had been in place for at least 15 years. A health and safety consultant attended the home the day after the incident and advised a change to all the window restrictors with chains, because they were not strong enough. The windows were later replaced in February 2018 with built in window restrictors.

Neil Cox, CQC’s Head of Inspection for Adult Social Care, said the case was distressing and offered sympathy to Mr Verrall’s family, adding that it should remind care providers to manage risk effectively.

“Where we find any provider has put people using its services at risk of harm, we take action to hold them to account and protect people. We hope this prosecution reminds care providers that they must always ensure people’s safety and manage risks to their wellbeing,” he said.

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Surrey care leader steps down after 48 years in the industry Erica Lockhart, CEO of the Surrey Care Association is set to retire at the end of March, following 48 years of service to the care industry – the last 35 of which have been dedicated to improving care services across Surrey.

During this time, Erica has helped transform the face of care in the county, having helped found the Surrey Care Association in 2005 to act as a voice for independent Surrey care providers, providing a vital link between public sector bodies and those offering frontline care services.

Initially qualifying as a social worker in Newcastle in the early 1970s, Erica’s career progression saw her make her way to Surrey in 1984 in a senior role in social services, and in the intervening years she has taken on a variety of high level posts, staying in the county ever since.

Her varied experience, which covers the full spectrum of social care, left Erica well placed to orchestrate the foundation of the Surrey Care Association, having developed a broad understanding of care needs in the region. Appointed as the association’s first ever CEO, Erica’s departure now leaves an opportunity for someone to take up her mantle, with the SCA yet to appoint a successor – and

welcoming potential applicants.

The organisation now represents more than 200 care providers within Surrey and has more than 400 individual members. During the coronavirus pandemic, the association has played a pivotal role in helping to translate Government guidance for local providers, ensuring they’re well informed and updated with the latest developments.

Commenting on her decision to retire, Erica said: “After 35 wonderful years in Surrey, 15 years of which have been spent heading up the Surrey Care Association, I feel now is the time to step down and allow for someone else to take up the reins. The last 12 months have been amongst the most challenging we’ve ever experienced as a sector, but they’ve also been some of the most rewarding. With social care in the spotlight like never before, now is the time to take advantage of that fact, to broaden our horizons and help us continue to grow and expand on the enhanced recognition and appreciation for the vital work we do. Having reached the twilight of my career, I wanted to enable someone new and enthusiastic to succeed to take up the role and be the voice for care providers in Surrey.”

Simon Carter, Chair of the Surrey Care Association, said: “Erica’s contribution over the years has been absolutely tremendous. She’s helped develop the SCA into a voice of authority for care providers, working hard to support them and put forward their concerns, while also championing their triumphs and successes. Her shoes will be incredibly hard to fill, but, whoever it happens to be, has a wonderful example to follow in Erica who has left an outstanding legacy for them to build upon. On behalf of the entire association we’d like to express our immense gratitude for her dedication and hard work. We wish her all the best and a wonderful retirement.”

ICG backs Labour call for £10 an hour minimum wage Care campaigners have backed calls for care staff to be paid a minimum of £10 an hour but warned that a complete overhaul of the social care sector was vital to ensure that providers would be able to meet the costs.

The Labour Party has called for care workers to be paid a minimum of £10 an hour for the work they do and care provider organisation The Independent Care Group (ICG) has says it supports the policy.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “During the pandemic care workers have shown yet again the fantastic job they do in caring for our oldest and most vulnerable citizens.

“We have argued for a generation that

care staff deserve to be paid better – at least £10 an hour – probably more.

“But to pay that, the country is going to have to pay more for the wonderful care it receives.

“Most care providers are reliant on the fees they receive from bodies that commission care, like local authorities. At the moment, those bodies are not paying a price for care that would enable providers to meet the £10 an hour wage.

“Local authorities need more funds so that they can support social care and enable providers to give their staff the pay they deserve.”

The ICG is calling for total reform of social care, beginning with more funding

into the sector through National Insurance or taxation. It wants to see the merging of NHS healthcare and social care and parity between those working in the two sectors.

It says some £8bn has been cut from social care budgets since 2010 with the result that 1.4m people are living without the care they need and there are 110,000 vacancies for social care staff.

“Investing more in social care makes perfect sense,” Mr Padgham added. “The adult social care sector in the UK contributes £46.2 billion to the economy and with the right support, to meet increasing demand, would contribute even more.

“There is an opportunity right now to reform social care, transform the lives of millions and improve this country as a result.”

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March 2021

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Marie Curie partners with a care provider for the first time to implement End-of-Life Care Strategy

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Leading end of life charity Marie Curie and care provider Hallmark Care Homes are working together to implement the care group’s End-of-Life Care Strategy.

Under the partnership, Marie Curie will provide training in end-of-life awareness; communication; coping strategies; symptom management and care planning to 2,100 Hallmark employees. Meanwhile, Hallmark will support Marie Curie to hone its resources for a care home audience and in the progression of relevant research to improve end of life care outcomes for older people.

To support the strategy Marie Curie is providing mentorship, clinical supervision and training in counselling and leadership support for the Hallmark Care Homes End of Life Care Champions.

Deaths in care settings were increasing even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

A 2017 Public Health England review found that, between 2011 and 2017, the number of deaths in care homes increased by 20 per cent as the population continued to age and the need for residential care increased.

With the Office of National Statistics predicting the number of persons aged 85+ to double between 2018 and 2043, that demand for residential care is expected to grow substantially. This highlights a need, prior to the events of 2020, for such expert support for people working with care home residents.

Welcoming the new partnership with Marie Curie, care quality governance and compliance director at Hallmark Care Homes, Julie Rayner said: “Hallmark is well-known for the quality of care provided to all residents who chose to make a Hallmark care home their home and this partnership with Marie Curie will ensure this outstanding care extends throughout a resident’s life journey. There are ground-breaking times ahead for Hallmark and Marie Curie as we work and share learning together.

“We are delighted to be to implementing our End-of-Life Care Strategy. Not only will our teams be benefitting from the high-quality training provided by Marie

Curie, but our End-of-Life Care Champions will be mentored by Marie Curie nurses and their reflective practice will be supported by regular action learning sets, again being facilitated by the Marie Curie team.”

Eamon O’Kane, deputy director, devolved nations and national programmes at Marie Curie, said: “Marie Curie’s priority is to improve the experience of dying, death and bereavement for all. Even before the pandemic the number of people dying was increasing annually. Covid-19 has increased the pressures on care workers to support both residents and families in very challenging circumstances. We commend Hallmark in their proactive efforts to change the experiences for their service

users, relatives and their workforce.

“Care homes are supporting residents with end-of-life care needs now more than ever and evidence shows that over a third of people who die in care homes are temporary residents transferred for end of life care.

“Marie Curie have decades of experience to share in the provision of direct care at end of life and we know we can make greater impact by working with a wider network of stakeholders who are ideally placed to help people at end of life.”

The work with Marie Curie has been developing virtually over the last nine months and the planned timetable of training and knowledge exchange will be out to Hallmark employees by the end of March.

Mechanical pets comfort care home residents

Residents at Brendoncare Alton care home have been enjoying time with mechanical cats and dogs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the home used to receive a weekly visit from Pets As Therapy (PAT) dogs into the home to spend time with the residents.

The pets provided sensory stimulation, particularly for residents with dementia who would stroke and talk to the PAT dogs. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, these visits had to stop, so the staff decided to purchase mechanical cats and dogs as a substitute for the PAT dogs.

The mechanical pets have been a welcome alternative and some of the residents have become very attached to them. They cuddle and stroke them and also chat away to them. One resident, Theresa, is so attached to one of the dogs that she goes everywhere with her ‘pet’.

Another resident, John Kitching, is so attached to one of the cats that he is often reciting words from the nursery rhyme, ‘Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you

been’. He commented, “I find the cat calm and comforting and it provides lots of reassurance in the difficult times we are going through at the moment!”

Claire Stoneman-Merret, activities coordinator supervisor, at Brendoncare Alton, said: “It’s lovely seeing the residents that use the pets, they are always smiling and enjoy conversations with their particular pet. It was hilarious the other day when Theresa, one of our residents, asked her dog ‘what do you want to dinner’, and the dog responded with a bark!”

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competition

2021 Do you know or work with someone who is an unsung hero in a care home?

Ontex in association with Caring Times have teamed up once again to reward those working in care homes who are always ready to go that extra mile. There are thousands of people working in care homes in the UK, some behind the scenes in the laundry, preparing meals in the kitchen and some caring for residents themselves. Whether that person is a colleague or someone else you know, now is the time to reward those individuals that have made a real impact on their particular place of work.

If you know of anyone that fits the bill, entries can be made online at:

www.careinfo.org.uk/unsungheroes

So go to this link and tell us in 400 words or less, why you think your nominated person deserves to win.

Terms and Conditions This prize draw is organised by Ontex, Weldon House, CorbyGate Business Park, Priors Haw Road, Corby, NN17 5JG. It is governed by the laws of England and Wales and it is subject to the following conditions: n

The prize draw is not open to employees or contractors of Ontex or any person directly or indirectly involved in the organisation and running of the competition or their direct family members.

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The prizes are up to the value of £250 of Love to Shop Vouchers for the 3 runner-up winners in October, November and December issues. The overall winner collects £500 of Love to Shop Vouchers in the September issue.

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There is no cash alternative.

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No purchase is necessary to take part in the prize draw. The prize draw is open to UK residents only who are aged 18 or over.

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Closing date for entry is 28th April 2021. Winners will be notified 21 days after the closing date.

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Permission will be required for Ontex to contact the winners and visit them to hand deliver the prizes when possible.

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If the winners do not confirm acceptance of his/her prize within 7 days he/she will automatically forfeit the rights to claim for the prize. In the event of the prize not being claimed, Ontex reserves the right to select an alternative winner via any means that Ontex feel appropriate. By participating in the prize draw, you declare that you accept these terms and conditions unconditionally.

The overall winner will be announced in the September issue of Caring Times and will win £500 of Love to Shop Vouchers. There will be 3 runner-up winners announced in the October, November and December issues of Caring Times, who will each win £250 of Love to Shop Vouchers. All winners will receive certificates and have full published editorial in Caring Times and on our social media channels.

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The government launches drive to take up short-term work in the social care sector The Call to Care initiative is aimed at increasing staff capacity in adult social care to help alleviate the shortages being felt across the sector. Workers currently on furlough will be eligible for the scheme.

Those who have registered as NHS Returners and Volunteers can also respond to the Call to Care.

Kathy Roberts, Chair of the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) welcomed the scheme.

“We very much hope that the Call to Care initiative will encourage many people who may not have considered a job in working within a care environment to consider working in adult social care.

Working in care is about working with people and making a difference in people’s lives and this initiative presents a good opportunity for people to try it out in the short-term to find our first hand if it’s the right thing for them. Having worked in care and support for many

years, I think many people will be pleasantly surprised by just how rewarding it is to work in care,” she said.

But Roberts added that a long-term approach to social care workforce planning was urgently needed.

Exemplar Health Care opens specialist care home in West Yorkshire

Very few people saving to fund their social care

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New research shows that social care barely registers as a planning or funding priority when it comes to retirement planning.

Only 7% of people in the UK say that they intend to save for possible future social care needs with just 1% viewing it as their single greatest financial priority.

According to Aegon’s global retirement study, health is placed as the most important consideration, with more people worried about declining health (48%) than running out of money (42%).

Aegon suggests that the findings may be down to the perception that it’s something the government will pay for with 38% saying they haven’t factored in care as a future expense because it will be provided by the NHS, while 31% simply haven’t considered it at all.

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon said: “Many individuals face significant and at times catastrophic costs,

“One of the challenges we have in the sector is that we have a workforce that is highly skilled but is not being fully recognised for the contribution they make.

We need to address this so that we have a structured plan that has government ownership, clear policy and sustainable funding to solve for the future care workforce. Workforce capacity issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic and it will take concentrated effort to alleviate them now and in the future,” she said.

wiping out their life savings, if they need to go into a care home. While the issue of social care has been brought into sharp focus as a result of Covid, the research shows consideration of how to fund it is a worryingly low priority.

“It may be that too many people still believe that social care funding is an issue for the government to sort out. Compared to other countries, UK citizens benefit greatly from having access to the NHS, but all too often, people wrongly believe that their social care needs in later life will also be taken care of by the state.

“The issue of social care and how to cover personal contribution to costs needs much greater consideration within the overall retirement planning process. When the UK Government does set out its new deal, it will be vital to incentivise people to plan ahead and save for their possible long-term care in older age.”

Exemplar Health Care, a provider of specialist nursing care for adults living with complex needs, has announced that Wykewood will open in the spring following a £5 million investment.

Wykewood will support 40 adults living with complex mental health needs, and neuro and physical disabilities, including brain injuries and stroke.

Sharon Burton, Wykewood’s commissioning home director, said: “I’m delighted to be opening Exemplar Health Care’s first care home in Bradford – and to be providing 150 jobs for the local area.

“Every one of our care homes provides supportive, welcoming, community-based services which help people to reach their goals. Working in social care can be extremely rewarding, and Exemplar Health Care is already offering stable and secure careers to more than 3,200 people.

The care home is recruiting for a variety of roles, which includes nurses, support workers, administrators, kitchen staff, and cleaners.

“It is extremely rewarding to be able to support 40 local people living with complex health needs, and to provide over 150 stable and local jobs,” said Burton.

“From nurses to carers, chefs and cleaners, we are hoping to find new staff members to support us in our aim to make every day better for the people we care for.”

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promotion

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

espite so much openness about health and wellbeing, incontinence is still a taboo subject. Many people simply don’t want to talk about incontinence, yet it is estimated that in the in the UK alone there are between three and six million people living with it.

Ontex Healthcare is committed to encouraging people to talk about incontinence at every stage in life. In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic there is a much greater focus on self-care at home and this applies to all ages, but is particularly important for those who live alone in our communities.

In the UK 3.8million individuals over the age of 65 live alone, 58% of whom are over 75, around 2.2million individuals. It is also a fact that older adults who live are:

D

n n

n

More likely to visit A&E More likely to visit a GP with around a fifth of persons aged 65+ who live alone visiting their GP once a month, compared to 14% of older persons who live with others More likely to have a mental health condition

Caring in every home If you’re caring for someone who is struggling with incontinence, these top five tips may help:

1. Ensure the person needing care leads a healthy lifestyle – healthy eating, drinking plenty of fluids and cutting back on caffeine are just some of the things that will help someone who is managing incontinence every day.

2. Look after yourself – As a carer it’s also important to look after yourself as well as those you are looking after.

Dealing with incontinence care can be embarrassing and frustrating so it’s important to make sure you have some quality time planned to de-stress.

3. Maintain good hygiene practices – Wear gloves when dealing with used hygiene products and thoroughly wash your hands afterwards. Make sure that you dispose of the hygiene products and gloves appropriately (never down the toilet).

4. Incontinence care is challenging: try to stay relaxed – Some people may be resistant to receiving help for their incontinence issues as they feel embarrassed or like they lack independence. Humour can also be a powerful tool for lightening a situation and creating trust between you and your loved one, which in turn may alleviate some of their embarrassment or resistance.

5. Use the right incontinence products – It can be completely overwhelming when there is so much product choice, which is why iD is here to try and provide products for all levels of incontinence from light to severe. Ontex has recently relaunched its iD Expert Slip and iD Expert Form brands, designed to support for those with moderate to heavy levels of incontinence.

The iD Expert Slip range has been designed for those who no longer feel they have control of their bladder and when urine leakage is heavy and cannot be controlled in any manner. These all-in-one products will help to manage moderate to heavy incontinence and have anti-leak cuffs and waist elastication to ensure a snug fit with a high level of absorption.

The iD Expert Form range has been designed for heavy urine leakage that cannot be controlled. The pads feature an odour control system that locks in any odours to keep you feeling fresh.

For more information visit id-stockist.com or call us on 01536 269744

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news

March 2021

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Public fears grow over care home infection risks

New research reveals that care homes across the country are facing lost revenues due to customer fears around infection risk.

According to the nationallyrepresentative survey into 2,000 members of the public, more than one in three respondents (34.5%) said they are less likely to trust care homes with their loved ones’ care due to fears around infection.

The findings also revealed that the overwhelming majority of the public (80.5%) would be reassured by visible proof that a care home takes cleanliness and infection control seriously.

Significantly, 10.7% would be less likely to use a care home that did not have this proof, and 6% would no longer use a care

home that could not prove that they adhered to the highest standards of hygiene and infection control.

The research was carried out by infection control specialist JLA, a trusted partner to thousands of care homes across the UK, as part of its “Infection Insights” campaign to improve industry standards, customer reassurance and peace of mind across the care sector.

Over a fifth (20.4%) of the public also currently hold a poor opinion of hygiene and infection control in care homes, and do not believe standards are currently at the levels required.

Just under a third (30.1%) feel confident that care homes are clean and sanitised, and a further 10.7% reported that they

believed standards are “excellent”.

Ben Gujral, CEO at JLA, said: “The events of the past year have laid bare the need for care homes to do everything they can to reassure anxious residents over the coming weeks, with major growth opportunities in store for those that do invest what is needed now.

“Expectations of the businesses customers will trust their money – and their loved ones’ health – with are virtually unrecognisable from even a year ago and, at a time where care homes need the continued loyalty of their customers more than ever before, it is crucial that they action all possible infection control measures to put the public’s minds at ease.

“Care homes that take the time to do this now will reap the benefits over the coming months, providing reassurance to those who need it, and ensuring the loyalty of customers both old and new for years to come.”

Frontline staff at Encore Care Homes promote a career in care

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Workers at Encore Care Homes are promoting the benefits of a career in care as they support the search for 500 people to sign up to a new not-for-profit care agency.

The not-for-profit care agency is backing Encore Care Homes’ partnership with the NHS to temporarily welcome in extra nonCovid residents at short notice to reduce the pressure on hospital staff as coronavirus patient numbers rise.

Maggie Tomlin, home manager at Great Oaks, started her working life as an auxiliary nurse in a hospital before switching to working in care homes. She said: “If you have got empathy and genuinely want to help people then it’s a very good career. You can work your way up to make it a career that you can be proud of. The reason I wanted to become a care home manager is because I wanted to make a difference. Since I started working in care, I’ve never lost my enthusiasm for it.”

Care Club member, Zarina Hassan, who works as a Healthcare Assistant at Oakdale, said: “We are working on the frontline and we are very proud of that.

One day I will tell my children and my grandchildren that I helped during this pandemic. I love doing this job as I enjoy looking after people. I’m doing something

good for the community as well as I’m helping out in these difficult times.”

Fellow Care Club member, Danielle Smith, who also works as a Healthcare Assistant at Oakdale, said: “I’ve worked in care homes for seven years. I took Health and Social Care as one of the subjects I chose for my A-Levels and my teacher suggested that I try working in care. It’s very rewarding. It makes you feel very good by the end of the shift when you

think about how you’ve helped the residents.”

Strict Covid-19 protocols are in place at Encore with all incoming residents being tested for Covid-19 before they arrive at the care home. The new resident also undergoes a period of self-isolation, with the team’s support. All care home residents are tested for Covid-19 on a weekly basis, with staff accessing twice-weekly Lateral Flow rapid testing.

Care home resident beats two pandemics to celebrate 104th birthday Anne Connor, a resident at Sunrise of Hale Barns celebrated her 104th birthday meaning she has survived two global pandemics, the Spanish Flu in 1918 and Covid-19 in 2020. Anne moved to Sunrise of Hale Barns in March 2019, and she lives in the care home’s Memory Care Neighbourhood.

Anne was born in Dundee in 1917 and moved with her family to the Manchester area when she was quite young. She worked all her life in a variety of jobs, particularly those requiring quick numerical calculations. Anne could add up a column of numbers amazingly fast and with great accuracy.After her retirement, Anne was an intrepid traveller, often visiting her brother in Canada and going on a tour of California on her own. She was never too fond of exercise and any exercise Anne did take had to be able to be done in stilettos and without disturbing her hairstyle.

The Sunrise of Hale Barns team members organised a window visit for Anne’s family on her birthday. She was delighted to see them and blew them lots of kisses through the window.

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We are delighted to announce...

We will be returning as a live event in November

Entries will be opening soon!

If you are interested in category sponsorship for 2021, or require further information please contact Caroline Bowern: caroline.bowern@investorpublishing.co.uk or 0797 4643292

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staffing and recruitment

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

Staffing in social care:

The cornerstone of compliance T

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he pandemic has created a number of ever-changing challenges for staff which have largely been met with resilience, dedication and care. It is vitally important that care providers understand how staff teams can impact the success and regulatory compliance of a service.

This article discusses how putting in place some very basic measures can help to ensure not only a positive relationship with staff members, but will also demonstrate positive practice to the regulator To say it’s been a tough year would be a shameful understatement. The health and social care sector has been tested like never before. Day after day we have been presented with harrowing statistics on how Covid-19 has tightened its grip on the world but amongst the bad news and escalating fear, we have seen innumerable examples of human kindness at its finest.

Social media has been awash with everyday people going above and beyond to help each other and these cases are indeed worthy of celebration. But what happens when being caring, compassionate and determined to go above and beyond is simply a requirement of your job? Here we find social care workers, earnestly and doggedly showing up to work day after day to deliver care to the most vulnerable people in our communities. These people have been the back bone of the social care sector for almost a year now and although many lives have been tragically lost to the virus in care services, this would have been far worse if not for the sacrifice and compassion demonstrated by many staff.

By now care providers will be reflecting on how their staff teams have performed and the dedication they have shown in their work. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that good care staff are

Jenny Wilde, director and solicitor at Ridouts Solicitors, reflects on the importance and influence of staff in care services.

completely invaluable, but actually, this is nothing new.

Now is the time to properly take stock of the importance of staff and the enormous impact that they can have on the success of a care business, not just in commercial terms but also from a regulatory perspective. To understand the importance of staff in a number of key areas will go a long way to meeting the requirements of a number of regulations and demonstrating to the CQC that you are a compliant provider.

The basics – Regulation 18 Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 – Staffing We’re all familiar with the requirements of Regulation 18. In accordance with that provision, a provider must ensure that sufficient numbers of suitably qualified,

competent, skilled and experienced persons must be deployed within the service and that those staff members are appropriately trained, supervised and supported.

At Ridouts we have seen hundreds of inspection reports that have cited staffing issues as a reason to downgrade a domain

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or suggest that a service is not safe. Often, the only evidence on which the CQC rely to arrive at this conclusion are innocuous comments from staff such as “I’m rushed off my feet” or “I wish we had a few more staff”. Judgements can be made without consultation with any documentation (most notably a rota or a staff dependency tool). All too often, the CQC take casual remarks like this as fact when actually, the simplest investigation would probably demonstrate that the numbers of staff working are appropriate and that the needs of the service users are being met.

Similar issues arise when inspectors ask staff about training that they have received. This is particularly common when staff are questioned about their knowledge of mental capacity or safeguarding. Staff can feel intimidated when questioned about their understanding or interpretation of certain areas of delivering care, especially something as complex as mental capacity, for example. A staff member may panic

and immediately think that if they respond incorrectly then they, personally, will be challenged by the inspector or be subject to scrutiny. As a way of protecting themselves they may answer that they can’t remember or that they simply haven’t been trained on that subject, when in reality, they have. Again, an inspector may take such a response at face value and not consult a training matrix or staff records which contain certificates for relevant training. This can have a serious impact on your rating and can lead an inspector to conclude that the service is not compliant.

The best way to avoid such a scenario is to build “inspection confidence’ amongst staff. Mock inspections and spot checks will get them used to the “pressure” of the scenario. Staff should be encouraged to speak with pride about their gathered knowledge and get used to the feeling on being questioned by an inspector.

Encourage them to showcase their skills with confidence.

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In order to satisfy the CQC that Regulation 18 is being met, providers must keep clear and detailed records of staff training, a comprehensive training matrix and evidence of completed training. This can be provided to the inspector even if they do not ask for it and used to contradict inaccurate assertions made by an inspector or to give information that was not considered at all by the regulator.

Dependency tools and a clear rationale behind staffing levels are very important.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) inspections

Over the last 12 months staff members have been wading through an avalanche of ever changing guidance from Public Health England, Central Government and local authorities (to name a few sources). Guidance has changed alongside the dynamic pandemic and approaches to PPE, visitors and general infection control protocol have varied ➤

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➤ along the way. In recent weeks, Ridouts has seen a significant number of draft inspection reports produced as a consequence of an IPC inspection.

Many have demonstrated isolated errors by staff, for example, not wearing a face mask properly or improper disposal of PPE, which have resulted in a service being downgraded to “Inadequate” overall. Whilst there is no excusing failure to rigidly and attentively adhere to infection control policy and procedure, there is clearly a level of fatigue amongst some staff members, exhausted by what has happened and is continuing to happen, in recent months. Whilst disproportionate inspection reports can be challenged, (and they absolutely should be if a report paints an inaccurate or disproportionately negative picture of a service,) there is no guarantee that the CQC will amend its findings unless robust evidence is provided demonstrating that a finding is incorrect. In fact, the regulator will aggressively stick to reporting on what it found during that inspection, even it if was simply an unfortunate “one-off”.

On that basis, it is vital that providers remember to support staff wherever they can. Above we discuss mock inspections to build staff confidence but it is also imperative to closely and regularly supervise staff to ensure that their practice and understanding of guidance is up to date. Regular refresher training should also be offered in this area. Small issues can add up during an IPC inspection and it can be particularly cruel to see a service that has performed well during the pandemic have its rating reduced on the back of avoidable mistakes. In more than one case, Ridouts has seen “Good” rated providers who have had zero positive Covid-19 cases within the service, across an almost 12 month period, be penalised by CQC inspectors for momentary lapses in protocol during inspection. Focused IPC inspections have reduced their rating down to “Inadequate” and in some cases the CQC has taken formal enforcement action (particularly urgent action under Section 31 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, as discussed by my colleague Caroline Barker in this article . Ridouts has intervened in several cases in the last 2 months, challenging decisions and proposals made by the CQC arising from IPC inspections.

Basic compliance with Regulation 18 (as discussed above) with IPC in mind

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Having a clear and accessible whistleblowing policy will enable staff to draw the provider’s attention to any issue that may need to be addressed to ensure safe provision of care can go a long way to ensure that your staff can demonstrate compliance and that they can feel confident that their knowledge base is up to date.

As providers will be aware, it is vital to create and develop a culture of transparency within care services. Having a clear and accessible whistleblowing policy will not only enable staff to draw the provider’s attention to any issue that may need to be addressed to ensure safe provision of care, but it will also negate the need for them to direct those concerns to external parties (e.g. the CQC) which could result in an inspection or further investigation. All too often are providers blindsided by problems because staff did not feel comfortable raising it directly.

Whistleblowing allegations feed directly into the CQC’s risk based approach to inspection and where allegations are made, the CQC is more likely to attend to inspect with those negative allegations in mind, thus prejudicing an inspection from the “get go”. Local authority safeguarding teams also rely on such allegations as the basis on which to investigate a service which can have a detrimental effect on the relationship with the commissioner both commercially and reputationally.

If staff are given the appropriate forum to raise concerns, deliver feedback or make a complaint directly to the provider, then this will only have a positive impact on the service and the people that live there. It will also demonstrate to staff that a provider takes their views seriously and wants to involve staff in bettering a service.

Keeping clear records of concerns and detailing how each has been resolved is essential evidence for the CQC, as are the minutes of any group staff meetings that are held where feedback may be sought. Not only will this help to develop a positive and supportive culture at the service, but it will also create evidence that helps to demonstrate a “Well-Led” service to the regulator.

Whistleblowing and complaints

Small gestures of gratitude can go a very long way, particularly in the wake of such a challenging year. Whilst there is a hopeful conclusion on the horizon, it is not the time for our sector to take its foot off of the gas pedal, especially in the context of a reinvigorated, unsympathetic and at times disproportionally punitive regulator.

Although the sector continues to work hard, there are things that providers can do to boost morale, show appreciation and reward staff for their work thus far.

Staff fatigue can be a huge factor in adverse inspections as can negative feedback from staff that feel underappreciated or ignored. As such, providers may want to think of innovative and meaningful ways to demonstrate appreciation to staff, in order to build trust, mutual respect and loyalty. Staff that feel valued will always go the extra mile.

It has been painful to watch the efforts of social care staff be largely ignored whilst the nation claps for the NHS, but this is not to say that praise and reward cannot be delivered on a micro level.

Developing relationships in this way will have a positive effect in both the long and short term.

Acknowledgement and reward

After over a decade of assisting, studying and analysing care services through my work with Ridouts, the influence of staff is undeniable. Staff conduct, attitude and investment in their work is a common denominator in all inspection reports, be it positive or negative. Staff will make or break a service. Careful and considerate management of a care service’s greatest asset is vital in driving a care business forwards, ensuring compliance and delivering good care.

Conclusion

Ridouts can work with you to assist with each step of the inquest process. Should you have any queries in relation to the above, please contact us on 0207 317 0340 or info@ridout-law.com.

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coronavirus espite the UK’s vaccination programme forging ahead, it is expected that social distancing and other coronavirus-related regulations will continue well into 2021, but there is optimism about an eventual return to normality.

However, the historic effects of the pandemic will continue for those who have contracted the virus, as well as for those who have served as carers, parents, and essential workers.

After the pressure of the pandemic is eased, many people will begin to feel the effects of mental burnout and ‘Long Covid’. Understanding the long-term symptoms of the coronavirus, it is clear that the virus will continue to impact public health in the future, even when the risk of the pandemic is reduced. Here, we look at the people suffering from the consequences of COVID, and how these effects can be relieved.

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Since the initial peak of the coronavirus pandemic, reports of continuing symptoms of COVID-19 after the infectious period have raised concerns as to the long-term effects of the illness.

Appropriately, this was coined as ‘Long Covid’.

Lasting symptoms of the coronavirus can include:

Fatigue

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Fatigue Joint pain Muscle pain Anxiety Depression

A recent study by King’s College London showed that one in twenty people will experience symptoms of the coronavirus lasting longer than eight weeks. This would suggest that over 87,000 people had suffered the effects of Long Covid by midDecember.

However, there are suggestions that the effects of Long Covid can be alleviated by natural supplementary support. With symptoms similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, some medical professionals are advocating, for example, the use of Coenzyme Q10 as a vitamin for recovering from Long Covid. Dr Chris Steele addressed Long Covid symptoms on national television, suggesting that “quality counts” when it comes choosing the Q10 supplement. Studies have shown significant benefits with supplementation

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With staff absences in the care sector at alarmingly high rates, Andrew Richardson, a journalist working with Pharma Nord, investigates the symptoms and effects of Long Covid.

In for the long haul? of Q10 effecting their fatigue status – one of the demobilising effects of post-virus life.

With an emphasis on staying home as much as possible during the initial national lockdown, it is unsurprising that both physical and mental health was affected.

For example, reduced sunlight exposure from remaining indoors may have contributed to a national deficiency of vitamin D. According to the NHS, vitamin D helps “keep bones, teeth, and muscles healthy.”

As joint and muscle pain are common with Long Covid, there is evidence to suggest that the effects of the virus and Long Covid are worse among those with this deficiency. In fact, recent studies are exploring the links between respiratory viral infections and vitamin D. Both Scottish and English

The deficiency of lockdown

authorities are now providing the most vulnerable in society with free vitamin D3 supplements to alleviate the potential damage of the virus. The NHS continues to advocate supplementary use of the vitamin yearround for everyone.

However, there has been more than a chemical deficiency during the lockdown.

Restrictions on physical exercise and social interaction may have contributed to a reduction in mental health. As well as guidance to protecting our physical health against the virus, the Government and various NHS foundations have published guidance on protecting our mental health – especially after the coronavirus.

Communication and exercise are key to recovering mental health, according to one NHS Foundation Trust. Recognising that anxiety is high during the pandemic, talking to someone is the best way to avoid mental burnout. Talking through your problems with another person is essential

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Recognising that anxiety is high during the pandemic, talking to someone is the best way to avoid mental burnout

for avoiding unnecessary stress. This can be done virtually or in-person while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Additionally, the Government recommends adding exercise to your daily routine. Meaningful activities are suggested to help with mental health.

Physical movement can also help reduce anxiety and depression.

The pandemic has changed everyone’s lives, but arguably more so for our frontline workers. The conditions of working under increased scrutiny, regulation, and demand have created a mental burnout among many sectors of work.

For NHS staff, anxiety has hit a peak level. A YouGov poll in April of 750 NHS workers found that 69 per cent of respondents would rate their anxiety as a five or above. Deaths from coronavirus have nearly trebled since then,

A future of work

no doubt continuing to contribute to this feeling. The pandemic has forced some NHS staff to rethink their working position, with seven per cent of workers saying they were unlikely to stay in the healthcare sector after the pandemic ends.

The education sector was also a key victim of the pandemic. However, research points out that the lockdown helped improved feelings of anxiety amongst teachers. Before the lockdown was announced, one in eight teachers reported high anxiety as a consequence of the coronavirus. After the lockdown announced, this number was reduced to only one in twenty.

However, where schools closed, home classrooms were opened. The pressure of education was passed on to parents.

Parents now had the added pressure of multiple decisions to maintain a working life, family health, and the education of their children.

While the burnout is fatiguing, one psychologist suggests that there is an optimistic angle to take away from the pandemic. Janna Koretz believes that: “This is going to make everybody’s ability to manage, cope and be flexible much better.” She ascertains that life after Covid-19 will be perceived as easier, because we have been challenged by the pandemic.

While the physical effects of the coronavirus may contribute to a diminished vitality for those who have been infected, mental burnout should hopefully be a temporary measure.

With the end of the pandemic closing in, thanks to the administering of the vaccine, normality is an approaching concept.

However, the public still needs to ensure they are safe in the meantime – from both the virus and the mental health implications of increased pressure during this adverse period.

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Innovation that makes perfect sense t is easy to think of a nurse call system as just bells on the wall, there to serve one simple purpose. However, the right system professionally specified, can be an invaluable tool in the improvement of wellbeing and care quality.

Care regulators make no secret of their support for technology and innovation as a tool to improve the quality of services: The Arquella nurse call system features innovation designed to enhance both care provision and evidencing of care.

Traditionally call systems have always been reactive; the resident makes a call, a carer responds. However, there are many scenarios where a pro-active alert would be advantageous, such as bed turning, medication reminders and other similar interventions. This two-way approach to call generation is a feature of the Arquella system, integrated with a sophisticated care-data log.

Every call, whether reactive or proactive, is recorded in detail – resident name, date & time, carer ID and time spent with resident are taken automatically, with carers prompted to add the type of care delivered on completion of the call.

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This data provides a full, continuous picture of care provision in your home and can be easily shared and analysed to encourage improvement.

Of course, in recent months environmental changes have driven innovation as much as legislation. Covid has altered the way services are delivered in ways that would have been unimaginable eighteen months ago. Cross infection is a constant concern and minimising risk wherever possible is of paramount importance. Arquella’s automated call-in-attendance and call completion functions can contribute to the combat of Covid, since carers are not required to touch any equipment throughout the call other than their mobile handsets.

Using a combination of wireless technologies, we can deliver a safe and reliable product that avoids the upheaval and associated costs of a wired installation.

Disruption to the home during the install is minimal and, in most cases, fitting takes just a few hours.

Practical detail

“Technology in health and care services is growing in importance.

Digitally-enabled care can offer significant benefits to people who use services and those who run and deliver them.”

Care Quality Commission

Arquella has designed the system to be infinitely changeable and expandable. It can grow and adapt to changes in legislation and the changing dynamics of any care home.

Particular attention has been given to making each part of the system low maintenance. This has been achieved through robust design, remote diagnostic ability and online engineer access.

For residents who enjoy independence, we offer a mobile pendant which, when activated, will identify them and their location. This feature provides real peace of mind to family members as well as the care team.

Those that are vulnerable to falls will appreciate the value of our PIR devices.

When activated, these quickly alert staff to an 'at risk' individual leaving their bed or chair, enabling prompt action by carers.

Where PIR devices are unsuitable, we have a range of plug-in devices designed to reduce risk through early warning.

One of the driving factors in choosing a call system is the cost, both initial purchase and on-going service. As part of our program to change the face of nurse call, we have introduced a cost-effective subscription model of purchase. Rather than offering only the traditional upfront capital purchase approach, which can see homes continuing to support outdated and unreliable technology, we opted to make our platform available for any size of home or budget. A complete system can be supplied from just £9.00 per resident (per month). Further, servicing costs for the full contract term is built into the agreement.

The role of nurse call is evolving with the changing face of care. It can be far more than bells and whistles. The Arquella nurse call system is an invaluable tool in time management, care evidencing and the improvement of wellbeing & quality.

A fair approach to pricing

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Constantly evolving technologies

echnology moves forward at an ever-increasing pace and forward-thinking Care Homes are ensuring they are keeping in step with the tech. Quieter and calmer care homes are on the horizon and embracing various technologies can help with getting there.

Smartphone and tablet technologies are a firm fixture in our everyday lives and these have translated into the Care Home landscape. Care Management plans can be developed and improved by collating data from these technologies in extraordinarily fast ways – leaving more time for staff to focus on their jobs and not painful administerial tasks. The information managers receive ensures that they can make informed decisions and keep accurate and safe records

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without impacting on time spent caring for residents.

Real-time alerts can be delivered to mobile tech – resulting in faster response times. Meaning peace of mind for both staff and residents.

It’s not just the mobile tech revolution that is having an impact on Care Homes.

New developments in the field of Acoustic Monitoring are having dramatic impacts on staff and residents. Acoustic Monitoring has proven capabilities of improving the night's sleep a resident may have, and freeing up time for night staff. A recent investigation into the benefits of Acoustic Monitoring has shown that the technology can result in up to 60% fewer nightly disturbances for residents and up to a 70% reduction in nightly visits by care staff. This translates

to free up to 40% of staffs time during the night – leaving them to carry out other duties. This, in turn, can result in staff and residents having better, calmer days.

The technology can be used to determine patterns in nighttime activity and, when coupled with the power of Care Management Apps, provide a better understanding of a resident's needs and, therefore, enable more dynamic and relevant care plans to be deployed.

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Hard won respect With their selfless dedication during the Covid-19 pandemic, care staff have won huge public support and appreciation. Stephen Wilson, CEO at Netli, a leading innovator in the UK’s health and social care sector, says that new-found reputation has to stick here can’t be a person in the country who - as we struggle through the Covid crisis doesn’t now look at people working in the social care sector in a different light.

This previously unsung army of workers have gained our respect and admiration – even going as far as calling them heroes and putting them on an equal footing to NHS staff.

It’s a new-found reputation that has to stick.

But this should not just be so that individuals in this huge workforce can start to feel proud of themselves.

Instead, we should be positioning the social care sector to be engine room to support the nation’s post-Covid economic recovery.

Consider this – we have swathes of people in retail, hospitality and travel who have lost or could be set to lose their jobs.

Sadly, more women than men are going to lose their jobs.

Contrast that with the social care sector: it’s been estimated that the care workforce in England must grow by 2.2% per year to keep up with the ageing population.

However, with 150,000 vacancies and growth at just 1.2%, care provision has reached crisis point.

The Care Quality Commission acknowledges that “health and social care have seen demand for services rising, combined with greater complexity of people’s needs. Staffing shortages can further increase the strain on the workforce”.

Care providers throughout the UK face

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“We should be positioning the social care sector to be engine room to support the nation’s post-Covid economic recovery.” notorious challenges with staff retention, with turnover rates as high as 44% versus 15% in other sectors, resulting in significant backlogs to care provision. Care UK estimates over 1.4 million people currently have unmet care needs, with delayed discharges due to the lack of social care costing the NHS more than £500 every minute.

Even the highest performing Local Authorities struggle to plan to meet the UK’s needs when the care sector is impacted by instability, inconsistency and interruption.

Faced with this challenge, it calls for a sensible, joined-up strategy that has the potential for two outstanding results: we find work – and work that is now highly valued – for the thousands of people made jobless; and we ramp up staffing levels to ensure we provide the care for those people most in need; those people who have suffered most from Covid and for whom change needs to happen if we are to learn any lessons from the pandemic.

Of course, it can’t happen overnight and different parts of the country will make changes at different speeds.

But by adopting – as other sectors have done – new technology to better track, plot and plan workforce data, these changes can happen. It is vital to put technology at the heart of this planned transformation.

“Enhancing social care as an exciting, rewarding and now wellremunerated career choice should act as a trigger to encourage people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, to take up these new roles in social care. “

People – from our politicians down – now see social care, and the need to care for our most vulnerable individuals, differently.

That should lead to two key developments over the coming year – more funding in social care and better wages for social care staff. In England, an extra £120m of government funding has already been announced to help local authorities boost depleted staff levels.

Enhancing social care as an exciting, rewarding and now well-remunerated career choice should act as a trigger to encourage people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, to take up these new roles in social care.

So when the UK opens up post-Covid, social care can be that key sector to support the economic recovery of the nation.

It is pleasing to see the recent Independent Review calling for a National Care Service in Scotland state that the additional expenditure required should not be seen as a revenue cost but rather as an investment that encourages job creation and provides economic stimulus.

It reported too that: For every £1 spent on social care, more than £2 is generated in other sectors. Its estimated that an increase in social care expenditure of 1% of GDP would create three times as many jobs in the UK economy than it would if spent in the construction industry; and the sums recouped by the Treasury through taxes and NI would be 50% higher.

So, as we look to our pathway out of Covid, let’s seize the opportunity to make dynamic change that can transform our care for our most needy citizens.

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feature SPONSOreD BY WaSHCO

As we continue to adjust to the realities of life during a pandemic, care homes across the UK are looking to introduce effective measures to help improve living standards and prevent the spread of infection.

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Embracing smart laundry technologies for the future of care T echnology is set to bring a major boost to the care industry, with new innovations coming to fruition that will provide huge benefits to the way laundry facilities are run.

Commercial laundry specialist, WASHCO, discuss how these technologies will be paramount at a time where the safeguarding of both residents and staff has never been more important.

A care home’s laundry is central to its operations and needs to be carefully considered in order to manage infection control. From selecting the appropriate equipment to implementing standard best

Innovations in laundry

practice, each element is key to complying with strict regulations.

At WASHCO, our line-up of unrivalled solutions covers everything from chemicals to spare parts and includes the industry’s first revolutionary range of smart laundry equipment – WASHCONNECT. Using the latest IoT technology, WASHCONNECT gives you 100% confidence in your laundry. These best-inclass, CQC compliant smart washers and dryers ensure linens are hygienically clean with full visibility of cycles and real-time temperature validation throughout the entire process.

Using our unique cloud portal, we can see what is happening and, for the first time, identify when and why a machine is not working, remotely. This feature has been particularly useful for care homes

over the past year where visitor restrictions have been in place. Often, we can respond to many issues without the need for an engineer to be sent out; however, when they do, WASHCONNECT enables us to inform them about faults before they attend, so an accurate solution can be determined beforehand based on facts.

As with many things, one solution does not fit all when it comes to laundry in care homes. Looking to the future, the standards may remain the same but the approach needs to be entirely different – and technology is quickly pushing itself to the forefront. With embedded electronics, software, sensors, actuators and network connectivity features, WASHCONNECT is already far ahead of the capabilities of other machines in the industry.

Technology for the future

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feature SPONSOreD BY WaSHCO

Last year, WASHCO were approached

by Broadmead Resthome who were looking to replace their old equipment.

Having tried a wide variety of machines from other suppliers in the past, they were excited at the prospect of WASHCONNECT and how its unique features could completely transform their laundry function.

Because Broadmead Resthome required a seamless solution tailored specifically to their requirements, two of our 14kg WASHCONNECT Washers were chosen to pair with their remaining machines to help meet capacity requirements.

Additionally, the management team opted to include one of our all-inclusive service options in their monthly subscription, allowing them to manage budgets throughout the duration of the agreement.

Since it’s installation, WASHCONNECT has been praised by staff who have quickly gotten to grips with the new technology and have been particularly impressed with the intuitive interface and simple operations. The built-in heat sensors and real-time temperature validation have allowed them to take full

WASHCONNECT in action

control of their laundry, helping to prevent the spread of infection. As it has for other care homes too, the added benefit of remote fault diagnosis has been available to identify and solve issues in a fraction of the time it would normally take. Now, Broadmead Resthome can easily resolve minor issues, such as blocked drains, themselves, without the need for engineer callouts.

No upfront investment is required with WASHCONNECT. For one simple monthly subscription, you get the machine, unlimited callouts and absolute peace of mind.

If you’d like to explore the benefits for yourself, call us on 01635 263418 or email hello@washco.co.uk.

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Leading care operator embraces revolutionary new ‘Dementia Dictionary’ dedicated to teaching families the language of dementia

ajesticare luxury care homes have joined Training 2 Care (UK) Ltd as one of their key partners to launch a revolutionary new online portal “Dementia Dictionary”.

Launched on 24th February 2021, the Dementia Dictionary is a free website dedicated to learning the language of dementia to help families reconnect to a loved one who may struggle or have lost the ability to communicate.

Luxury care home operator Majesticare have already begun training teams in the hugely innovative “Virtual Dementia Tour” program to enable them to proudly join this new global network of Registered Dementia Interpreters.

Sarah Jennings, Head of Quality & Development for Majesticare luxury care homes commented; “From the very first moment we were introduced to the “Dementia Dictionary” website, we knew how important it would be to become Dementia Interpreters especially for our families and their loved ones.

Across all our Majesticare homes, our teams have embraced the incredible “Virtual Dementia Tour” training which allows them to experience what living with a dementia may feel like. The impact in our memory care community for our carers, families and residents has just been amazing and for us… this is just the beginning!”

Founder and creator of the Dementia Dictionary & the” Virtual Dementia Tour” Glenn Knight, believes that by building a global network of Registered Dementia Interpreters he will provide families with an accessible professional body to reach

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out for support, shared experiences and to answer their questions.

Glenn commented, “Imagine what it must be like to live a life where no one speaks your language and you can’t understand theirs, how would you feel?

Well, this is the reality for over 850,000 people who have a dementia in the UK alone and this why we are so driven to create new ways to bridge the gap between those who have the disease and the people who support them.

“Communication is the foundation of everyday life and has huge impact on mental health and wellbeing. With less than 10% of the UK’s care workforce educated in the art of communication and just a staggering 3% taught specific dementia communication training, things need to change, and fast!

Building a network of specialist Dementia Interpreters who can translate behaviours, actions, noises and situations into an accessible, everyday language for families has long been a personal ambition for Glenn.

“The Dementia Dictionary will bring people together to share professional knowledge combined with everyday experiences to help families learn the

To learn more about the innovative care and fulfilling lifestyle within Majesticare luxury care homes visit: www.majesticare.co.uk and for further information on learning the language of dementia visit: www.dementiadictionary.com

language of dementia and so importantly reconnect with their loved ones” With ever increasing global interest Majesticare will join an international network of dementia professionals to share best practice and work together to provide a deeper support to families, care workers, professional bodies and the general public.

MAjEsTICARE Majesticare are considered one of the UK’s leading, boutique care groups with a portfolio of luxury residential, nursing & dementia care homes. Majesticare have been operating care homes for over 20 years and currently have 8 homes across somerset, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and the Home Counties. www.majesticare.co.uk

Training 2 CARE (UK) Ltd Established in February 2010, Training2Care is recognised as one of the UK’s leading care focused training providers teaching over 300,000 people per year. Glenn Knight, Managing Director bought the experiential training programme, the ‘Virtual Dementia Tour’ to the UK, invented the ‘Autism Reality Experience’ and is the creator of the Dementia Interpreter program and Dementia Dictionary.

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management

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

Leaders at the newly formed Institute of Health and Social Care Management (IHSCM) talk to Caring Times about their hopes that it will become a ‘go-to-place’ for health and social care leaders and managers

Institute of change?

‘Narrowing’ gap between health and social care

Roy Lilley, healthcare commentator and director at the IHSCM

ocial care professionals have a “new home” where they can network, develop their skills, find support, and share best practice with healthcare peers.

Launched this February, the Institute of Health and Social Care Management (IHSCM) has been created to give a voice to leaders and managers working throughout health and social care.

IHSCM was previously known as the Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM), which has represented healthcare managers for nearly 120 years. The membership body’s new name signifies its commitment to supporting both health and social care leaders.

“We hope IHSCM will become their ‘go to’ place to meet on equal terms to share solutions to problems and work together to provide better services”, says Roy Lilley, healthcare commentator and director at the IHSCM. Before the ISHCM was set up, Mr Lilley says “social care professionals didn’t have an organisation like the Institute of Healthcare Management for networking and being updated about ‘what’s going on’ in health and social care”.

“As health and social care services officially become more comprehensively entwined, we want to provide managers and leaders with a place for education, and a place to improve their professional standing,” he says.

S

26

The move comes at a time when the integration of these services is high on the national agenda and when professionals have been dealing with the pressures of the pandemic. Mr Lilley says it was clear that even before Covid, “the gap between health and social care was narrowing”.

“Now people on the ground are working together in ways they’ve not done before, despite the legislative, financial, managerial and organisational difficulties.

“This is what people are striving to do.

And so we felt that an organisation that represented both health and social care was an obvious next step in the great history of the Institute of Healthcare Management,” he says.

Mr Lilley explains that after a consultation period with IHM members who thought it was a “sensible” move the Institute changed its articles of association, and on 1 February IHSCM was launched.

During the four months that the IHSCM was gearing up to having official status, a leader was needed to guide it through the organisational changes required to bring social care managers on board.

That leader is Jane Brightman, who was appointed general manager for social care, following more than two decades working in the sector. “I trained in social care and it’s always been my passion.

“Social care for me is about working with people on a one-to one-level, really looking after their wellbeing and what makes their life meaningful and happy,” says Ms Brightman.

She joined the IHSCM last October “and fell in love with what it was doing”. ”It spoke to me – like when you suddenly find

something that feels like home, and when the people feel like your people”, she says.

Ms Brightman, who liaised with government departments around national care workforce development initiatives in her previous roles, points out that people working in social care “move around a very transient sector, with 38,000 establishments in England alone”.

“Support for development is great from many employers, but there is also significant variation in that support.

“This is an opportunity for care leaders and managers to draw on the IHSCM’s resources so they can take responsibility for their own development as part of a very human and personable professional community,” she says.

IHSCM already has several thousand members across the home countries of the United Kingdom. Potential membership of the body is not confined to registered managers who work in a care setting, Ms Brightman says. ”It’s much wider than that – it can be leaders involved in social care commissioning services, or setting up digital platforms, or lawyers in social care.

“Members can be those supporting the sector through education and training, charities and local authorities. We also welcome aspiring managers and students.

We’re a home to all professionals in social care,” she says.

That new home will be “taking a lot of the legacy of the IHM and creating new offerings for social care partners”, says Mr Lilley. He explains the IHM focused on networking, professional development events and keeping people up to date. All of these benefits will now be on offer to social care members.

Opportunity to draw on resources

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management Another popular benefit was IHM’s apprenticeship scheme. Now, IHSCM has teamed up with training and consultancy firm 3SpiritUK to bring social care members Level 4 and 5 Apprenticeship offers, which includes dementia, autism and learning disability and mental health pathways. (www.ihm.org.uk/personaldevelopment/social-care-apprenticeships) Also on offer to members is a repository of best practice, which comprises over 5,000 entries, and receives 2,000 online searches every day. “The IHM was widely regarded as the place to go to find best practice in health. Now it’s opened up to social care as well, and over time I can see that it will play an important part in our offering for social care managers,” says Mr Lilley.

IHM would hold events involving interviews by Mr Lilley with senior health leaders and politicians. A ‘library’ of these events are available digitally online free to IHSCM members and these interviews continue in the form of ‘HealthChats’ with leading figures in health and social care.

Ms Brightman is developing new content for social care members, as well as a weekly ’20 minute social’ where IHSCM chief executive Jon Wilks, along with Ms Brightman interview “someone of interest across the social care sector”. “These interviews are designed to inspire members, and to get them to explore ‘thought pieces’, says Ms Brightman.

IHSCM members have the opportunity to join specialist interest groups to help share ideas and best practice. For example, the organisation is creating a digital health group, recognising the importance of information and communications technologies for health and social care leaders and managers.

Mr Lilley says it has been “difficult for health and social care to share even basic data about people, which has caused all kinds of problems. Discharge and admission to hospital is not ‘joined up’.”

However, the pandemic has resulted in changes to the data sharing process.

“Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX [the digital arm of the NHS] sent out a memo early on in the pandemic saying forget GDPR and Caldicott rules, share data but be sensible and have regards to people’s privacy – and people did that,” says Mr Lilley.

“I’ve interviewed Matthew twice during the pandemic and he’s very keen to

Specialist interest groups

try and make sure that this sensible attitude towards sharing data is continued after Covid,” he says. And he expects the new data sharing guidance which is expected to be published later this year, “will redefine how data is shared between health and social care”.

He says it’s “really important to have a digital health special interest group, with people in health and social care driving forward on best practice and sharing data.

I feel the IHSCM will be at the forefront of encouraging better use of data so that the NHS can be safer and more efficient,” he says.

Another influential change made by the NHSX boss at the beginning of the pandemic was giving social care managers an NHS email address. “This had a huge impact,” says Ms Brightman. “Social care managers tell us that just having an NHS email address opened up communications to health professionals in a way that had never been done before, that they were speaking to them as equal partners in somebody’s care. That simple email address made all the difference,” she says.

However, she stresses that “at some point will have to roll back from that as we need social care providers to be cyber secure, and to be able to move forward in sharing data. So there will need to be work to bring social care providers up to speed on this.”

Integrated care is another hot topic for IHSCM. The organisation has set up a special interest group, prompting members to “pull together examples of good practice from across their patches”, explains Ms Brightman.

As a result, the IHSCM recently published a new green paper (https://ihm.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/IntegratedCare-Green-Paper.pdf) on integrated care, highlighting examples both of best practice and where a lack of integration across health and social care has caused distress for patients, service users and families.

The paper features “some real stories in there where integrated care hasn’t worked and what the consequences are for those people,” says Ms Brightman. “There was a story of someone’s father who became very unwell and needed to go to hospital.

As it was during the pandemic, his family was not allowed go with him. But he had severe dementia and became lost in the

Integrated care

March 2021

www.careinfo.org system and his family couldn’t find out where he was for three days because his information wasn’t shared,” she says.

The green paper also focused on examples of good practice “others might want to learn”. In Bradford, for example, an integrated manager role has been created across the region “and that person works to bring together health and social care services for older people with dementia”, says Ms Brightman.

Such roles are transcending the traditional boundary between health and social care. Mr Lilley says what lies at the heart of why this boundary exists is that “social care for the most part is means tested, and for the most part healthcare is not”.

“If you merge health and social care, which bits of what become means tested?

For example, should healthcare for the elderly be means tested or should social care be free at the point of need?

“These are big political questions and that is the reason why government after government has kicked the issue of merging into the ‘long grass’.”

The simple answer, he says, is that “social care should be free, just like healthcare. It wouldn’t cost a fortune and it would save money in bureaucracy and means testing.”

Meantime, during the pandemic, he says, “we’ve seen the sensible people on the ground having to find ways working together, and we’ve seen how all the data protection rules have been ‘kicked into ➤

27

Jane Brightman, general manager for social care

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management “The real heroism occurs when people get home, shower, put their kids to bed, and for them to say ‘I’m going to do this the next day and the next’. That’s where the pressures occur and that’s what we want to help with,”

28

➤ touch’ – which everybody dealt with sensibly. And with the new data guidance due out this year, he envisages “health and social care will work more closely together”.

A commitment to health and social care digitally coming together, with shared care records on track for this September, was a “standout” message that came out of NHSX CEO Matthew Gould’s session at the institute’s first integrated care conference held in January, says Ms Brightman. “I truly believe he’s committed to things going further. And if we get the data sharing right we can get so many other things from that,” she says.

Conferences are just one of the ways IHSCM plans to stay in tune with the needs of its members. Through the IHSCM, members can keep up to date with the latest developments in health and social care policy. However, Mr Lilley points out that “on the policy issue, we don’t see ourselves as a campaigning organisation but we do see ourselves as an organisation that informs about change”.

He cites the example of when proposed legislative changes to the Social Care Act, which were leaked to the media prior to being announced on 11 February. The plans to reform the NHS in England centre on health and care services working more closely together. (www.gov.uk/government/news/bluepr int-launched-for-nhs-and-social-carereform-following-pandemic) Mr Lilley says he was also sent a copy of the leaked document. “So we sent our members a summary of the proposed changes and a survey asking what they thought was important.”

While he says IHSCM “does not take political sides, we do realise that if there are to be legislative changes there will be a consultation period and it’s important members’ voices are heard during that time.”

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

Surveys are a way that IHSCM stays in tune with the needs of its members and the issues they face. The organisation recently did a survey on staff sickness in the NHS, which found that one in five poll respondents said more than 15% of staff are now off sick or isolating (www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM9BF66HK57/). And the turnaround from the survey idea to releasing the findings was rapid. “At 9.30am we said let’s do something on staff sicknesses, and by 3pm the findings were being reported in the media. So we’re very nimble,” says Mr Lilley.

The institute has also been leading a national campaign alongside The Care Workers’ Charity, the National Care Forum, and social thanking platform Thank And Praise (TAP) to recognise inspirational social care workers, managers and leaders for outstanding work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign involved a range of social media activities, such as encouraging the public to show their appreciation by posting messages on TAP’s online platform. The campaign has led to the first ever radio show for social care, which is being led by IHSCM in partnership with Thank and Praise, and is due to be broadcast three times a year.

As well as recognition and awareness, the social care sector also needs support, and Ms Brightman says IHSCM is “committed to supporting our members with a collective voice, and as a place for development and support that they deserve.” As part of that support the organisation runs mentoring and coaching courses and plans to introduce training in ‘decompression’ methods, as used by the military, to help the mental wellbeing of people working in the care sector.

“People working in health and social care people have gone through such a lot during Covid that they need to

Recognising outstanding work

n

‘decompress’. We’re hoping to partner with military expertise to train members in these techniques to help others,” says Mr Lilley.

With people working in health and social care facing relentless daily pressures during the pandemic, this training is much needed. “During this really difficult period there’s been a lot of talk about frontline heroism. But that heroism doesn’t occur at the front line – that’s the work professionals do.

“The real heroism occurs when people get home, shower, put their kids to bed, are unable to see their own relatives in care, and for them to say ‘I’m going to do this the next day and the next’. That’s where the pressures occur and that’s what we want to help with,” says Mr Lilley.

By bringing health and social care into one institute, IHSCM can now offer help to so many more. Reaction to the organisation since it went ‘live’ has been “really positive” says Ms Brightman.

“We’ve had lots of messages of support from members, and the messages coming from social media show there’s a general feeling that ‘it is about time we had something like this’,” she says.

Ms Brightman hopes IHSCM can provide “a family of networking and make people part of an organisation”. And she hopes the government “keeps kicking social care reform down the road and continues to look at social care reform more widely”.

Mr Lilley would like to see social care “get back on a more stable footing and that government leaves health and social care alone to sort themselves out and recover from what has been the most horrendous time in living memory”.

And to managers and leaders of that sector considering making IHSCM their new ‘go to’ home for networking, information sharing and support he says: “Come and join us. Give us a try – and I tell you, in three months’ time you’ll be with us forever.”

for further information about IHSCM: www.ihscm.org.uk

AbouT THe InSTITuTe of HeALTHCAre And SoCIAL CAre MAnAgeMenT The IHSCM is a leading independent membership organisation for managers and leaders commissioning, delivering and supporting health and care in the uK and across the world, supporting personal and professional development and driving change to improve health and well-being for all through quality management. It supports managers by helping them to understand, develop, share and celebrate good practice.

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burnout ealth systems need more innovative operating models that are sensitive to the needs of its patients and its healthcare providers to prevent worker burnout.

Covid-19 is bringing a long-simmering wellbeing crisis in healthcare to a boiling point. Health and social care workers, many pulled from their specialties to provide emergency care, are scrambling to treat the ever-growing number of patients, logging gruelling hours while confronting extraordinary numbers of deaths, including colleagues. In Covid-19 hotspots, overwhelmed hospitals have faced shortages of personal protective equipment and the need to build makeshift wards in cafeterias, lobbies, and even public parks.

Unsurprisingly, many front and secondline healthcare workers reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress (49%), depression (24%), anxiety (19%) and insomnia (8%) in March 2020, according to The Journal of American Medical Association Network Open.

One positive that has emerged, however, is the renewed focus on health worker wellbeing. Just as doctors and nurses take care of others, we’re all now realising the need to help clinicians prioritise their mental health and wellbeing.

H

Long before Covid-19, researchers had linked clinician burnout to poor healthcare outcomes, including worse patient safety. Now, the need to address the challenge is even more pressing. And it’s clear traditional wellness programming won’t be enough – snippets of content and digital nudges for self-care are all well and good in a business as usual environment, but in today’s world, healthcare workers need more innovative interventions to support their mental health and wellbeing.

Like a five-stage nursing approach, the problem of burnout needs a structured process across assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Five steps to addressing burnout

30

The first stage of addressing burnout is understanding the current state of workplace health through a data-driven approach. Traditionally, organisations have assessed workplace health using the rate of employee absenteeism as a guide.

But absenteeism is a surface metric, and it

1. Assessment

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

The care sector is under unprecedented strain from the Covid-19 pandemic, with many working on the frontline under huge stress. Nina Miranda, healthcare expert at PA Consulting, outlines a five-step plan to address healthcare worker burnout

One step can be expensive to continuously monitor the underlying causes with tools like the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Here’s where today’s technology can help. Healthcare organisations have vast amounts of data to hand about their workforce, from performance indicators in clinician workflows to COVID-19 contact tracing. By consolidating this information in a central digital database, and integrating tools to continuously and automatically collect the data, artificial intelligence programs could identify meaningful trends that predict burnout, thereby allowing leaders to take early action and quickly assess the effects on workforce performance and ultimately patient safety.

The second stage in addressing burnout issues is diagnosing root causes – once you’ve established there is a problem, it’s vital to test your assumptions about the cause. Fortunately, health systems are already studying precisely what their doctors and nurses do each day to figure out how to reduce burnout from an operational standpoint. For example, at this year’s HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Digital Conference, panels discussed the burden of electronic health records (EHRs), the number of system alerts to which to respond, and the lack of meaningful dashboard analytics to describe the state of patient care at aggregate levels.

Identifying these issues through root cause analysis, such as on-the-job time studies or virtual focus groups, allows leaders to see which activities are taking up workers’ time and find ways to better manage them.

2. Diagnosis

The third stage in addressing burnout issues is to plan for operational changes. It isn’t enough to assess, diagnose and offer blanket solutions. It’s critical to personalise holistic change plans for physicians and clinicians, as that will reduce disruption to existing workflows that cross specialties.

For example, dissecting the workflows of frontline staff to find tasks that don’t require their level of expertise, cause inefficiencies, or distract from their primary roles as healers allows change and digital experts to see how emerging technologies can streamline these tasks.

When we developed ingenious skills for Amazon Echo devices to help adults who require social care maintain their independence, understanding carers’ daily tasks was key. They highlighted the challenges involved in specific tasks, like shopping, for vulnerable adults, letting us tailor the Echo’s functionality to these challenges. The trial has changed people’s lives for the better, with 72 per cent of those needing care believing the voiceactivated assistant would improve their daily routine. At the same time, carers had more time to focus on the more challenging aspects of adult social care.

3. Planning

Whether healthcare leaders decide to carve out a new operating model that prioritises wellbeing interventions or go further to address systemic issues, such as the number of patients seen in a single shift, they need a thoughtful implementation plan – a plan designed with physician and clinician leaders in mind, who themselves must deal with burnout and personal stress. After all, if leaders can’t manage their own mental health and wellbeing, the

4. Implementation

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burnout

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

In the aftermath of Covid-19, health systems are ripe for change. As they reinvigorate their pursuit of the triple aim to meet better outcomes and better patient experience at lower cost, they must also prioritise the need to ease some of the burdens on frontline workers

at a time problem will trickle down.

Consider the implementation of telehealth technologies during the COVID19 pandemic. Implementing new platforms and technologies to manage caseloads made it possible to improve access to care despite stay-at-home orders.

But this also resulted in a mix of stressors, such as click fatigue, additional EHR documentation and new workflow demands, that exacerbated burnout issues.

Implementation plans for new technologies should always focus on

employee needs – it should be about supporting workers to do things better, rather than just implementing new technology for the sake of it.

The answers to addressing burnout are different for each health system. The change required to implement interventions can be multifaceted and deeply complex. Often, multiple root causes add to the complexity of those issues. Regardless, all burnout issues

5. Evaluation

require some level of organisational transformation, be it policies, processes, or operating models. Having a method to evaluate how well health workers make those changes is critical to building an iterative process for continuous improvement.

For accurate results, leaders must customise success metrics to the health system and their organisational strategies.

Crucially, leaders must define these success metrics early to ensure there’s a concrete way to track progress through implementation and beyond. Only when change teams are working towards robust targets can they assess the impact they’re making and pivot to improve results.

Opportunities in a post-Covid-19 world

In the aftermath of Covid-19, health systems are ripe for change. As they reinvigorate their pursuit of the triple aim to meet better outcomes and better patient experience at lower cost, they must also prioritise the need to ease some of the burdens on frontline workers. Health systems need more innovative operating models that are sensitive not only to the needs of its patients, but also to its healthcare providers.

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people Alcedo Care appoints head of quality and compliance

Catherine Hill

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Alcedo Care Group has appointed Catherine Hill as head of quality and compliance.

Hill will take the lead on all areas of product and service quality including the rigorous auditing of internal systems and procedures, safeguarding and meeting Care Quality Commission (CQC) and local authority regulations.

She has been in the health and social care sector for more than 18 years, working her way from support worker to senior manager registered with the CQC Hill said: “Alcedo Care Group is a forward thinking and progressive family business that really does care.

The company’s engaged and enthusiastic team puts its clients at the heart of everything that it does, every single day. I am delighted to join the team at this exciting time and look forward to supporting the business as it goes for growth ensuring Alcedo remains the number one provider for quality home care in the North West.”

Managing director at Alcedo Care Group, Andy Boardman added: “We’re delighted to have Cathy on board and look forward to

working with her to ensure that we meet our growth and expansion goals without compromising our established high standards and keeping firmly focused on the daily delivery of quality care.”

Established in 2017, Alcedo is run by Andy and Jo Boardman, a husband-andwife team. The company says it aims to bring something different to the sector based on recruiting “only the very best carers and retaining them by placing value on job satisfaction, training, continued professional development, internal promotion prospects and pay structure”.

With offices in Southport, Blackpool, Wigan, Preston and Lancaster, Alcedo Care offers home care services across the whole of the North West region and was recently rated joint best in the UK by online home care review website homecare.co.uk

Valorum appoints senior staff

Rhian Stone

Rhian Stone is joining Valorum Care Group as CEO while Simon Harrison has been appointed as group chair.

In her previous role, Stone was responsible for services with a turnover of £54 million

March 2021

www.careinfo.org and 2,000 employees, providing high quality support to 600 people across 17 Local authorities in Wales, including supported living, residential care, and supported housing.

A qualified Social Worker, Stone has also held a variety of care roles in both the public and charity sectors, and within Government.

Speaking about her appointment, Stone said: “I’m delighted to be taking up the position of CEO of Valorum Care Group. We have a great staff team and fantastic services and I’m excited about working with the team to develop our services into the future.

“The last 12 months have been incredibly difficult for the whole Valorum team and the care sector as a whole. I have the greatest admiration for everyone who has worked so hard to support people through the pandemic.

“I am confident we can meet whatever challenges the next few months bring and go from strength to strength as we continue to keep people at the heart of everything we do.”

Simon Harrison has a 40year career across the public and private social and health care sectors. Trained originally as a nurse, he started his career on the front line in the NHS before moving into management positions in NHS and private hospitals. He then moved into independent healthcare management, holding director level roles with many of the largest UK providers.

Harrison currently runs Ideas Afresh, a consultancy he founded more than a decade ago to specialise in interim management, healthcare leadership and organisational change.

He said: “I am looking forward to working with Rhian and the senior team to

Simon Harrison

help guide the group through the challenges of the pandemic and beyond. We are fortunate to have a first-class team in place, which shares my belief in quality care, as well as ensuring the people we are privileged to provide care and support to are at the centre of any decisionmaking.”

Valorum Care Group specialises in supporting people with complex needs, including autistic spectrum conditions, mental health needs, behaviour that challenges, profound and multiple learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

Michael Hunt joins Sunrise Senior Living

Michael Hurt

Michael Hurt has joined Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare as Head of Memory Care.

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people Hunt is now advising on all aspects of dementia care, including training for team members, enhancing dementia-friendly environments and supporting colleagues to deliver best practice in care. He is also set to lead on the introduction of new models of care across each of the organisation’s 46 care homes.

After qualifying as a nurse, Hunt specialised in Old Age Psychiatry and has remained in the sector for over 36 years.

Over the course of his career, he has worked on wards, in day hospitals, in residential care homes for those living with dementia, and also as a community mental health nurse. He went on to qualify as a Specialist Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Independent Prescriber where he responded to urgent referrals, many of which were in care homes. In 2009, he became a Commissioner of Dementia Services and was employed as Head of Older People and Dementia at Walsall Council and Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group.

His work went on to be recognised in eight national case studies, including in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, NICE, NHS England along with other requests to Chair and speak at national conferences. Hunt has also taught at three universities as well as to a variety of audiences, from volunteers and members of the public, to medical staff.

Michael says that his experience has allowed him to be the “calm one in the room” and offer valuable support to others. This experience also means that he is rarely surprised and has developed the emotional resilience to not worry which, he says, rubs off on others and helps to improve the confidence of his colleagues. Asked what he

loves about working in care, Michael says his last few roles have allowed him to make significant changes which have made demonstrable improvements to the lives of those with dementia, as well as their carers and the staff supporting them..

Hunt says that although Sunrise and Gracewell are industry leaders, he would like to focus on further improving the understanding and confidence of all team members involved in dementia care.

Orchard Care Homes appoints operations director

March 2021

www.careinfo.org said: “I’m delighted to welcome Tracy back into the Orchard family team. She shares my passion for raising the profile of the care profession and with her knowledge of the sector, I am confident she will support the homes to deliver high standards of quality, person centred care.”

Johnson will be responsible for four specialist homes in Orchard’s portfolio including Green Park, Penwortham Grange & Lodge, Thornton Hall & Lodge and Three Bridges.

Bluebird Care appoints new MD

Phil Pegler Tracy Johnson

Orchard Care Homes, a provider of senior living in the UK, with care homes in the North of England and the Midlands, has appointed Tracy Johnson as the Operations Director for the North West.

Johnson brings over 30 years of experience in the health and social sector working at both strategic and operational levels, with her clinical and expertise in operational leadership and strategic management.

In welcoming her to the organisation Hayden Knight, CEO of Orchard Care Homes,

Domiciliary care franchiser Bluebird Care has appointed Phil Pegler as its new managing director.

Pegler joined on 1st February from Four Seasons Healthcare, where he was interim programme director, and has experience in directorial roles across social care, acute healthcare, and hospitality.

He has been working as a leader in the care industry since 2011, when he joined home care provider, Carewatch, as group CEO. In each of his roles in the care sector, has focused on optimising organisations and processes for results and

people i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h

performance to consistently uphold the provision of highquality care delivery.

Pegler says he recognises that the UK has a rapidly ageing population and sees home care provision as the future of the social care sector.

“Bluebird Care is one of the leading national brands in the home care sector with over 220 franchise offices across the UK and Ireland. Bluebird Care has an excellent reputation for delivering exceptional care thanks to a motivated and wellestablished network of franchisees. It also has an award-winning Franchise Support Team,” he said.

“Bluebird Care has gone from strength to strength and I look forward to working closely with the franchise network to help drive the business to achieve even bigger things supporting our clients and carers with the services and resources they need to deliver home-based care with quality, professionalism and expertise with every home visit. We are extremely well placed as the market leader – and as the most trusted home care provider across the UK and in Ireland: the future is bright.”

Pegler revealed the company’s plans to expand its offering. “Bluebird Care has expanded its customer offering into areas of live-in care, specialist dementia care and end of life care services across many locations. I truly believe that Bluebird Care is now well placed to expand its reach even further across the UK and Ireland,” he said.

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business & property

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

Cornerstone Healthcare Group to develop new specialist care service in Somerset Cornerstone Healthcare Group has announced the development of a 74-bed care centre in Somerset to add to its portfolio of specialised care homes.

Cale View will provide care for adults of all ages, with challenging behaviours associated with complex neurological and mental health conditions.

The facility in Wincanton will add to Cornerstone’s existing services in Hampshire and Surrey.

This £10 million development will increase the group’s beds to nearly 300 and will create 140 new job opportunities in Wincanton. It forms part of Cornerstone’s “Buy and Build” strategy and is the next phase in the company’s ambitious fiveyear growth plan to provide 500 beds for this underserved sector, by the end of 2024.

Group Chief Executive Johann van Zyl said; “This is the next step in an exciting phase of growth for Cornerstone Healthcare. Unlike our previous

acquisitions, we are building Cale View from scratch. This will give us the opportunity to provide, not only care that is tailored to our residents, but a home that is designed to cater for their complex and challenging needs”.

“This project gives us the opportunity to increase our service to a large group of people who tend to be forgotten about and to ease the burden on dementia care homes in the area who may struggle to manage the needs of these individuals.”

“It is of the utmost importance that Cale View contributes to the local community

and, as part of our company policy, we will be supporting local businesses by contracting with them for professional services, products and consumables for the home.”

Healthcare sector specialists, Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank and London based equity partner, Ignite Growth are funding the development and NorthStar Projects will act as Cornerstone’s Project Managers with the Midas Group responsible for the construction of Cale View.

The project is due for completion in the fall of 2022.

the highest safety standards in mind, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional features include a bespoke Covid-secure visitation suite (The Family & Friends Lounge), in-built thermal imaging technology in the entrance lobby and a ventilation system which ensures air in resident day spaces is fully changed every 15 minutes. The home will also have hand washing and hand sanitising stations throughout for staff, residents and visitors.

John Austin, Development Director at Hamberley Development, said that the

home would bring “truly safe and luxurious care to the people of Enfield”.

“This marks our first luxury care home development in Greater London and we are thrilled to have finally secured planning permission. The capital is significantly underserved in terms of quality, high-end luxury care home beds and so we are proud to play our part in bringing a Hamberley Home to North London where we will help meet the care needs of the local community,” he said.

Hamberley gets planning go ahead for 82 bed luxury care home

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Hamberley Development, the sister development company of Hamberley Care Homes, has obtained planning permission for a new 82-bedroom Covidsecure care home will be built on Oakthorpe Road in Enfield, North London.

Work on the site is due to begin next month with the home welcoming its first residents in the spring of 2023.

The care home will include 82 en-suite bedrooms, a spacious café bistro, a private dining room, a hair salon and nail bar, activity room/bar, a cinema, resident lounges, dining rooms and quiet lounges.

Outside the home will feature landscaped patios and terraces.

The home will also be designed with

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business & property

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

PROPERTIES AND BUSINESSES RECENTLY SOLD IN THE CARE SECTOR

Saxby Lodge

Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has completed on the sale of Saxby Lodge Care Home, a wellestablished specialist care home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Saxby Lodge Care Home is registered for 19 service users in the category of Old Age and has 19 single bedrooms, four of which have en suite facilities. The property sits in a residential area within its own grounds close to the centre of Bognor Regis.

Mr Tim and Mrs Eileen McCarron have owned and operated the care home since 2001. Mrs McCarron comments, “Over the

years, Saxby Lodge really has been a family business and we are sad to be leaving. However, having owned and managed the home for coming up to 20 years, we felt it was the right time to sell and retire. We are pleased to have instructed Christie & Co to act for us and we have managed to maintain confidentiality throughout the process which was important to us. We wish Daisy and Avnit well with their new business.”

New owners Mrs Daisy Mahal and her son Dr Avnit Mahal are existing care home operators and purchased their first care home, The Hurst in Worthing, through Christie & Co in 2017.

Mrs Mahal comments “When we started to look for another care home, we

Charmes Care, Isle of Wight

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Charmes Care, a well-established provider of personal care services in the Isle of Wight has been sold for an undisclosed price.

Christie & Co were contacted by First City Nursing Services Ltd, a family run homecare provider based in Swindon who were looking specifically to purchase a home care agency on the Isle of Wight due to demand on the island for their services.

Contact was made with the owners of Charmes Care and after a period of negotiations, an off-market deal was agreed.

Charmes Care is based in Newport, Isle of Wight and offers a complete range of personal care services tailored to suit the needs of their clients. The business had been established by Charmian and Nigel Messenger and after successfully running it for a number of years, they had decided the time was right for them to retire.

Charmian Messenger comments, “We had been considering selling the business for a little while and when we were contacted by Charles at Christie & Co it felt that this off-market approach would work well for us and maintain confidentiality throughout the process. We are delighted to be passing the business onto First City Nursing Services and wish them well in the future.”

Stephen Trowbridge of First City Nursing Services Ltd comments, “It has been a pleasure working with Christie & Co who have sourced us an ideal business which wasn’t on the market. Charmes Care is a well-known and established business, and we are looking forward to building on Charmian and Nigel’s good work and getting to know the staff and those to whom we provide care. This acquisition was made as part of our submission to bid for the lead provider contract and is part of our commitment to grow care businesses on the island with the benefit of local knowledge.”

immediately spoke to Christie & Co and were delighted when we visited Saxby Lodge. The care home is a perfect fit for us and will work well with The Hurst. We are greatly looking forward to working with the staff and getting to know the residents and their families Saxby Lodge Care Home was sold at an undisclosed price.

Merling Care acquires Glebe House in Surrey

Care provider, Merling Care, has successfully acquired Glebe House Nursing Home in Laleham. Glebe House has an excellent reputation having been in the same ownership since 2003.

Glebe House is equipped to the highest standards offering a real 'second home' for its residents, providing a homely atmosphere with more than a touch of luxury living.

Merling Care is headed by Roger Brown who was delighted to secure this acquisition, particularly in such unprecedented times. Roger was keen to comment “I am looking forward to working with the excellent team at Glebe House and look forward to continue the excellent care being provided, leading the provision of care in Surrey. I am grateful to C&C and in particular Liz who helped guide us through the purchase, her 20 years of experience were an instrumental asset in completing this transaction.”

Liz Woollett, Director of Chandler and Co, has been supporting Merling Care since 2017. Having worked together on several projects, Liz was able to endorse Merling Care as a strong buyer and quickly provide reliable reassurance to the vendor and their agents to secure a prompt viewing. Finance for the purchase was negotiated and secured in October 2020 and the experienced team involved worked closely to help deliver the completion a month later in December.

Woollett said: “We’ve very much enjoyed working with Roger to help him acquire Glebe House, which is a great opportunity. As we are continually in close conversations with business agents, we were able to introduce him to this opportunity. We are delighted to be able to help our clients from start to finish, working with all parties involved in the entire process until they collect the keys. We wish Roger every success and look forward to working together again in the future.”

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business & property

March 2021

www.careinfo.org

PROPERTIES AND BUSINESSES RECENTLY SOLD IN THE CARE SECTOR

Andrin House Nursing Home Location:

37, elderly

Agent:

NGA Care

Contact:

ProMotional feature

Derby

Registration:

Nick Greaves, 07943 107 887

How can care homes become “Outstanding”?

To ensure that the standard of care is always kept high across the country, care homes are rated by an external body, the Care Quality Commission. In order to achieve the highest rating possible, “outstanding”, the care home in question must meet a variety of different criteria relating to both the staff and the

building itself. However, only 3.5% of care homes in the UK are actually able to meet this standard. Let’s take a look at some of the key factors that would influence such a score.

Safety In order for a care home to be rated outstanding, the safety of the residents is absolutely paramount. This can be achieved by meeting two key criteria: 1) a well-designed care home with easyto-navigate rooms and quality facilities, and 2) attentive staff who are always on hand to help the residents.

Caring staff While “caring staff” might seem like an obvious requirement, it’s difficult in practice for homes to meet the level of care necessary to achieve a high rating. Staff must be selfless, compassionate and be willing to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to achieve an outstanding rating.

Responsiveness Caring staff are essential to an outstanding care home, but this is only part of the story. In order to properly meet the needs of the residents, a care home must be structured in such a way that staff can be there when they are needed most. This means that management systems need to be put in place and staffing levels should always be high.

Effectiveness Leadership and staff can have the best intentions in the world, but if the treatments and care provided don’t produce happy residents and observable results, then a care home can’t be rated highly.

Leadership For a care home to flourish, the leadership team needs to be just as caring as the rest of the staff. Ultimately, a care home’s reputation is built on compassionate choices made by those at the top level, and an open and fair culture needs to be fostered if the organisation is to thrive.

At Aedifice Partnership, we manage new care and retirement village construction projects throughout the UK. For further details on the services Aedifice Partnership offer, visit www.aedifice.co.uk or call 0800 151 0234.

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