Caring Times December 2023/January 2024

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December 2023/January 2024

What’s in store for 2024?

We look at what the year ahead holds for social care AL SO IN THIS IS SU E

Leader’s spotlight Laura Taylor, chief executive, Berkley Care Group

Care Managers Show We round-up November’s event

25th National Care Awards Winners revealed on memorable night

Helping you navigate the complex Providers of regulated activity operate in a challenging and highly regulated landscape.

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business

8 POLITICS & POLICY Key sector figures make their predictions for 2024

10 LEADER'S SPOTLIGHT

12 SURVEYS & DATA

24 LEGAL & REGULATORY

Chief executive Laura Taylor shares how Berkley Care Group supports its workforce

NAO reveals lack of progress on social care reform

Mills & Reeve explains CQC enforcement powers

business | welcome Chief executive officer Alex Dampier Chief operating officer Sarah Hyman Chief marketing officer Julia Payne Editor-in-chief Lee Peart Features editor Charlotte Goddard Subeditor Charles Wheeldon Advertising & event sales director Caroline Bowern 0797 4643292 caroline.bowern@nexusgroup.co.uk Business development director Mike Griffin Sales manager Luke Crist Business development executive Kirsty Parks Business development researcher Robert Drummond Delegate relationship manager Sharifa Marshall Event manager Conor Diggin Senior conference producer Teresa Zargouni Head of digital content Alice Jones Marketing design manager Craig Williams Marketing content manager Sophie Davies Marketing campaign manager Sean Sutton Publisher Harry Hyman Investor Publishing Ltd, 5th Floor, Greener House, 66-68 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RF Tel: 020 7104 2000 Website: caring-times.co.uk

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What’s in store for 2024?

The new year looks set to be another potentially momentous one for social care.

The chancellor’s tax cutting spree in his Autumn Statement prompted speculation that a general election could happen as soon as the spring.

Any talk about the politically toxic issue of social care reform will be placed on the back burner with the Tories and Labour desperate to avoid avoid the previous pitfalls of Theresa May when she was forced into a u-turn in the run-up to the 2017 election on her promise to put a cap on care costs, which was branded a ‘dementia tax’.

The Liberal Democrats have been bolder in their pledges for social care, however, with proposals including £5 billion in annual funding for free personal care.

Further revelations of the serial neglect of the sector will continue to emerge at the UK Covid Inquiry despite the government’s efforts to sidestep embarrassment in an election year by postponing the care module public hearings until spring 2025.

Meanwhile, the government’s clampdown on healthcare visas, which played a huge role in keeping the sector afloat during the recruitment crisis, means another tough year head for providers.

With little progress expected in the field of workforce and policy, there’s cause for good news in the area of digitalisation, however, with the government aiming to meet its target of making 80% of providers paperless by March 2024.

In terms of provider profitability, the outlook will continue to be a tale of haves and have nots with providers dependent on local authorities struggling to combat inadequate fees and high costs, while private pay-focused operators continue to flourish.

We wish you all a happy and successful new year!

Lee Peart, Editor-in-chief Caring Times

business contents 5 NEWS IN BRIEF

18 MARKET INSIGHT

8 POLITICS & POLICY

19 PROVIDER PROFILE

We round-up this month's big stories

Key figures give their 2024 predictions

10 LEADER’S SPOTLIGHT

Laura Taylor on how Berkley Care Group supports its staff

12 SURVEYS & DATA

NAO reveals lack of progress on social care reform

14 PEOPLE MOVES

The evolving live-in care market

Learning disabilities provider Godfrey Care Group

20 PROPERTY & DEVELOPMENT The latest big property deals

22 LEGAL & REGULATORY

DavidsonMorris and Mills & Reeve offer legal advice and Kevin Groombridge leads work on new international quality standards

The latest big people moves @Caring_Times linkedin.com/company/caring-times

4 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

17 SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS New report documents social care innovation in sustainabillity

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news | business

News in brief POLICY & POLITICS

The government is to stop overseas care workers from bringing family dependants to the UK as part of a five-point plan designed to curb immigration. The government also announced an increase in the salary threshold for overseas workers by a third to £38,700 from spring 2024 but people on health and social care visas will be exempt.

The government announced new plans to protect care home visiting rights. The changes to the law mean visits will be a fundamental standard of care on a par with having access to food and drink and properly qualified staff.

A billion pounds could be saved each year by returning people to their own homes from hospital rather than to care homes, a new report argued. ‘Finding a way home’ by the County Councils Network said the savings could be made by investment in intermediate care and therapy in people’s own homes.

The families of care home residents were not told their relatives had ‘do not attempt CPR’ notices in place during Covid, the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry heard. Giving evidence, Sarah Ford, GP and member of Care Home Relatives Scotland, said the practice of informing residents about the issuance of DNA CPR notices was often dropped during the pandemic.

The Homecare Association called on the government to invest

Homecare Association chief executive Dr Jane Townson

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an additional £2 billion each year to address the underfunding of home care services. In its ‘Homecare deficit’ report, the body revealed only 5% of UK public organisations are paying the minimum price for home care, according to its calculations.

PROVIDER NEWS

Barchester Healthcare reported an eightfold rise in pre-tax profit in 2022 as services returned to normality following the Covid pandemic.

Pre-tax profit amounted to £31.8 million, compared with £4.1 million in the previous year. Turnover for the business rose to £766.8 million from £675.9 million in 2021.

Runwood Homes increased workers’ salaries above the National Living Wage rate. The care home operator said workers in a variety of roles across the group are being paid a minimum hourly rate of £11, which was implemented last month, five months ahead of schedule.

The GMB said four in ten of its HC-One members are considering leaving their jobs due to low pay. In a story published by the Daily Mirror the union said workers were going without food and basic healthcare

Runwood Homes owner, Gordon Sanders

because of salaries that were as low as £10.47 an hour. The GMB said around 4,000 of HC-One’s 19,000 staff are members of the union.

Exemplar Health Care, a provider of nursing care for adults with complex needs, celebrated reaching a milestone of supporting 1,000 people across its 47 homes. Each Exemplar Health Care home operates a small group living model, with homes split in distinct communities of around 10 to 14 residents per community. The company, which opened its first care home in Rotherham in 2003, opened 10 homes in the last year. >

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 5

business | cover story

News in brief > LEGAL & REGULATORY

From 21 November the Care Quality Commission started using its new single assessment framework in the South region. Between 21 November and 4 December the regulator undertook a small number of planned assessments with early adopter providers, while continuing to respond to risk. It will expand its new assessment approach to all providers based on a risk-informed schedule.

A landmark legal ruling was won by a mother and her son who suffered a regime of abuse and harm at a Devon care home. The claimant, Ben, lived at Atlas Project’s Veilstone care home for 17 months between 2010 and 2011. During this period he was locked in a ‘quiet room’ without natural light, a bed or toilet facilities on more than 100 occasions.

apetito

of the lounge at New Lodge Nursing Home on 19 September 2018.

A 63-year-old care home resident who went on a rampage with a bow and arrow was sentenced to six months in prison.

Former opera singer Mark Holland caused almost £3,000 worth of damage at Belmar Nursing Home in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire on 2 October after being told he could not go out shopping, Blackpool Magistrates Court heard.

SUPPLIER NEWS

Premier Care Homes was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £27,500 in costs following prosecution by the CQC. The Northeast care home operator pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to discharge its duties under the Health and Social Care Act in relation to the death of resident, Mrs Bruce, who was at risk of falls while she was living at Picktree Court.

Four staff members were charged over the death of an 84-year-old woman at a Derby care home. Derbyshire Constabulary charged Alison Linda Foster, Nakeeba Akhtar and Prabina Thapa with perverting the course of justice and wilful neglect. Amar Muneer was also charged with wilful neglect.

Shirley Froggett was found on the floor

6 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Care home meals provider apetito launched its new Christmas range for residents to enjoy a festive feast this year.

Developed by its team of in-house chefs and dietitians, apetito’s 2023 Christmas menu range is full of classics and new dishes such as its Wiltshire Ham, served with an orange and cranberry sauce, which is an interesting alternative to turkey, and a new cauliflower, broccoli and stilton crumble, which is a great vegetarian main meal option, or delicious as a side dish.

Dormy Care Communities invested £200,000 in the roll-out of Sensio’s RoomMate sensor falls prevention technology. The move to support its 271 residents follows a pilot at the group’s Foxhunters Care Community in Abergavenny, South Wales where its installation in the home’s 70 rooms helped prevent multiple falls and potential injuries, as well as freeing up care team time to spend with residents.

Dormy Care

Orchard Care Homes achieved a 91% drop in significant injuries after introducing the PainChek App at its services. The care home operator also achieved a 20% reduction in falls in the past 12 months since adding PainChek to its falls prevention policy and post-falls protocol.

Cheryl Baird

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DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 7

business | 2024 outlook

What to expect in 2024 Townsend Communications’ managing director William Walter meets with three key sector figures to discuss the prospects for adult social care in the coming year

A

s 2023 draws to a close, so too does another challenging year for the care sector with its escalating costs, exacerbated by high inflation. Meanwhile, as demographic shifts resulted in increased demand, workforce shortages made recruitment even harder. These factors have further strained local councils’ ability to provide adult social care effectively to those who need it. Bolton Council’s recent decision to trim £4 million from social care provision funding across the city in 2024/5, for example, points to the pressures that current budgetary crises are applying to local governments’ capacity to deliver care.

Looking ahead to 2024, I talked to three leading experts: Jon Glasby, professor of health and social care at the University of Birmingham, Richard Humphries, senior policy advisor at the Health Foundation, and Martin Knapp, professor of health and social care policy at the London School of Economics.

Together, we examined the likely developments to existing challenges for the sector, as well as the effect of key events, including the much-anticipated general election.

Financial strain on local authorities Despite falling inflation rates, all three were pessimistic about the financial outlook for the sector in “Widening budget gaps, coupled with financial mismanagement, and increasing demand for public services mean that local authority budgets are under unprecedented strain.”

8 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Jon Glasby

2024. Widening budget gaps, coupled with financial mismanagement, and increasing demand for public services mean that local authority budgets are under unprecedented strain.

Glasby accepted that local councils across the country are “under pressure across all areas”, but particularly in social care and children’s services, which in most cases absorb the majority of council funding.

Humphries echoed these sentiments.

He questioned how councils could be expected to “keep their heads above the water financially” given both the lack of long-term planning for the sector and the current cost of living crisis.

The risk of council overspending has been made all too clear recently. Both Nottingham City and Birmingham City Councils’ decision to issue section 114 notices and, in effect, declare themselves bankrupt hint at an anticipated trend for 2024.

Interestingly, in Birmingham’s case, provisional financial reports identified the rising demands and complexity of adult social care provision as one of the ‘underlying forces’ behind local council overspending both in Birmingham and across the country.

Even when councils are able to budget for the protection of adult social care, Glasby acknowledged that such

decisions often come at the expense of other local investment, such as in roads, housing, libraries and community safety.

Knapp pointed out that some councils have already exhausted options in trimming non-essential service budgets, and thus face “real problems” next year.

Future projections are equally sobering for the sector. A Local Government Association report anticipates a funding deficit of £8 billion for local councils by 2024, and Office of National Statistics’ data has projected a 1.3 million increase in the population of over-65s by 2028.

The prospect of significant supply and demand imbalances paints a concerning picture for the future of adult social care in 2024 and beyond. Glasby noted that “as well as adult social care being underfunded, it is also underimagined”.

Policymakers will always prioritise funding for the NHS, especially as we approach a general election, as it garners more public interest. Consequently, as we approach a new year of election campaigning the sector will receive less attention and funding due to lower public pressure on policymakers.

Workforce challenges and the general election Recent statistics have reinforced the importance of care visas in providing staff for the adult social care sector. In

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2024 outlook | business

Martin Knapp

the year-ending September 2023, almost 100,000 work visas were granted to those entering direct employment in care, comprising close to one-third of all work visas granted across the period.

Almost one-in-five care workers across the country are of non-British origin.

All three of the experts collectively acknowledged the importance of immigration in buttressing the UK’s care workforce. But there was also agreement that much of the reliance on migrant workers in the sector was a result of an unappealing and unrewarding care home structure, that fails to attract domestic employees. Humphries argued that the country needs a sector that is “capable of attracting people from wherever” into “an attractive and fulfilling job” that offers career advancement, quality leadership and training opportunities.

Glasby also stressed the importance of how the sector is framed in the public psyche, arguing that adult social care’s often negative perception was proving a hindrance in tackling the workforce crisis. While acknowledging the nature of the challenges, he argued that “being positive and energised” about the opportunities of improvement that the sector offers could go some way towards drawing more individuals into care work.

However, with the general election on the horizon, there is political appetite among policymakers to appear tough on immigration. This culminated with home secretary James Cleverly's fivepoint plan to stem immigration in December including a ban on overseas care workers' dependants.

Knapp warned that making work

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migration more difficult would be detrimental to social care provision given the value of immigration to the health care system across the country.

He emphasised the importance not just of those who migrate solely to work as care assistants, but also those who enter with other valuable qualifications, such as in nursing or management, that could prove an “advantage” to the care sector.

The future for adult social care in 2024 Glasby and Humphries both conceded that, thus far, many of the policy decisions regarding the adult social care sector have been “piecemeal”, or “sticking plaster” promises.

Glasby argued for policy change on a national scale, first aimed at “propping up” the current sector, but more importantly to enable it to develop a “funding settlement with a proper plan and strategy for the long term”. However, Glasby also accepted that a longer-term

solution might depend on being able to move away from a “crisis-focused, deficitbased approach” to one that builds on people’s strengths, relationships and communities – boosting the natural supports that help all of us live the kind of lives we want to lead.

Humphries agreed on the same premise, suggesting that a “stabilising” injection of funding could precede specific future reform objectives.

For Knapp, effective reform would take “brave” plans for effective social care financing, despite the theoretical unpopularity of decisions that either draw on increased taxation or the diversion of resources from elsewhere.

All three of those interviewed agreed that a long-term reform plan for adult social care must be the priority of the next government, whatever it might be, to ensure that care provision remains accessible, affordable and adapted to the needs of those who rely upon it.

“With the general election on the horizon, there is political appetite among policymakers to appear tough on immigration.”

Richard Humphries

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 9

business | leader’s spotlight

Living well today and thriving tomorrow Recently appointed chief executive Laura Taylor explains how Berkley Care Group helps its workforce to live well today and thrive tomorrow

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uring a difficult workforce climate, with a sector vacancy rate of 10%, or 152,000, and turnover of 28%, care home operators are having to think of new ways of attracting and retaining staff.

Clariane-owned luxury care home operator, Berkely Care Group, is not immune to the workforce challenges facing the sector with a vacancy rate of 10% and turnover rate of 35%, although this varies from home to home.

Taylor shares with Caring Times some of the innovative measures Berkley Care Group is taking to tackle the challenges of recruitment and retention.

Neurodiversity Berkley Care Group has identified supporting neurodiverse people as a key means of better retaining existing staff and attracting new workers. A survey by the business found 30% of staff members had a diagnosis or identified as being neurodiverse with an even larger proportion knowing someone who was neurodiverse.

“We have developed our neurodiversity strategy and have set up a steering group, and have identified themes around recruitment, culture, communication and awareness,” Taylor explains. “We will have working groups in our homes contributing to that and will start looking at setting some targets around recruitment and retention and

accessing the government’s Access to Work funding.

“If people identify as neurodiverse we look at what we can do to support them,” Taylor explains. Practical support is provided to neurodiverse people through assistive technology such as speech to text functionality within Berkley’s e-care planning tool.

“Each individual’s support needs will be unique to them, so it may be that someone needs to take more frequent breaks throughout their work day or we may look to assign specific responsibilities to a team member to maximise their strengths and capabilities,” Taylor adds.

The care provider also encourages an open and inclusive culture where all team members have a basic understanding of neurodiverse conditions by providing training and information.

In terms of recruitment, Taylor and her leadership have identified a number of simple changes to make Berkely more accessible to candidates.

“We have looked at things such as providing candidates with the interview questions before the interview,” Taylor highlights. “An interview should not be a memory test with people having to work under pressure. It’s really a competency process. There’s nothing wrong with allowing someone to prepare.”

Access to Work Access to work funding is money for employees to help them do their job if they have a disability or health condition. It can help pay for practical support with a team member’s work as well as support with managing mental health at work. From a practical support perspective this could be a job coach, a travel buddy, specialist equipment and assistive software, or the costs of travelling to work if an employee cannot use public transport. Some neurodiverse conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia and autistic spectrum disorders may mean that an employee qualifies for Access to Work funding. Berkley’s neurodiversity strategy aims to help employees or future employees to access this funding if they’re eligible.

10 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Laura Taylor

The luxury care home operator has innovated to make the interview process less formal and intimidating.

Video interviews are used to support those intimidated by the formality of the conventional interview, as well as catering for people with dyslexia who struggle with written applications.

Berkley has also adopted ‘walk and talk’ interviews as an informal way of introducing candidates to the work environment.

At the induction and training stage, the care provider offers support tailored to meet the needs of the person, whether that be through providing a buddy, more face-to-face training, or breaking down the induction into smaller more manageable chunks based on the person’s self-assessment of their own training needs.

Taylor says Berkley is keen to increase awareness of neurodiversity with other providers and share its expertise.

“Talking about it a huge factor in promoting awareness,” she adds.

Nurse leadership programme Innovations in training and development have also helped support recruitment and retention at the

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leader’s spotlight | business

Cumnor Hill

business with the introduction of the Berkley Nurse Standards of Practice and Education programme in July last year.

The programme is aligned with the Standards in Practice and Education for care home nurses developed by the Queen’s Nursing Institute and supports the move towards specialist practitioner qualification status for registered nurses working in adult social care.

Upon completion, nurses become part of the clinical governance group within Berkley and can explore additional career pathways, with the potential to develop advanced practitioner skills or further hone their leadership skills. This could see nurses filling future general and clinical manager roles across Berkley’s portfolio of homes or becoming part of the wider quality team. The first cohort of eight nurses on the programme graduated in June this year.

“We have had such positive feedback from those who took part,” Taylor says. “It’s created a clinical community to share knowledge and best practice, peer-to-peer support and competency assessment sharing, and most importantly, helped people improve

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their confidence and being able to cope with new situations in a care home context.”

Taylor says Berkley wanted to extend the programme beyond qualified nurses to care practitioners.

“We have care home advanced practitioners and senior carers who are a really important part of our workforce,” she says. “They are very skilled individuals and we want to really raise their profile as providers of clinical care and connect them together and put them on a learning and development programme.”

The aim is to provide a rich career pathway for employees who can join as a care assistant with little experience and work their way up to becoming a senior carer or an advanced practitioner.

The initiative chimes with the ethos of France-based parent company Clariane, which invests in its workforce through the Clariane University. The institution brings together all training courses offered by the group to its employees, both in-house and with partner schools and institutes.

Taylor says the longer term vision for Berkley is to apply the university’s principles in the UK by offering

a physical space for learning and development.

Reward and recognition As well as offering career development opportunities, Berkley, seeks to attract staff through its competitive reward and recognition policies.

“Our aspiration will always be to be ahead of the Minimum Wage,” Taylor says. “As the Minimum Wage goes up that gap may erode a little bit which is why we then invest in other benefits for our employees to retain them in the business.”

As well as seeking to offer a competitive salary, Berkley also focuses on the things above and beyond the hourly rate such as paid breaks and offering a hot cooked meal on every shift.

Taylor says: “Reward and recognition is really key through our Be Appreciated Programme. We also celebrate staff through our annual staff awards programme, long service awards and employee of the month so that we can improve quality of life and so that we can help our staff to live well today and thrive tomorrow. Healthy and happy staff make great care.”

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business | surveys & data

Must do better The government has no long-term funded plan for social care reform and is behind schedule on its revised plans, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. In its ‘Reforming adult social care in England’ report, the NAO said the Department for Health and Social Care has much to do if it is to achieve its 10-year ambition for reforming adult social care and must manage significant risks

T

he report reveals more than £1 billion of the £1.7 billion committed to adult social care reform in December 2021 has been diverted to stabilising the sector.

Only £729 million may now be spent between 2022 and 2025 on reform, representing a 58% fall in budget, the report says.

In the 2022 Autumn Statement, the government postponed its £3.6 billion charging reform initiative and committed up to £7.5 billion to the sector, including £2.7 billion of new central government funding, to help ease immediate pressures, which has provided some welcome relief for local authorities.

Despite this, however, the NAO estimates around a quarter of local authorities may not spend enough to keep up with the cost pressures they face this year, while one in six expects demand for adult social care to exceed capacity this winter.

Social care waiting lists, meanwhile, increased by 37% between November 2021 and April 2022, while in March this year the number of people waiting more than six months for a care assessment was almost double what it was at the end of 2021– at around 82,000.

“The report highlights the persistent lack of attention being paid to adult social care when there is a huge number of people still waiting to be assessed for care.”

12 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Additionally, vacancies in adult social care in England have increased by 173% in the past decade and, despite a recent fall, stand at around 152,000 (a 10% vacancy rate) with around 70,000 staff having been recruited from outside the UK in the past year.

The report calls on the DHSC to set out a costed plan for implementing charging reform from October 2025, and to map the funding required to deliver its planned reform outcomes.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “Adult social care reform has been

an intractable political challenge for decades. Government has set out its ambition to meet this challenge and now needs to demonstrate how it is delivering on these plans.If government is to successfully reform adult social care, it will need to manage some significant risks, including its own capacity and that of local government to resume charging reform activity alongside system reform.

“To maximise its chances of succeeding, government will need to ensure it understands the impact of CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

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surveys & data | business

its ambitions on local authorities and other stakeholders and establish a costed plan which ensures delivery of its long-term goals.”

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The report highlights the persistent lack of attention being paid to adult social care when there is a huge number of people still waiting to be assessed for care.

“Adult social care needs to be an urgent priority for the government with meaningful reform and long-term, sustainable funding to address huge

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unmet need, quality of care, innovation and severe workforce shortages.

“The NHS works hand in glove with the overstretched social care sector. We want to see those working in social care properly rewarded for their valuable work which supports people to live independently at home and in the community.

“It is disappointing to see that government funding earmarked for adult social care reform has been underspent.”

Vic Rayner, National Care Forum

chief executive, said: “The National Audit Office has hit the nail on the head and highlighted that the government’s reform agenda is not the dynamic ‘fix’ the electorate was promised. The report confirms what many already knew – the majority of the reforms have been reprioritised, with 58% of the £1.7 billion system reform money being reallocated and the entirety of the £3.6 billion charging reforms being delayed until after a general election. Even after these reprioritisations, there has been desperately limited progress in other areas.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We remain committed to reform, and are investing up to £700 million over this year and next to make major improvements to the adult social care system. This includes £42.6 million to support innovation in care and increasing the Disabled Facilities Grant by £50 million.

“Additionally, we have made up to £8.1 billion available to help local authorities tackle waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures, £570 million of which will help local authorities improve adult social care provision, in particular by boosting the workforce.”

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 13

business | personnel

People moves Adult social care provider National Care Group appointed Edel Harris as a non-executive director. Harris previously worked in leadership positions for a variety of charity and public sector organisations, including chair at the Life Changes Trust, chief executive of the Royal Mencap Society and chief executive of Cornerstone Community Care.

in association with

joined as chief information security officer from managed services provider Nasstar and Robert Chilvers joined as chief data and artificial intelligence officer.

needs, appointed Nick Essex as chief financial officer. Essex joined from Grant Thornton after 14 years in professional advisory; he has more than 10 years’ corporate finance experience with a focus on health and social care.

The co-founder of care provider Cornerstone Healthcare Group Johann van Zyl will step down as chief executive on 8 January, becoming a non-executive director as a shareholder. Van Zyl cofounded the company with Dara Ní Ghadhra in 2018.

Thomas Michalak

Edel Harris

West Bromwich-based care provider Select Lifestyles promoted two of its employees to executive director level.

Alex Ford has been promoted from health, safety and facilities manager and Sumedh Jassal has been promoted from business development manager.

Both executives will take on more senior leadership responsibilities and provide strategic recommendations to support business development.

Andrew Winstanley was appointed the new chief executive of Connaught Care Group.

Winstanley was appointed in midNovember after leaving luxury care provider Berkley Care Group earlier this year.

Johann van Zyl

Sally-Anne Redhead was appointed as registered manager at Malsis Hall with Craig Chatburn joining as the care home manager. The home in Glusburn, North Yorkshire, supports people with complex mental health conditions.

Andrew Winstanley

Liaise, an Intriva Capital-backed provider of specialist care services for adults with learning disabilities, mental health and other complex Sally-Anne Redhead and Craig Chatburn

Healthcare and social care recruitment and services provider Newcross Healthcare made several senior appointments. Thomas Michalak was appointed head of product design. Paul Green was appointed vice-president of product management. Sanjay Pandya

14 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Nick Essex

Social care body Independent Care Group, which represents providers across York and North Yorkshire, appointed Claire Barwick as a director.

Barwick is head of curriculum, health, education and nursing at CU Scarborough and has more than 30 years’ experience in the health and social care sector. She gained experience of learning

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personnel | business

disabilities, secure care and community care during her time with the NHS before working in higher education.

PwC and telecommunications company KCOM, while Kind worked in the UK’s civil service and at independent care provider Pickering & Ferens Homes.

Claire Barwick

Care and support charity Community Integrated Care has appointed Jemima Burnage as chief quality and risk officer, effective from the end of January, succeeding Carolyn McConnell who is retiring after five years at the charity. Burnage has more than two decades’ experience working within quality, governance and safeguarding and was previously deputy director of mental health in England at the Care Quality Commission. Before that, she worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and in roles at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, where she developed experience across a wide range of service types and provision.

Helen Worsley and Sam Kind

ARCO, the national body for operators of UK integrated retirement communities, has appointed Karen McArthur as independent chair of its standards committee. McArthur is an experienced non-executive director with a wide portfolio of standards work with statutory regulators.

Persons’ Housing Group, succeeding Yvonne Castle, chief executive of Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust.

Meallmore appointed Moira Taylor as care home manager of Grove Care Home in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, a 40-bed facility, caring for residents with a range of conditions and needs, including dementia and palliative care.

Taylor started her career in nursing with the NHS 40 years ago, building up her clinical experience before moving to the private care sector. She has more than 15 years’ managerial experience and since 2015 has managed an Aberdeenshire home providing residential, dementia and nursing care for Sanctuary Care. She spent the past three years as an area manager for Sanctuary, looking after homes across the East of Scotland, supporting nine facilities from Edinburgh up to Dornoch in the Highlands.

Moira Taylor Karen McArthur

The Abbeyfield Society’s head of relationships and development, Abdul A Ravat, was appointed chair of the National Housing Federation’s Older

Jemima Burnage

Not-for-profit care provider HICA Group, headquartered in Hessle, Yorkshire, appointed Helen Worsley and Sam Kind as financial controllers.

Worsley and Kind have experience of financial management, control and strategy across the public and private sector. Worsley previously worked at CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

Abdul A Ravat

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 15

perception quality of life will diminish living in a care home

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Sanctuary Care’s homes can be fun, enriching and a lifeline to many Watch what life is really like in our homes in our new documentary series which tells the stories of real people living our homes.

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sustainability matters | business

Sustainability – you’re already doing it!

CareTech group sustainability director Jonathan Freeman says the Social Care Sustainability Leadership Alliance’s new report offers myriad examples of action taken by care providers from which others can learn

M

ention the need to prioritise sustainability to most senior leaders and all too often there’s one of two immediate reactions.

Either it’s “don’t you know we have a business to run here” or it’s “I’d love to but it’s all too expensive and difficult”.

And to some extent, those passionate about sustainability are responsible for such reactions. We talk apocalyptically about the climate crisis and the need for fundamental change in how we do business. And we have also created an alphabet soup of acronyms and abbreviations around sustainability that confuse and massively overcomplicate things.

As ever, keeping things simple and straightforward is always the best option.

And, also, recognising that sustainability is not a new construct but an approach that’s as old as the hills. Perhaps most importantly, though, pretty much every organisation will have a hoard of treasures of fantastic sustainability practice if only we look properly.

The Social Care Sustainability Leadership Alliance established earlier this year brings together senior leaders with responsibility for sustainability issues within their organisations from across the social care sector. The Alliance aims to provide support to providers of all sizes in building strategies to reduce their environmental footprint while strengthening social and governance infrastructures. Importantly, while the Alliance draws support from across organisations supporting the sector, its core membership comes from the senior leadership of providers and operators.

At the first meeting of the Alliance, members agreed to produce a document that sought to set out the commercial arguments for investing in sustainable growth within social care. The aim was to provide those seeking to embark on, or to deepen, the sustainability journey within their social care organisations with clear evidence to persuade executive and board teams of the financial as CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

well as moral arguments for embracing sustainability at the heart of their organisations.

We have now published a paper ‘The business case for sustainability in social care’ and it’s full of fantastic examples of the innovation, enthusiasm and creativity of the sector rising to the sustainability challenge. From creating sustainable menus that include a daily selection of low-carbon plantbased meals, to halving care-related waste by introducing vac pack systems, or the installation of a smart meter infrastructure to improve monitoring of energy usage, there are myriad examples of action being taken by care providers from which others can learn.

But perhaps the most powerful examples of change are those that revolve around behavioural change instigated by staff and others on the front line of social care, such as: those care homes where staff focus on recycling to slash the amount of waste going to landfill; or services where staff have come together with residents to create beautiful gardens that promote biodiversity; or those teams that simply focus on turning lights off when they’re not needed, turning thermostats down a degree or two, or only filling a kettle with enough water for one cup of tea. Added up, all of these small changes can add up to big change.

And every one of us can play a part.

Harnessing and encouraging such local-led activity is an incredibly powerful – and low-cost – way to accelerate your sustainability journey.

At CareTech, we have introduced our CARE4 One Planet Living programme to provide a framework for each of our services to deliver positive improvements across the sustainability agenda. The programme is based on Bioregional’s One Planet Living sustainability framework, comprising 10 simple principles and detailed goals and guidance. Importantly, programme targets are included in the company’s corporate reporting framework,

Jonathan Freeman

demonstrating that sustainability is a key element of the core business of the company.

Similarly, Voyage Care’s ‘Mission Zero’ campaign is targeted at colleagues and the people they support to drive engagement and awareness of sustainability initiatives. Captain Planet and his three sustainability sidekicks – Energy Educator, Water Wiz and Waste Warrior – provide a series of fun and engaging activities to support people with guidance on reducing their environmental impact.

These examples show that sustainability can – and should – sit at the heart of how we deliver our business in social care. But also that so much change can be delivered through lowcost interventions driven by our staff and those for whom we care in ways that will excite and inspire them.

As is all too often the case in social care, if we properly listen to and empower our incredible teams then the change we can deliver is huge – and it’s all rather simpler than we might think.

‘The business case for sustainability in social care’ and details about the Alliance and becoming a member are available at: DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 17

business | market insight

Care in your own home The Good Care Group’s managing director Darren Kennedy explains how the live-in care market is evolving to meet the changing needs of clients How is the live-in care market responding to the changing market climate and clients’ needs?

The live-in care market seems more competitive than I have ever known it to be. A mixture of Brexit, Covid and cost of living increases have made it more expensive for providers. There are more providers in the mix offering different levels of care, including a lot more introductory agencies. To respond to these changes, we have introduced different levels of live-in care services, enabling those who require care for some of their week or for those with lower needs to still receive live-in home care, but at a reduced cost.

Awareness about live-in care still isn't good enough and needs to be talked about more. With around four out of five people saying they would rather have care in their own home, our industry still has a way to go in changing the perception of those looking for care that care homes are the only option.

How would you describe the current recruitment climate?

The care sector on the whole continues to face challenges around attracting and retaining staff, especially after the strain of working through a pandemic.

With an ageing population, many more people are looking to receive high-quality care in their own homes, "With around four out of five people saying they would rather have care in their own home, our industry still has a way to go in changing the perception of those looking for care that care homes are the only option."

18 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

and many within the care sector have struggled to attract enough employees to meet that demand. Live-in care requires a very specific skill set and level of commitment, as you are living in the client's home for a number of weeks at a time. It also isn't as well known to people as other care roles, like for example working within the NHS. The focus for us at The Good Care Group is on how to promote the great benefits a role in live-in care can give. Many of our carers come to us having worked in residential homes or domiciliary care, who enjoy the benefits that a role in live-in care can bring, specifically around being able to spend more time building a connection and working one-to-one with the person they are supporting.

What support would you like to see from government?

I would like to see parity in the options people are given when they are looking at care options. Too often, I hear families saying that they weren't even aware that live-In care was an option. That is a shame when most people would prefer their care to be in their own home. We also need better promotion of care as a career choice to be able to attract the very best people to work in the sector. That starts with recognising care as a skilled profession and better promotion of all the different roles that support care businesses to provide the best care to their clients. This is something I feel very strongly about, and as a business we have worked hard to ensure that being a carer is a professional career choice.

I would also like to see improved funding for care which in turn will enable providers to better pay their staff. Good and outstanding care isn't cheap to provide, but the outcomes for clients are significantly improved.

We are in a fortunate position at The Good Care Group to have been able to give our professional carers an 8% pay

Darren Kennedy

"We also need better promotion of care as a career choice to be able to attract the very best people to work in the sector."

rise this year, following a 16% increase the year before, but this is not possible for all providers. With better pay and recognition across the sector, it will help with attracting more people.

What future innovations in tech should we expect to see in livein care?

Across the industry as a whole, I think we will see other providers continue to move to digital care recording, as the target date for digitalisation draws closer. I think we will see growth and roll-out in AI (particularly in pain recognition for people who cannot communicate this verbally), and in wearable tech. We know this is out there already and it's been exciting to see it develop. We also have something planned that we feel is going to be very beneficial to our clients so watch this space.

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provider profile | business

Pathway to independence Director Andrew Barnes says Godfrey Care Group’s personalised care is helping provide a brighter future for people with learning disabilities

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odfrey Care Group was launched six years ago by Andrew Barnes and business partner Hayder Atia, both of whom have property backgrounds.

“We had both had some personal experience with learning disabilities,” Barnes says. “We had a look at what kind of residential properties were out there and thought with our experience in property that if we can pull together a good team from the care side we could really make a difference.”

Within two years of launching, the group gained an Outstanding Care Quality Commission rating for its first home, Field House, in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

“That was something we were extremely proud of with us not coming from the sector,” Barnes says. “It gave us the push that we needed and enabled us to prove that we are taking this seriously and know what we are doing.”

The care home operator now has 11 residential homes, in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. All services so far inspected are rated Good or Outstanding.

“As we have grown we have moved more into the higher level of complex care and helping people transition from hospital settings back into the community,” Barnes says. “We are helping to build a pathway towards a better and more independent future to help our people live their own lives without having as much care.

“We have brought in a very high level of experts in the sector to really make a

“We have brought in a very high level of experts in the sector to really make a difference in the care side of what we are doing."

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Pine Bank care home

difference in the care side of what we are doing. We are building, bespoke services towards each individual. The settings themselves are really bespoke to each individual.”

Godfrey Care Group opens its latest residential service, Pine Bank in Chesterfield in October 2024, which will caters for six individuals who have profound and severe needs and risks in relation to challenging behaviours.

“Every time we open a service, each one gets better,” Barnes says. “We are very big on assistive technology to make things less restrictive. We are all about lowering the hours of care that people with a learning disability may need.”

Each home has a maximum of six adults because of the challenging level of their client’s complexities.

“We create a lot of space through sensory areas and communal areas for people who want to do things together,” Barnes says. “They have their own apartments within the care home with their own entrances and exits. We have technology that allows individuals to be able to contact staff if they need them and door monitors so that staff don’t have to be in people’s rooms all the time, but they

can go in and assist them if needed.”

Barnes recognises the dedication and challenging, personalised care provided by his team with salaries above the Real Living Wage as well as providing training and personal development opportunities.

“We are really proud of everyone who works for us and the difference we are making to peoples’ lives has been huge,” Barnes says.

High aspirations Going forward, Barnes says he has high expectations for the business.

“Our aspiration is to be one of the biggest and best providers of complex care for learning disabilities in the country,” he explains.

The group intends to open a new service in Stoke-on-Trent in 2024. “We are in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire but the plan is to grow nationwide,” he says.

With recent press reports having highlighted the urgent need for better care in the community for people with learning disabilities, Godfrey Care Group’s expansion plans come as welcome news.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 19

business | property & development

Property news PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION A Boutique Care Homes planning application for a 68-bed care home in Tadley, Hampshire was rejected

by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. The council cited a lack of sympathy with the local area and the effect on neighbours and the environment in its decision.

Construction began on Voyage Care’s brain injury rehabilitation services in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, which will provide 28 beds for individuals from the local community who have suffered brain injuries.

Consisting of two buildings, the service will offer a pathway of support and residential care for people beginning rehabilitation, and self-contained flats for those ready to live more independently. The architects for the development are 31/44 Architects and it is being built by Short Construction.

NEW BUILDS Exemplar Health Care officially opened its Hylton Grange nursing home in Sunderland. The mayor of Sunderland Councillor Dorothy Trueman cut the ribbon to declare the home open.

20 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Exemplar Health Care is to open a £6 million care home for adults with complex needs in Cannock, Staffordshire. The home, which will create around 100 jobs, is being built on the site of a former car park by Midlands-based construction firm, Deeley Group.

FINANCE LNT Care Developments secured a revolving framework facility from real estate lender and investor Octopus Real Estate, which will provide development and stabilisation support, funding the development of up to four care homes at any one time. The first loan will to fund the development of a 66-bed care home in Bexhill, East Sussex, which will be carbon zero, incorporating a photovoltaic array alongside ground source heat pumps and battery storage.

SALES Housing charity Abbeyfield is to close 29 properties with a further 14 still under consultation. The decision followed a consultation launched in May on 43 services which were no longer financially sustainable and in need of renovation.

Care home group Four Seasons Health Care confirmed the sale of nine operational sites for a total of £16.1 million in cash, as reported in a statement issued jointly by the administrators and the group at the end of October. Costs relating to these sales are in the region of £1.48 million, including costs in relation to the unwind of negative working capital of £1.13 million, broker fees of £130,000 and legal costs of £220,000. The group has repaid £23.1 million of its super senior term loan facility, the statement said.

ACQUISITIONS Boutique Care Homes acquired its fourth care home site in Kent, a 3.5acre site in Deal which is Boutique Care Homes’ seventh addition to its portfolio in the past 12 months.

Fidelity Healthcare purchased Moormead House Nursing Home in Wroughton, Wiltshire, which is registered to care for up to 21 residents.

The business occupies a detached, extended 1950s property with views across the neighbouring countryside.

The home has been owned by Steve Sharp since 2001 and was brought to market to allow him to explore other

CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

property & development | business

business avenues. Fidelity Healthcare owns several homes in the area.

Family-owned healthcare operator Ann’s Care Homes purchased a portfolio of seven care homes in Northern Ireland from Larchwood Care (NI). The portfolio comprises Apple Blossom Lodge in Armagh, Culmore Manor Care Centre and Oakleaves Care Centre in Londonderry, Glebe Care Centre and Dunanney Care Home in Belfast, Melmont Manor in Strabane, and Kingsland Care Centre in Bangor.

Ceredigion County Council has completed its takeover of Hafan y Waun Care Home in Aberystwyth. The care home was one of 10 services offloaded

by MHA as part of a restructuring programme announced in May.

Hartford Care acquired Inver House care home in Bembridge, Isle of Wight from Somerset Care. Inver House is a 50-bedroom home offering residential, end of life, respite and day care, along with 32 of the bedrooms for residents with dementia. The business is a converted Edwardian building rated Good by the Quality Care Commission, which has had significant

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investment over the past few years.

Care home owners Dr Ronald Arulnesan and Dylan Dayalan completed the freehold purchase of Regency Nursing Home in Southsea, Hampshire, which occupies a fourstorey property with 21 bedrooms registered to care for up to 30 service users. Since purchasing the business in 2012, the vendors, Sen and Maria Bungaroo, have upgraded and refurbished the building. Arulnesan and Dayalan also own a care home in Dorset.

Family-run care home operator Ashley Care Group acquired 37-room Church Farm care home in Hemsby, Norfolk. Ashley Care Group provides 24 hour residential and dementia care, with all five of its homes set in the Norfolk countryside. The latest acquisition was facilitated with a commercial mortgage from challenger bank Allica.

Family-owned care provider Agincare acquired Rogers House Residential Care Home in Wigmore, Kent from Rapport Housing and Care.

Opened in 1992, Rogers House is a

purpose-built residential care home providing personal care for up to 43 people. The home is being renamed as Admiralty Care Home.

Care UK officially opened its Llys Herbert residential and dementia care home in Cardiff. Resident Maureen Ashfield, along with the lord mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Bablin Molik, cut the ribbon to open the home.

Arif Pradhan of Halcyon Care Group purchased The Firs Nursing Home in Taunton, Somerset, which provides accommodation for up to 40 elderly residents. Pradhan also owns homes in Exmouth, Cullompton and Tiverton.

The Firs has been owned by Somendra Khosla of Care West Country since the early 1990s. Khosla recently sold his two South Wales homes, Llanyravon Court Nursing Home in Cwmbran and Crick Care Home in Monmouthshire, and with the sale of The Firs is now able to retire from the sector. Business property advisor Christie & Co facilitated the sale.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 21

business | legal & regulatory

Avoid harsh penalties With fines for employing illegal workers set to triple in 2024, Anne Morris of law firm DavidsonMorris shares tips on how not to fall foul of Home Office scrutiny and enforcement action

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s the UK care sector continues to suffer labour and skills shortages, hiring from overseas has become business-critical for increasing numbers of care providers.

However, employing foreign nationals places onerous compliance obligations on the employer, and penalties for noncompliance are not insignificant.

Immigration compliance duties UK employers are required by law to meet their obligations under the prevention of illegal working regime, regardless of the size of their workforce or whether they employ foreign nationals. This means ensuring that all workers have the right to work in the UK by carrying out verification checks.

Failure to meet these duties can result in a fine, known as a civil penalty, which the Home Office can issue for every breach identified. In 2024, the maximum fine for illegal working is being increased from £20,000 to £60,000. Fines for a first breach are also being increased, from £15,000 to £45,000.

There is also a separate criminal offence where employers know, or have reasonable cause to believe, they are employing someone illegally.

As well as right to work compliance, care providers with a sponsor licence also have additional sponsorship compliance duties. If the Home Office alleges non-compliance, the "Unfortunately, the Home Office doesn’t accept capability issues as a defence against non-compliance. "

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organisation’s sponsor licence may be downgraded, suspended or even revoked, directly affecting the ability to employ sponsored workers and potentially resulting in sponsored workers’ visas being curtailed.

How to avoid Home Office fines Being proactive with immigration compliance is the best approach to avoiding Home Office attention and penalties.

From our experience of working with health and social care employers, we understand this can be challenging in practice. Many care providers operate without dedicated or specialist HR personnel, and immigration may be the responsibility of the care home manager who is already operating with a broad remit.

Common compliance issues we see in the care sector include: • Failure to carry out right to work checks in the correct manner, or to conduct checks at all.

• Failure to maintain adequate personnel records.

• Failure to ensure the individual presenting for employment is the same person in the identity documentation.

• Breaching sponsorship conditions, such as working hours, salary and location.

• Operating with an expired sponsor licence.

Unfortunately, the Home Office doesn’t accept capability issues as a defence against non-compliance.

With the Home Office placing greater focus and resources on immigration compliance, employers are advised to

Anne Morris

take their obligations seriously through practical measures such as: • Mock audits – reviewing the organisation’s immigrationrelated policies, procedures and documentation to identify and rectify compliance issues.

• Right to work training – online training for all staff involved in the organisation’s recruitment, onboarding and personnel management to understand the rules and their role in ensuring compliance.

• SMS Level 1 and 2 user training – practical training for all sponsorship management system users within the organisation.

DavidsonMorris is an employer solutions law firm with experience of the health and social care sector. For more information about its immigration services, or to discuss how to ensure your organisation is in full compliance with its immigration obligations, contact Anne Morris at: anne. morris@davidsonmorris.co.uk

CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

legal & regulatory | business

Levelling up Work has begun on new international quality guidelines designed to revolutionise the care inspection process, improving standards for older people worldwide. Lee Peart reports

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evin Groombridge, chief executive of Care Inspections UK, is leading a project which, once implemented, will improve care and standards in residential care and home-based care and will be available to inspection bodies to adopt to enable improvements.

Having produced a British standard for adult residential care in 2019, Groombridge was asked by the British Standards Institute to lead the development of a model which could be adopted worldwide – ISO 25557.

“There are more than 150 countries involved in the working group,” Groombridge says. “The goal is that we will be developing a new international standard for at home and residential care by 2024.”

Groombridge says the international standard would be the first to integrate residential and home care, providing the opportunity for transferrable care plans and medication care records.

“The transferability of information will be a lot stronger,” Groombridge says. “Integration is the key to delivering high standards of care and seamless application of regulations.

This will be the first time there will be a properly integrated standard that pulls together things in a holistic way.”

"The development of an international standard will also support a global levelling up of social care provision, with nations sharing best practice to develop similar quality control systems."

CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

The development of an international standard will also support a global levelling up of social care provision, with nations sharing best practice to develop similar quality control systems.

“This type of change is all about all nations come up to a similar standard so that we can support people to live the best life they can throughout the whole of their life and benefit from support wherever they live,” Groombridge notes.

The proposed ISO 25557 standard has been developed with the United Nations Principles for Older Persons in mind. These are that older people should: • Be able to live in safe and adaptable environments to personal preferences and changing capacities.

• Be able to reside at home for as long as possible.

• Benefit from family and community care and protection by each society's system of cultural values.

• Be able to utilise appropriate levels of institutional care providing protection, rehabilitation, and social and mental stimulation in a humane and secure environment.

• Be able to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms when residing in any shelter, care or treatment facility, including full respect for their dignity, beliefs, needs and privacy and for the right to make decisions about their care and the quality of their lives.

• Be able to live in dignity and security and be free of exploitation and physical or mental abuse.

• Be treated fairly, regardless of age, gender, racial or ethnic background, disability or other status, and be valued independently of their economic contribution.

While Groombridge makes a persuasive case for the need for a global care quality standard, is there not a danger of duplicating the work of the Care Quality Commission in the UK?

Kevin Groombridge

“It’s not about the nit-picking process that occurs with the CQC,” Groombridge says. “This initiative is all about getting care homes and home care services to understand what they do well and what can be improved to make sure everything is done to the highest standard in the future.

“The method that we are using is based on systems that are already in use in many countries around the world which have incredibly effective outcomes of care for older people particularly.”

Groombridge highlights The Netherlands as a country where inspection bodies and the regulator worked separately to produce better care outcomes, and predicts that one day this could be the case in the UK. “Currently, homes get, on average, about one inspection every two to three years in England,” Groombridge says.

“In The Netherlands you have at least two every year. Care homes want the inspections because they want to show they are improving.

“We will end up with a stronger regulator that can act more effectively based on tangible, quantitative data.”

Groombridge’s bold vision for reform will be music to the ears of many in the sector who feel the regulator is in urgent need of reform.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 23

business | legal & regulatory

Understanding section 31 Senior associate Katherine Wackett from law firm Mills & Reeve explains the Care Quality Commission’s section 31 enforcement powers to remove or vary a condition on a provider’s registration

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o provide certain healthcare services (known as regulated activities), healthcare providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. To ensure services are only provided at specific locations, the CQC attaches a condition to a provider’s registration that specifies services may only be provided at the locations listed in that condition.

This was the not the expected approach when the legislation was made.

It was expected that each service would have its own registration – therefore it was expected that the CQC would have to use section 30 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and seek approval from a justice of the peace in order to close a service on an urgent basis.

It is a criminal offence to fail to comply with conditions on registration.

The effect of this is, crucially, that a provider can only legally provide services at the locations specified on its certificate of registration.

CQC’s urgent powers Under section 31 of the Act, the CQC has the power to urgently vary or remove a condition on registration, including the condition specifying the locations at which regulated activity can be carried on. It can do this where it has “reasonable cause to believe” that "Under section 31 of the Act, the CQC has the power to urgently vary or remove a condition on registration, including the condition specifying the locations at which regulated activity can be carried on."

24 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

unless it does so “any person will or may be exposed to the risk of harm”.

To do this, the CQC must simply give notice in writing to the service provider. Any such notice takes effect from the time it is given and there is no requirement (as with the section 30 cancellation procedure discussed in this column in the last issue) for the CQC to seek external approval from a justice of the peace. Section 31 also requires a lower threshold to be met before action can be taken, requiring that a person will “or may” be exposed to a “risk of harm” – this does not require that there “will” be “serious harm” (as with section 30 action).

As a result, it is often faster, simpler and more convenient for the CQC to take action under section 31 rather than section 30. In practice therefore, where the CQC wishes to take enforcement action against a provider, it is more common for it to vary the condition on registration which specifies the locations at which services can be provided, instead of cancelling the entire registration. Where providers have multiple services, this is the CQC’s only option if it wishes to close only one service on an urgent basis, rather than all of the services.

This is concerning given that section 31 notices require no judicial scrutiny but have the same effect as section 30 notices, that is, the potentially immediate closure of a home or homes.

If the CQC issues a provider with a section 31 notice and varies the condition of registration so that the provider is not authorised to provide services at a specific location, the provider will be committing a criminal offence if it continues to provide services at that location. It must therefore immediately stop providing services (for example, move all residents out of a care home), or it may attract further enforcement action, including criminal prosecution.

Katherine Wackett

Responding to action under section 31 The CQC is aware of the effect that such notices can have on providers and in our experience, it will sometimes give providers a day’s notice before doing so to ensure residents can move safely, though it is not obliged to – and it does not always do so.

If a section 31 notice is served, this can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) within 28 days. Such appeals are dealt with on a fast-track basis, so a decision can be reached within just a few weeks of the notice being served.

However, since the notice takes effect immediately, the decision to remove a location will stand (and a provider will need to stop providing services) until the FTT determines the appeal.

Providers can avoid the risk of receiving a section 31 notice by keeping abreast of any concerns raised and by responding in a timely manner to problems identified during inspections.

Section 31 notices are typically only issued following a history of poor inspections and unresolved issues. In the event that you do receive a section 31 notice, or receive a warning to that effect, you should seek urgent legal advice.

CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

care

34 A NIGHT TO REMEMBER! Over 800 people gathered to celebrate the sector at the 25th National Care Awards

care contents 26 MANAGER'S GUIDE TO

Charlie Jones on managing appraisals and supervisions

27 CHEF OF THE MONTH

Gary Parsons of Colten Care’s Belmore Lodge

28 CARE MANAGERS SHOW

We look back on our second Care Managers Show at London ExCeL

30 CATERING FOCUS

Renaissance Care on catering in a care home setting

31 CPD

What data tells us about learning & development and why practice leadership matters

33 CT ON THE ROAD

Charlotte Goddard gets a sneak peak of Wallacea Living's Paddington retirement village

38 NORRMS' BLOG

The moving dementia diary of Norrms' McNamara

39 WELLBEING

Adopt a Grandparent offers joy through companionship

40 10 QUESTIONS WITH

Sarah Hearne, locality manager at national charity Ambient Support

41 CARE FOR TOMORROW

Professor Martin Green on the new tech set to transform care and Digitising Social Care on how digital technology is liberating disabled people

43 CREATIVE CARING

Carers demonstrate their creativity through fun and engaging activities

45 DEMENTIA CARE

Dr Isabelle Latham tackles three familiar care home challenges at Hallmark

47 HOUSEKEEPER OF THE MONTH

Josh Morrissey, housekeeping supervisor at Sanctuary Care

care | registered managers

Managers’ guide to… supervisions Supervisions and appraisals play a key role in maintaining care sector quality. Charlie Jones, care and clinical director at BKR Care Consultancy, offered advice on how to navigate what can be a challenging process at the Care Managers Show last month.

S

upervision is an ongoing process that includes regular meetings between team members and supervisors to discuss issues and provide development and support. It’s a crucial part of management, and also something the Care Quality Commission will want to see evidenced.

1. The CQC wants to see forward planning. Create a matrix which shows when staff members are due to have their supervisions and appraisals, and whether they have taken place. Planning ahead means staff know when their supervisions are taking place, and can engage better. You can colour code the document to show which supervisions took place on time – this also helps you identify people who are always ‘sick’ on the day of the supervision. If you are clever with Excel you can make names come up in red if someone’s supervision is overdue.

2. Ensure there are allocated supervisors for every staff member or group of staff. As a manager you do not have time to supervise everybody – some of your staff could take over that responsibility. If there’s nobody in your team you can trust with this, ask yourself why are you employing them?

3. Stick to the plan. Of course there will be times when something happens, and you have to put off that supervision. But every time you postpone a supervision you are feeding back to your team that this is not an important event – then you wonder why the staff member comes unprepared. If there’s a problem today and you don’t challenge it, that risk exists for another week.

4. Make sure staff realise they have had a supervision. I did 373 supervisions in one month in a care home which was in crisis, and the staff still told the CQC they hadn’t

26 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

had one. They thought they were having informal meetings.

5. As a manager, ensure your own supervision takes place on time.

You can’t supervise others if you are not up to date yourself.

6. A supervision should not be rushed through in 15 minutes, it should take around 45 minutes to an hour, and perhaps longer for a particularly complex staff member.

7. Prepare for the meeting by getting feedback about the person and thinking about their performance and their needs. It can help to have a file with a list of staff, which can be accessed by anyone in a managerial position. They can input performance issues as they arise, which can then be discussed in a supervision. Also think about providing forms to record when something goes well, perhaps a ‘Magic moment of the day’ form, so positive practice can also be recorded.

8. Think about the best supervision you ever had. What made it so good?

Can you replicate that for the staff that walk into your office for their

supervision? For me, it was a time when there was an interest in where I wanted to develop, not where the organisation wanted me to develop.

9. A supervision contract is a signed confidentiality agreement between you and the member of staff stating that nobody else will see the supervision notes, unless there is a safeguarding issue. This allows staff to be more honest than they would if they knew the whole management team was going to read that supervision. When the CQC or the local authority come in, I will put a piece of paper over the supervision report so they can see the names, signatures and date, and share our supervision template which shows we have covered all the mandatory elements.

10. Have a plan for discussion in case the staff member doesn’t. Prepare a list of questions to ask in every section. Prepare some comments on their performance, their strengths and weaknesses, their attendance, and their training. Review what was agreed in the last supervision and whether it has been met.

Charlie Jones

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catering | care

Chef of the month Gary Parsons tells us what’s on the menu at Colten Care’s Belmore Lodge care home in Lymington, Hampshire minute steaks, fresh fish options and pies.

Gary Parsons

Tell us about your background and how you joined Colten Care?

In 1979 I decided to join the Army Catering Corp to train as a chef. I was stationed in different bases around the world, including Germany, Belize, Kenya, Belgium, Gibraltar and all over the UK. I also served in the Gulf War, based in Saudi Arabia. I left the Army in 1990 and moved to Bournemouth.

In 1997 I got a job with Colten Care.

Twenty-six years later, and having been chef while 16 new homes have been commissioned, I am still here.

What is special about working at Colten Care?

No two days are the same. With events and activities on offer for residents, it keeps my everyday role interesting.

Meeting with the residents regularly to hear their feedback, not only on "We work closely with our clinical leads, and all chefs are trained in modified diets."

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the meals they’ve had, but also their experience in the dining areas and the events they have enjoyed. This rapport is always encouraging.

How do you vary your menu to provide choice for residents?

The menu changes daily. We encourage residents to have three nutritious meals.

For breakfast they can enjoy cooked and continental options and herbal teas, coffee and juices. For lunch there are hot main options, with differing choices of potatoes and vegetables.

Vegetarian options and salads are always on offer along with a choice of hot and cold desserts. At supper times we offer three courses, starting with soup and featuring a hot meal option. There are sandwiches or cheese and biscuits for a lighter option and finishing with dessert choices.

What does your typical weekly menu look like?

Again there are varied choices. You will always see a Sunday roast dinner, with fish as an optional choice. Fridays are our ‘fry-days’ where we offer freshly breaded or battered fish and homemade chips.

Throughout the week we offer plenty of choice with dishes such as casseroles,

How do you meet residents’ nutritional and health needs?

We work closely with our clinical leads, and all chefs are trained in modified diets. This helps us understand the specific needs of those residents who, for example, have dysphagia. We are able to modify their diet to make it easier for them to eat. Our menus are explicitly designed to maintain good nutrition and hydration for the elderly.

This includes lower salt and fat and the addition of dietary fibre. Equipped with an understanding of their clinical needs, we then adapt residents’ menus to fit their tastes and preferences. We can offer additional choices to allow for specific needs, for example extra leafy greens to help with wound healing.

How do you cater for residents with dementia?

We have adapted cutlery and coloured crockery and we can offer a same-day choice to mitigate the risk of forgetting what you have ordered. We put the choices in front of residents to see which they would prefer.

What is your most popular dish?

Friday’s fish and chips or Sunday’s roast dinner. They are always a hit with our residents and something they never want to miss.

What’s your own favourite dish?

My lovely wife’s amazing Thai and Mexican food.

How do you make the dining experience special for residents and their families?

Dining is open to friends and relatives so people can enjoy meals together. There is waiter and waitress service and we have regular gala and evening events.

Residents can also dine in the comfort of their own rooms if they don’t want to come to the dining room.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 27

care | care managers show

Back with a bang!

More than 5,000 care home managers, employers and sector specialists signed up for our second 2023 Care Managers Show at London ExCeL on 29 November

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osted by TV presenter, Lorraine Kelly, our new flagship event once again provided continuing professional development, best practice advice and guidance, the latest care tech and innovations, wellbeing advice, training and apprenticeships, entertainment and a general feelgood factor for our amazing care managers.

Kelly entertained the crowds with a Q&A lunchtime session with some of our best care home managers where she discussed the challenges of the job and how much progress has been made in gaining better public and media recognition for the vital role care workers play in society.

Speakers in our Technology stream included iCare Services director Samir Patel, who provided advice on digital transformation. Dr Shelley James, founder of Age of Light Innovations, explained the benefits of the latest lighting solutions, while BK Care and Consultancy, care and clinical director Charlie Jones shared the Care Quality Commission’s expectations in terms of digital adoption. Daniel Casson of Casson Consulting also chaired a round table on preventative care.

A wide range of practical guidance was on offer in our Operational Excellence streams, including how to make your homes more sustainable, having an

28 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

outstanding CQC inspection day, and how to empower residents living with dementia.

Our workforce sessions were as popular as ever, covering a wide range of topics, including recruitment and retention, leading a remote team, the role of apprenticeships, and international recruitment.

The next instalment of the Care Managers Show takes place on 27-28 June at the NEC, Birmingham.

You can find out about commercial opportunities and book your free tickets by scanning the QR code:

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care managers show | care

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DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 29

care | catering

Meal or no meal?

Renaissance Care’s master chef Stuart Middleton discusses the intricacies of catering in a care home setting

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oming up with meal ideas is difficult at the best of times and trying to add a bit of variety to our diets can often lead to drawing a blank and relying on the same old series of meals to keep us going.

When catering in a care setting, there are additional variables that need to be considered on top of maintaining variety: the dietary requirements of each individual in the residence must be carefully considered and factored into meal planning, alongside finding creative ways to introduce new flavours and jazz up old favourites.

Stuart Middleton is Renaissance Care’s catering and dining operations manager and oversees everything foodrelated at the company’s 17 care homes dotted across Scotland. Recently, he was named Catering Manager of the Year at the National Association of Care Catering Awards, recognising his accomplishments and contribution to the field.

From creating seasonal menus with residents’ feedback to recruitment and training, there’s no aspect of catering at Renaissance Care that Stuart doesn’t have a hand in, and he’s extremely passionate about working with residents to ensure all the food that’s available to them suits both their health needs and preferences.

“At our chef ’s conference last year, we did a hands-on presentation with chefs and home managers to discuss how we’re building layers of flavour without "He’s extremely passionate about working with residents to ensure all the food that’s available to them suits both their health needs and preferences."

30 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Stuart Middleton

using salt all the time,” Stuart says. “We did a carrot cake pakora with a lemon cream cheese dip, and everybody made the same face you probably just did thinking about that, but everybody loved them and said they were amazing.

It’s a twist on a classic and easy for those that require finger food.”

Striking the balance between interesting and creative ideas while still ensuring residents feel a sense of comfort and familiarity with what they’re eating is one of Stuart’s main focuses when creating dishes.

One of the primary ways Stuart engages both chefs and residents is through events like Meal or No Meal?

These sessions are used to trial new dishes with residents and see if they’re going to work on the home’s menu.

Stuart says: “It’s a fun opportunity for catering staff and residents alike to get to know each other and find out firsthand the flavour profiles and methods of food delivery that work best with the residents. As much as we would love to do this for every dish, we can’t possibly do it for everything and that’s where it’s about the chef coming out and engaging with the residents during the meal service, and just being present to get some feedback from them.

“I do this regularly to get feedback

from the residents to see if they’re enjoying the chef ’s cooking, but I can also see how the whole dining experience flows for the residents as well.

“Is it a nice relaxing and social dining experience? Or does it feel rushed, and task orientated? I can offer support from there, not just for the kitchen, but for care staff as well who are heavily involved in the dining experience.”

Stuart’s approach is reflective of Renaissance Care’s overall aims to provide the highest standards of care possible. Staff at every level are empowered to encourage residents to live fulfilled lives, take positive risks and improve their health and wellbeing.

From Stuart’s perspective, a chef at a Renaissance Care home should embody these traits and more – and when recruiting he looks for a compassionate person who cares about the role; someone who is creative, and above all, honest.

“Everyone needs to sing from the same hymn sheet for this to work,” Stuart says. “So, whether you’re a wellbeing lead supporting resident activity, or a chef working in our catering team, helping our residents live their lives to the fullest needs to be your number one focus.”

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continuing professional development | care

Insights from staff data Skills for Care’s head of national workforce development, capability and skills, Rob Newby, discusses what latest data tells us about learning and development

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kills for Care’s latest ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report provides a comprehensive overview of the most up-to-date data about our sector and workforce.

It highlights many of the opportunities and the challenges which our sector faces, but in my role at Skills for Care, one thing that really stands out to me from the report is how the data highlights the importance and value of learning and development for people working in the sector.

We know that retention of staff is one of the biggest challenges facing social care providers right now, and our recent report identifies five key factors which can affect staff retention.

These are: • Being able to access training.

• Having a relevant qualification.

• Being paid more than the National Minimum Wage.

• Not being on a zero-hours contract.

• Being able to work full-time.

Where none of these factors apply, care workers are more than twice as likely to leave their jobs than when all five factors apply – a 48.7% turnover rate compared with 20.6%.

Looking individually at the impact of training and qualifications on retention we still see a positive correlation.

The average turnover rate was nine percentage points lower among care workers who had received some form of training (31.6%), compared to those who had not (40.6%).

"For ancillary staff, the most common career pathway was to progress to care worker, and then to senior care worker, or supervisory roles."

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Of care workers who held a relevant social care qualification, 26.5% had left within the 12-month analysis period, compared to 37% of those that did not.

Just under half of the direct care providing workforce (45%) held a qualification at level 2 or higher in 2022/23, and 74% of managerial staff hold a relevant qualification.

It was also interesting to see from the report which training topics staff were most engaged with. The most popular areas of training received were: moving and handling (77%), safeguarding adults (75%) and infection control (69%).

It was also encouraging to see almost two-thirds (65%) of care workers who had started in the sector after January 2015 had engaged with the care certificate.

Using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) we can observe the career progression of workers in adult social care between 2010 and 2023.

For ancillary staff, the most common career pathway was to progress to care

worker, and then to senior care worker, or supervisory roles.

Senior care workers or supervisors were most likely to move into first-line managerial or registered manager roles.

Regulated professional workers can progress up the pay scale within their individual roles and were also observed to move into managerial posts.

Registered nurses generally progressed to registered manager roles, while social workers and occupational therapists moved into management roles within their local authority.

Our annual report provides vitally useful data and insights about our sector and workforce which is used by the government and other stakeholders to make decisions and shape policy for the sector.

You can share your insights for the report by using the ASC-WDS. Find out more about ASC-WDS at: skillsforcare.org.uk/ascwds View the full report here:

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 31

care | continuing professional development

Encourage practice leadership Ben Higgins, chief executive at Bild and the Restraint Reduction Network, shares his thoughts on the Department of Health and Social Care’s Social Care Workforce Pathway

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key part of the Social Care Workforce Pathway is providing non-management career progression opportunities.

With the aim of helping to prevent people leaving social care, the nonmanagement branch of the career pathway enables people to specialise, for example, in mental health and learning disability, autism or dementia, and then go on to become practice leaders. Many of the best social care providers already adopt this approach with significant evidence noted in improving practice.

Guides, coaches, role models, champions Practice leaders are simply a guide. A coach. A champion. An agent of change who leads by example, and whose presence can mean the difference between spreading poor practice or enabling best practice. As a skilled member of staff, practice leaders not only model what works for the supported individuals, as well as their families and carers, but also coach fellow staff members to help develop competence, motivation and to progress careers.

A positive, person-centred apprenticeship Throughout history, people have learnt by practising a skill, under the guidance of more experienced individuals – a hands-on apprenticeship model that has proven effective for centuries.

Today, practice leadership is gaining recognition as the key to effective

workforce development and quality implementation, playing a crucial role in embedding good practice within teams and working closely with individuals who require support.

Practice leaders are best placed to coach their colleagues, because they frequently observe how they support people and can improve practice by providing feedback, modelling, and clarifying what good looks like.

They know the motivations and skills the team possesses, and they know how to get the best out of people to help them excel in their roles, working together cohesively. In essence, practice leaders can ensure staff members feel seen, supported, motivated and engaged – a cost-effective strategy for retention.

Find your practice leaders and cultivate change Strong voices will inevitably emerge in any organisation or service, making it vital to cultivate leaders who can prioritise ethical and beneficial practices, who can identify and rectify any gaps in staff knowledge and skills, and who can act as change agents.

However, services cannot solve their problems simply by training staff without considering implementation.

They must also address the changes required in organisational systems to support and motivate the workforce.

As Bev Murphy, head of practice at United Response and chair of the UK PBS Alliance, says: “Attention needs to be given to how practice leaders’ time is protected from the many other

Ben Higgins

competing responsibilities in this important work. Organisations need to recognise that practice leadership must be provided despite, not neglected because of, resource limitations.”

Embrace opportunities for inclusion By now it’s hopefully clear to see why the Department for Health and Social Care highlighted the importance of practice leaders. Having someone who can lead by example across a range of good practice issues, including inclusion, restraint reduction, supported independence, and much more, is vital.

We believe the time has come for organisations to harness the benefits of practice leadership, unlocking its transformative potential to improve the experience and outcomes of those they support.

"In essence, practice leaders can ensure staff members feel seen, supported, motivated and engaged – a costeffective strategy for retention.”

32 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

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ct on the road | care

Lively later-living Wallacea Living plans to open its first high-end retirement community in central London in 2026. Charlotte Goddard gets a glimpse into the future with a tour of the show suite

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n London’s Edgeware Road something new is taking shape.

A luxury apartment block is going up, nestled in its own landscaped gardens with amenities including a landscaped garden, swimming pool and spa, restaurant, private cinema and library bar. When it opens in early 2026, this will be Wallacea Living’s first integrated retirement community, comprising 104 one and two-bedroom high-end apartments and two-bedroom penthouses aimed at the over-65s.

While the block itself is still under construction, Wallacea Living has created a taster of what apartment owners can expect in the next block along. Skirting a building site through what seems to be a secret door, the visitor steps into a stylish lounge area, with bespoke artwork and vintage artifacts on show. The colourful, abstract design is a world away from the country house boutique hotel look, instead leaning towards a mid-century urban feel, drawing on the radical design changes of the 1960s, 70s and beyond. It’s almost like setting foot into the set of an early James Bond film.

“The reason behind the aesthetic is trying to shatter the idea of what people think a care home looks like,” says Paul Morgan, co-founder and chief executive of Wallacea Living.

“If you think of our demographic, when they were 25, it was the swinging sixties, so don’t be scared about design, don’t dumb it down,” explains Andrew Endean, head of real estate. A multifunction space has a clean, open feel, with large mirrors and line pictures of dancers giving a sense of movement and

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activity. Meanwhile the glamourous bar area draws on the 1920s and 1930s, for a New York, art deco feel.

“It was important to create a space that appeals to men and women, as typically clubs are quite masculine,” says Endean.

The ground floor of the community will house a restaurant which will be open to the public as well as residents. “Bringing other people in adds vitality,” says Morgan.

Wallacea Living’s creative director, Sue Timney, chair of the Chelsea Arts Club, professor and fellow of The Royal College of Art and a past president and visiting professor of the British Institute of Interior Design, worked with architecture and design practice Jestico + Whiles to create the interiors of the community.

We take a lift up to the show apartment with its balcony and view over London.

Prices for the new apartments start from £950,000. This is a demographic that is used to urban living, and keen to maintain connections with their friends.

The community is located a stone’s throw from the theatres, restaurants, parks and many amenities of central London.

Thought has gone into all the fixtures and fittings, from reinforced walls in the wetrooms so aids can be easily fitted if needed, to an oven door that folds in on itself so people don’t have to lean over it, which can lead to burns. “There are little things we have identified for this demographic to make their lives easier but not things that stand out; we don’t want people to feel stigmatised,” says Fionna Cannon, care and wellbeing director, who herself started out as a carer.

Every apartment has been fitted with an emergency response system, and comes

with a sensor, which delivers unobtrusive monitoring by detecting movement.

Other sensors can be added if required.

“We will be able to track deterioration in sleep patterns for example, and step in and support with that,” explains Cannon.

A six-monthly health and wellbeing MOT will track indicators such as bone mass and blood pressure, but residents can also use futuristic-looking machines to check their own health at any time “Nine times out of ten when people that age enter hospital it’s because triggers haven’t been picked up,” says Cannon. “If we can prevent a fall from happening, or a UTI getting so bad that someone ends up in hospital, that’s a good thing.”

Every person moving into the community will discuss their likes and dislikes, and their own background with the wellbeing manager. “We want to keep people connected with their hobbies and introduce them to new things, finding things in the local community for them to do,” says Cannon.

“People have got 20 or 30 years after retirement – rather than what has been traditional, people think about slowing down, it is the other way around,” says Morgan.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 33

Congratulations

Scan to see this year’s winners!

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The National Care Awards will return in 2024 for its 26th year.

We can’t wait to celebrate with all the gold-star employees in the social care sector.

to all the winners!

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care | advertorial

Congratulation to our overall winner, David Fielding, handyman, Forest Care, Cedar Lodge Care Home It is David’s love for his residents and his commitment to Cedar Lodge’s values that drives him to perform brilliantly continually in his role as handyman at Cedar Lodge

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lways exceeding his remit, David will fulfil residents’ impromptu requests to ensure they are happy. He uses his role to support and enable colleagues to deliver the best care possible daily. He drives residents to hospital appointments, collects prescriptions from pharmacies and delivers blood samples to medical practices. He supports and contributes to the wellbeing of residents, shopping for personal items on their behalf, taking residents out for shopping trips and willingly involving himself in activities on themed days, such as playing a pilot during armchair travel to Nepal, and being Father Christmas.

Safety is always a priority for David.

He carries out all health and safety, induction and fire training for staff on an ongoing basis. He even goes the extra mile to collect colleagues from home to ensure they can attend training if they do not have access to transport.

Jayne Barker, care home administrator, says: “David is always at the end of the phone. He always gets the job done well.

David says ‘yes’ to everything without questioning. Nothing is too much

2023

"David is always at the end of the phone.

He always gets the job done well. David says ‘yes’ to everything without questioning.”

36 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

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advertorial | care

trouble for him. He is like ‘Mr Cedar Lodge’ – everyone knows David. He has built a great rapport with residents and colleagues over the years.”

David embraces Cedar Lodge’s ethos of person-centred care, coming up with new ideas and ways of doing things for residents. For example, David constructed a lightweight

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board table which fits perfectly over a resident’s armchair, enabling her (a very keen artist) to continue her hobby.

Another resident had made a beautiful grandfather clock earlier in life but sadly the clock had been damaged. The family asked if they could bring the clock pieces to Cedar Lodge and David kindly took the time carefully putting all the pieces back together. The repaired clock now stands proud in our dedicated activities room.

Nenita Jopson, care home manager, comments: “David is a happy soul, a gentleman, he is a good listener and takes the time to stop and chat with residents and colleagues. If you need something doing, he replies enthusiastically straight away ‘yes, I can do that.’ David has a caring nature and desire to support residents and colleagues in any way that he can. He is our unsung hero.”

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 37

care | norrms’ blog

A new start – or the same old stuff?

Our columnist Norrms McNamara reflects on what it’s like to live with dementia

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hen you think about it, the choice is absolutely yours and yours alone. Regarding care in your workplace or area, you can either decide to put up with the same old stuff you’ve put up with all last year, or you can choose to speak up and say: “Hey that’s not good enough!”

A very wise lady once said to me: “The care you walk past is the care you accept. Please stop walking past.” And never a truer word was spoken.

The year is soon to be 2024, not 1904 or even 1994, but 2024 in the 21st century, so why, oh why, do comedians still make jokes about dementia? They don’t do the same about cancer do they? Funny that, and yet dementia is just as serious as cancer. Why do some of our friends all over the world call it Oldtimers instead of Alzheimer’s and why do people still talk about senile dementia when it doesn’t even exist? All this needs to change and the change can only come from within, from us.

Living with dementia myself, sometimes it’s the small comments that hurt the most, like: “You don't look like you have dementia.” Or “You don't sound like you have dementia.” Always puzzled me that one? I have just come out of hospital after having a serious illness, and while I was in there I was assessed by the OT team to see if I was fit to go home. I asked her to slow down with the questions as I had dementia and she said with a puzzled look on her face: “Well, you present yourself very well.” I replied

38 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Norrms McNamara

that I had Lewy bodies and suffered badly with sun downing and as it was only 9.30am I was quite “with it”; she then asked me: “What’s the difference?”

Shouldn't they know all this?

In care homes, how many wonderful incredible carers know the difference between Alzheimer’s, Lewy bodies, vascular and frontal lobal dementia?

Because if they don’t, they should. But we can’t blame these angels that walk the earth. The blame lies with the owners, trainers, managers of the care homes who don't put the right training in place.

I hear so many times, “we can’t afford it” which is ridiculous. There are so many videos out there on YouTube, including my own under Norman McNamara

‘dementia’ (where you will hear me talk about living with dementia and not some academic using words most of us can’t even pronounce), which are used for training all over the world and as always, are free to do so.

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer and yet it still seems as if it’s just an afterthought and people think there’s a certain unavoidable ending to all those diagnosed with it. Sometimes it feels like people forget about us or write us off. I live with this God-awful disease and all it entails – hallucinations, night terrors, forgetfulness. I purposely put forgetfulness last as another lesson to help people understand it’s not all about that. It’s about losing your life skills, how to dress, how to eat etc and not just forgetting names.

So, what should we all do in 2024, who work in the care/nursing/care management industry? It really is simple – we need to understand the UK s biggest killer even more, we need to question, we need to ask what’s the difference and have a better understanding of this terrible disease, and for goodness sake please don’t use the excuse “we are busy”. We are all busy my friends, we live in a busy world, but we should never ever be too busy to care.

Till next time…

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wellbeing | care

Joy in companionship Gay Vaughan, a care resident living with dementia, has found joy through companionship, with her participation in a scheme to help combat loneliness rekindling her engagement with the outside world

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acilitated through Adopt a Grandparent, an independent charity seeking to build intergenerational relationships across the globe, Gay’s experience underlines the power of human connection – and she hopes it will inspire other older people to sign up to the scheme.

The former shop assistant is a resident at CHD Living’s Surbiton care home and she’s partnered with a dedicated volunteer through the initiative, which aims to forge cross-generational friendships to alleviate loneliness and isolation by matching younger volunteers with older persons who are living in care.

Having undertaken a push in recent weeks to highlight the diverse characters among the almost 100,000 volunteers who’ve signed up to the scheme, Adopt a Grandparent has seen more than 60 new care homes come forward to participate as the organisation has focused on trying to uncover more ‘grandparents’ who are up for adoption.

Gay, who has dementia, offers an example of what care residents who participate in the scheme can expect, having experienced a heartwarming transformation thanks to her relationship with volunteer Jennifer Jackson, who has helped unlock Gay’s remarkable ability to remember her ‘grandchild’. Despite the challenges of living with dementia, the power of their connection speaks to the impact of company and companionship.

Jennifer signed up for the charity following a feeling of “great sadness” after the loss of her grandmother. The sadness, Jenny stated, stemmed both from the grief of losing a grandparent as well as feeling a disconnection from her grandmother’s generation, their experiences, and their life lessons.

Jennifer’s story is similar to many of the charity’s volunteers, who have also joined the initiative following the loss of a grandparent or parent.

Speaking each week, the pair chat about their shared interests, while

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Jennifer tells Gay about her day-to-day activities, Gay in turn talks about her memories and life experiences. Discussing their conversations, Gay said: “There is so much to learn from older generations, their wisdom and life experiences are a real inspiration to me. It also helps draw out what’s important in our lives: our family, friends, and things we enjoy. It highlights the importance of remembering and celebrating those things that make us who we are.”

With the volunteer support presently far exceeding the number of 'grandparents' currently seeking companionship, the charity is currently undertaking a ‘Grandparents Wanted’ campaign to try and balance its books.

Shining a light on prospective volunteers just waiting to be paired, some are well known faces, including Hollywood actor Ruby Rose, and UK media personality, Jess Impiazzi. Sitting alongside them are a doctor, finance director, electrician, nurse, lawyer and more, whose ages stretch from their teens to their fifties – with the group offering just a snapshot of the thousands of potential pairings.

With statistics showing that 1.2 million older people in England are chronically lonely and that 200,000 older people have not had a conversation with friends or family for an entire month, Adopt a Grandparent hopes its recent influx of new care homes will serve as an inspiring example for others – igniting a collective effort to bring companionship to the lives of individuals of all ages. Encouraging both in-person and virtual pairings, the charity has developed a community platform to ensure that pairs are matched in accordance with their hobbies and interests, as well as providing a safe space for virtual calls.

Shaleeza Hasham, founder of Adopt

a Grandparent, gave her thoughts on Gay’s story: “I absolutely love this touching story of Gay and her volunteer 'grandchild.' It beautifully illustrates the incredible power of human connection and showcases the profound impact initiatives like Adopt a Grandparent can have on the lives of individuals, especially those facing unique challenges.”

Shaleeza continued: “The response to our call for volunteers to adopt ‘grandparents’ was absolutely incredible and enormously heartwarming. Now though, we are seeing a shift where we have considerably more younger volunteers than we do grandparents. We’d love to help build more intergenerational friendships – so we’re putting out a call for interested older parties to sign up too.

If you know someone who you think would benefit from the scheme, please put them forward – we’re eager to do all we can to alleviate loneliness no matter where it’s found.”

These relationships, like the one between Gay and her 'grandchild,' prove how companionship can transcend the boundaries of age and provide friendship, emotional support, and a renewed sense of purpose to individuals of all ages.

For more information about Adopt a Grandparent or to sign up to be ‘adopted’ visit www. adoptagrandparent.org. uk/, you can watch a video about the charity’s work at:

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 39

care | manager's spotlight

10 questions with…

Sarah Hearne, locality manager at national charity Ambient Support shares what she loves about working in care would help us all across the sector to bring in even more of those compassionate and resilient team members.

What, in your opinion, makes a great care worker?

Someone who is kind and caring, who goes above and beyond, and wants to take on new challenges and opportunities to make a difference to the lives of the people we support.

What do you do when life all gets a bit too much?

I love being out in the garden and connecting with the outside world. I try to decompress by being mindful about small activities, and being away from screens helps me switch off.

What advice would you give your younger self ?

Be kind to yourself and look after yourself too. It's okay to make mistakes, we learn from them and it’s okay.

Sarah Hearne

Why did you join the social care sector?

My mum was always a caring person.

After I left school she encouraged me to start a part-time role in a nursing home as an evening tea chef. Doing my bit to help on the shift and spending time with residents was so rewarding for me.

Both my sister and I now work in the care sector – caring is in our genes. My mum was so compassionate and kind to everyone around her and it really rubbed off on us both.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love making a difference to the lives of the people we support. Whether that’s in a hands-on, direct way or by supporting, encouraging and guiding my teams on their own journeys. I want to make sure that people are being properly supported at our mental health services so they can lead valued lives in the wider community. I like learning new things that can support 40 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

me in my role and helping others to understand the importance of positive communication and kindness.

Who is your social care hero and why?

The support workers and managers that I work with at Ambient are my social care heroes. They go above and beyond on a daily basis and their resilience and hard work shone even more brightly throughout the pandemic. In my first social care role I worked with a lady called Mary who was so passionate about what she was doing. She guided me throughout my first steps into social care and was so kind to everyone. She’s who I think of as what it means to work in social care.

What is the one thing you would change about social care?

Pay in the social care sector is not reflective of the exceptional work that people do. The sector needs to be able to attract people with the right attitude and passion for care, and better funding

Which three famous people would you have to dinner and why?

Kylie Minogue – my favourite singer.

I’ve followed her from her Neighbours days until now.

David Attenborough. I'd want to hear all about his love of the world and animals. He must have so much knowledge and many inspirational stories about his travels around the world.

Daniel Craig. Because he’s a dreamy Bond man!

What three items would you bring with you on a desert island?

Bottle of Kylie Prosecco, swimming goggles and flippers – so I can view the amazing sea life the ocean has to offer.

Plus, a survival book.

What is your secret talent?

I’m a level 2 trained British Sign Language communicator. I might be a bit rusty now, but I’d love to do some refresher sessions.

CARING-TIMES.CO.UK

care for tomorrow | care

Transformational technology Care England, chief executive Professor Martin Green highlights some of the tech innovations that will improve social care in the years ahead

T

he care sector has undergone many changes over the past 20 years, but it’s nothing to what we are about to experience in the future. The next big thing for the care sector is likely to be integrating technology and artificial intelligence to enhance and improve care services.

Here are a few potential developments.

Remote patient monitoring is already beginning to have an essential role in care, but with the advancement of wearable devices and IoT (Internet of Things) technology, remote monitoring will become more prevalent. This will allow social care and healthcare professionals to monitor patients' vital signs, medication adherence, and overall health remotely, reducing the need for frequent hospital visits.

AI-powered diagnostics will transform health and care services. AI algorithms can analyse vast amounts of medical data and assist in diagnosing diseases and conditions accurately.

This technology can help healthcare providers make faster and more accurate diagnoses, leading to better treatment and improved outcomes for

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people who use care.

Robotics and automation will be another game-changer in the coming years. Robots can assist in various care tasks, such as lifting patients, providing companionship, and even performing simple medical procedures. Automation can also streamline administrative tasks, freeing healthcare professionals to focus more on direct care.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) will also play an important part in the future. VR and AR technologies can create immersive and interactive experiences for people, especially those with limited mobility or cognitive impairments. These technologies can help reduce feelings of isolation, provide mental stimulation, and aid rehabilitation.

Personalised care is an objective we have been aspiring to for many years in the care sector. In the coming years, advances in genomics and precision medicine will enable healthcare providers to tailor treatments and care plans to individual patients based on their genetic makeup and specific health needs. This approach can

Professor Martin Green

lead to more effective and targeted interventions.

It's important to note that while these technologies hold great potential, the human touch and compassionate care will always remain essential in the care sector. The integration of technology should aim to enhance and support the work of healthcare professionals rather than replace them.

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 41

care | care for tomorrow

Life-changing freedom To mark Disability History Month –16 November to 16 December – Digitising Social Care discusses how access to the internet and digital technology is helping disabled people by providing greater autonomy, visibility and choice

W

e spoke to Melody, a disabled woman in her twenties, who uses a power chair and relies on carers for support. She shared some insights into how digital technology has enabled her to have agency over her life as well as some of the opportunities it’s opened up for her.

She said: “Being disabled with fluctuating energy levels and an immune system that doesn’t always like to fight the right things, I really struggled with feelings of isolation during the height of the pandemic. I started to use Twitch, a live-streaming platform for video gamers. It supports building communities around a shared and streamable interest. It really helped me connect with like-minded people while

I was stuck inside. Being able to play video games with friends online and chat to them continues to help me feel connected and part of a community.

“The success of my Twitch channel gave me a platform to launch my own podcast series. From that I’ve now started to build a career as a disability spokesperson and inclusion consultant.

“Not only has having access to different technologies via my smartphone and smart speaker enabled me to be more connected, it’s also allowed me to be independent. I no longer have to rely on a physical person to do simple tasks for me. I can now do things that other people take for granted, like turning on my own bedside lamp by using a smart plug. I can control

devices like my fan at 3am without feeling guilty waking up the whole house by calling someone.

“Thanks to automatic door openers I can access my house and garden on my own, as well as having the ability to close my bedroom door for privacy whenever I want. I recently had smart light bulbs fitted and they’ve been lifechanging. I can’t explain the joy I felt when I came home at night, opened the door myself and actually turned on the lights without having to ask for help; I felt like a ‘real functioning adult’. Next on my personal wish list is to invest in smart openers for the curtains in my bedroom.”

Digital technology is transforming adult social care and we are here to help providers make the most of it.

Earlier this year we launched our adult social care technology fund which supports the evaluation and scaling of care technologies. Successful applications for funding need to show how the care technology solution they propose will help to support one or more of our priorities: increasing the quality and safety of care, reducing hospital admissions and supporting people’s independence.

We continue to offer funding to help providers move away from paper-based care planning and reap the benefits of digital social care record solutions. More than 60% of providers have already made that switch. And we’re helping care professionals gain in digital confidence through our digital skills support. This includes a digital skills framework to help providers ensure that their teams have the right training to make the most of any new technology they’ve invested in.

Find all the information you need on the funding and support available to help providers make the most of digital technology at: digitisingsocialcare.co.uk Find out more about Melody’s work at: thecaringllama.com

42 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

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activities news | care

Creative Caring As always carers have been demonstrating their creativity through fun and innovative events

Sage advice The team at Elmfield Care’s Flowers Manor care home in Chippenham asked residents to share advice for the younger generation. They came up with a wide range of recommendations, including “eat lots of ice cream”, “just keep going my friend”, “live your life to the full” and “belt up and get on with it”.

Sweet charity Residents, staff and friends at seven Colten Care homes collected more than 300 Christmas gifts for less fortunate children in Hampshire. Voluntary group Chocolate Elf distributed the selection boxes and advent calendars through partners including children’s services, respite homes and refuges.

Belmore Lodge resident Linda Fudge said: “There are so many children in need and, after all, they didn’t ask to be put in that position.”

Light fantastic Residents at New Forest care home Woodpeckers welcomed around 150 guests for an outdoor festival of light, raising more than £300 for a young carers’ charity. The dazzling spectacle took place at dusk in the Colten Care home’s gardens. It featured colourful lanterns, stars, hanging displays, light trails, and a giant snail figure with a shell made of coloured jam jars.

Back to work Former Asda supervisor, 84-year-old Rachel Glover from Ideal Carehomes’ Littleton Lodge, took a trip down memory lane when she got back behind the till. After telling staff about her fond memories from work, the team got in touch with Asda in Cannock to arrange a VIP visit. After helping shoppers, Rachel was thanked by the team at Asda with a bouquet of flowers, and tea and cake in the café.

Soothing sounds Okeley Care Home’s activity team is committed to introducing residents to new experiences, so when staff discovered sound bowl therapy they were intrigued. Local practitioner Jill brought crystal and metal bowls, which gave off a range of soothing sounds.

Some residents at the Excelcare home

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decided to meditate with their eyes shut, while others enjoyed watching Jill create the sounds they were hearing.

Easy rider Rowan Lodge resident Joy was awarded the National Activity Providers Association’s Grow Old Disgracefully Award after celebrating her 100th birthday on a Harley Davidson. Staff at the Forest Care home arranged for the Basingstoke-based Fukarwe motorcycle club to ride Joy around the local area, to her delight.

Who dares wins SAS: Who Dares Wins TV star and military hero Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham visited Hampton Grange Nursing Home in Hereford to take part in a Remembrance Day Service. The Rotherwood Healthcare home created a display of flowing poppies and last year unveiled a statue by the entrance portraying Unknown Woman in War. Billy discussed his new TV programme and upcoming UK tour with residents.

Bike bonanza Barchester’s Upton Bay care home hosted a classic bike show enjoyed by staff, residents and the local community. Fifty riders showcased a range of bikes including old Triumphs, >

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 43

care | activities news

> pre-war bikes, American trikes, a 1975 Kawasaki ZIB and HarleyDavidsons. The hospitality team served hot dogs with onions and relish and steaming hot cider.

Pink power Chartwell House by Boutique Care Homes raised £336 for charity Breast Cancer Now by holding a Wear it Pink awareness day. Residents and team members created hand-printed T-shirts, while attendees enjoyed pink milkshakes and pink-frosted cupcakes, taking part in activities including a treasure hunt and a sweepstake.

Green fingers Deerswood Lodge care home in Crawley hosted a spring bulb planting event as part of a rewilding project.

The Shaw Healthcare home invited the mayor of Crawley, Jilly Hart, as well as family and friends to join the residents and staff to plant more than 400 bulbs.

When complete the outside space will include a wildflower meadow, prairie border, vegetable patch, sensory trail and a mini orchard.

Beautiful people Banbury Community Support Service has opened a beauty room codesigned by the adults that attend the centre to help support their wellbeing.

44 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Equipment was donated from local businesses, and funding came from a local charity. Jennifer Farrell, Banbury CSS manager, said: “We support many people living with dementia and having a pamper treatment allows them to be calm, relaxed and enjoy talking about the ‘good old times’.”

to support administrator David Austin’s participation in a 31-mile ‘ultramarathon’. Residents and colleagues took part in sponsored activities including ‘moving and grooving’ in the garden, picking up fallen leaves, chair yoga, chair football, balloon tennis and even donning tutus to learn basic ballet steps. David and the residents raised nearly £500 for charity Little Lives.

Bake a cake TLC Care hosted a Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off Competition across its nine homes. Team members showcased their culinary talents in a competition that celebrated their creativity and raised funds for Cancer Research UK. Residents and team members acted as judges for the first round of the competition, with champions from each home going forward to the grand final.

High roller Bryan Wickers, a resident at Austenwood Care Home, was surprised with a chauffeured drive around Windsor in a Rolls-Royce as part of the home’s Magic Moments scheme. The chauffeur for the day was none other than Austenwood owner Renos Sideras, who took his role seriously, dressing up in a full suit. Bryan, aged 89, loves high-end cars and used to own a Rolls-Royce himself.

Rhyme time To celebrate Nursery Rhyme Week, residents of Wren Hall Nursing Home in Nottinghamshire wrote a rhyme for the children at Little Wrens Nursery, which shares a garden with the home.

Three children were invited to the lounge to hear the finished rhyme, which included the lines "In Wren Hall, elders reside, Little Wrens, joy by their side.”

Bowled over Residents from Rivendell View care home have been crowned champions of an Ideal Carehomes inter-care home bowls competition. Going head-tohead with Edwalton Manor Care Home, Coppice Lodge, Willowbrook and Hall Park, the Rivendell View residents’ bowls team scooped up first place, beating the competition by one point. After the competition, players from across all five homes came together for a friendly game of dominoes.

In the groove Residents at Colten Care’s The Aldbury home in Dorset got active

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dementia care | care

Care home troubleshooter Hallmark Care Homes’ researcher in residence Dr Isabelle Latham shares the findings of research projects looking into how to tackle three familiar care home challenges Social isolation risk: Bucklesham Grange Shortly after her appointment in January last year, Dr Isabelle Latham was approached by staff at Bucklesham Grange care home in Ipswich, which wanted to gather evidence about the effectiveness of its Thomas Tool, created by lifestyles team leader Kirsty Thomas.

The tool identifies residents at risk of social isolation, assesses their level of risk and then considers how to support each individual through activity in a way that’s right for them.

“They knew the tool was working anecdotally, but they wanted to get some empirical evidence to prove that,” Latham says.

The researcher and her team measured data from team members, residents and

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families about social isolation issues and then took the same measurements three months after relaunching the tool.

“The findings were really positive,” Latham explains. “We found the number of engagements for each resident increased threefold.”

Most notably, the team found an increase in engagement not just from the lifestyle team but also from everyone in the home, including carers, heads of engagement and administrators.

“It showed the tool helped to get the whole home on board with those individuals,” Latham says. “When someone is at high risk of social isolation the lifestyle team can’t deal with that by themselves, there needs to be a whole home approach.”

Case studies from the project revealed

Dr Isabelle Latham

that reducing social isolation can lead to weight gain and better quality of >

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 45

care | dementia care

Admiral Court HARP team

> life. There was also an increase in job satisfaction in participating team members who also became more confident in engaging with residents and understanding the tool. Feedback was also positive from family members about lifestyle provision and the support provided by staff interacting with their relatives living with dementia.

Protecting privacy: Admiral Court For Latham’s second project, she was approached by staff at Admiral Court in Southend-on-Sea who had identified issues in their home around protecting the privacy of residents.

“Particularly when people live with dementia they don’t always know a room isn’t their bedroom or a blanket isn’t their blanket,” Latham explains. “It’s a fine balancing act to balance the need for freedom with the need for privacy and can lead to residents and families becoming upset.”

Admiral Court wanted to explore different ways of better protecting people’s privacy in this context.

“We asked everyone in the home for their thoughts and experiences in order to develop some steps in the home to improve practice,” says Latham.

A workshop with team members identified some grey areas. In addition, surveys were carried out with family members and residents using ‘talking mats’ as well as a creative focus group, which created some artwork illustrating the topic.

“Unsurprisingly this identified that privacy was a very important issue for residents, but it also unearthed their different ideas about what was important to them,” Latham notes.

While some residents wanted to have a key to their bedroom, this created

46 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

Ballad team

anxiety for others. Other residents asked for more support from team members on keeping their door closed, while others wanted to keep their door open.

“It showed there was no easy answer to the problem,” says Latham.

Following the findings, the research team created a series of steps and resources, including a mini training session or reflective learning session for team members so that all team members were acting consistently, An advice leaflet about privacy was also produced for residents and families so that they know what their rights are and what their expectations are and what to do if they are worried to raise awareness.

Care planning processes have also been revised to ensure that individuals’ privacy needs are recorded from the beginning.

“We also plan to keep an eye on technological solutions to the problem as they develop in the long term,” Latham adds, citing innovations such as key fobs and facial recognition.

Risk enablement: Anya Court In the last of the first three projects, Anya Court in Rugby had identified the need to improve risk enablement practice to make sure all residents were given the opportunity to make decisions for themselves and do things that are life affirming.

“Again, there was no magical solution or an existing intervention,” Latham notes. “So we decided to explore with families, residents and teams their thoughts, feelings and experience around the issue so that we could encapsulate good practice and feed it back to the team as an intervention.”

The research highlighted that residents were more concerned about everyday risk such as falls rather than the higher-level risks involved in the more adventurous

outdoor activities that were sometimes more the focus of team members.

“That was an interesting learning for the home to make sure they are reassuring and addressing those risks as well as some of the bigger issues,” Latham observes. “Overall the residents fed back that they felt very secure and felt that any issues around risk were dealt with very quickly.”

The research also highlighted the different specialist skills within each team with those working with people with dementia best at promoting capacity, and the lifestyles team having the best skills in working with people around social isolation and isolation.

One action as a result of the research was to ensure that people’s skills were shared and do not remain within team silos. The research team also recommended further training and reflective exercise so that they keep revisiting the issue. It was also decided to carry out regular surveys with family members to monitor their awareness of residents’ rights.

Next steps Having completed her first three projects, Latham says she is working with Hallmark at ways to store and share her findings so that team members have a ready-made solution. She is also already starting to think about her next round of projects.

“We will start a new round of projects in January and I have already got people knocking on my door saying they have things they want to research,” Latham says. “Not every home is in the right place to do research, but to say we can help each other with something is really beneficial. It’s been a privilege to see how excited people are to work on these projects.”

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support staff | care

Housekeeper of the month

In association with

The housekeeper plays an important role in maintaining the wellbeing of residents and staff. Josh Morrissey, housekeeping supervisor at Sanctuary Care’s Furzehatt Residential and Nursing Care Home shares how he goes the extra mile Tell us a bit about your background – how did you get into care housekeeping?

I joined Sanctuary Care in 2016, where I worked in care on night shifts at Furzehatt Residential and Nursing Care Home in Plymouth. From my very first shift, I was welcomed with open arms into the Furzehatt family, where we all work together to enrich the lives of residents.

My general tasks included supporting residents getting ready for bed, playing games such as dominoes and providing night-time drinks and snacks. This is always a great time to sit, chat and get to know the residents even more – often we would talk about their life histories or simply about their day.

Unfortunately, my dad was diagnosed with cancer last year and I needed to find a different role that enabled me to work during the day to help with his care. After speaking to my manager, I was given the opportunity to apply for a housekeeping supervisor position in the same home, where I could transfer my skills to a different role and still be part of the Furzehatt family.

How do you go about meeting the needs of residents?

At Sanctuary Care we are committed to enriching the lives of our residents and every colleague has a role to play in giving them the highest quality of personalised care and support – and this is something I am passionate about.

The main responsibilities of my role include ensuring the home remains clean, welcoming, and safe so residents have a comfortable environment to live in.

I recently worked with a few residents and colleagues to transform the gardens in the home. This was an opportunity for residents to carry out activities they had done earlier in their lives, helping to evoke fond memories while creating a truly wonderful and tranquil outdoor space to enjoy.

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What does a typical day look like?

It might sound clichéd, but no one day is the same in the home. My main responsibilities are ensuring the home is clean and safe for residents, including good hygiene and infection control. This gives Josh Morrissey residents a welcoming environment to live and spend their time give our residents the highest quality of in, providing a home-from-home care and support. experience.

As well as the general housekeeping What is special about the care home tasks, I take part in activities with you work for? residents and colleagues and spend time Furzehatt is not just a care home, we’re speaking with and getting to know our one big family. So many people think residents. I’ve heard so many wonderful life ends when they move into a care stories from residents, and I use these home, but at Sanctuary Care it’s just the with colleagues to ensure their care and beginning. support is truly personalised to their Our approach to care at Furzehatt, individual needs. and across all our homes, is to ensure residents have six senses met which What is the most challenging part of will support them to feel fulfilled your job? and content: a sense of achievement, I don’t see my role as challenging belonging, continuity, purpose, security because I love working at Furzehatt and and significance. being part of a team that truly enriches But it’s not just residents. I’m supported the lives of our amazing residents. But in my role to achieve the six senses too.

I’d say the least favourite part of my role is the budgeting.

What skills and talents do you need to be a great housekeeper?

Is there anything that would surprise Taking pride in your work and people about your job? delivering the highest quality care When people see ‘housekeeper’, they and support to residents. If you love think the role is just about general being part of a caring family and cleaning, changing the beds, hoovering, want to support elderly residents, a the things you would do at home. But housekeeping role in a care home could there’s so much more to the role than be just for you. that.

It’s about ensuring the home is safe What one piece of advice would you and secure for residents, spending time give to other housekeepers with them, getting involved in activities Have a laugh with your colleagues and and working with colleagues to enrich residents and take pride in being part of residents’ lives. We’re one big team at a team.

Furzehatt and all support each other to

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 47

care | business & property Fife Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Turnkey Care Development Dunfermline 68 Manpreeht Johal Morrison Community Care, Paul Sokhi £1,890,000 Christie & Co Martin Daw – 07764 241 280

Hampshire Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Regency Nursing Home Portsmouth Nursing 30 R&D Care Mr and Mrs P Bungaroo Undisclosed Christie & Co Charles Phillips – 07764 241346

Inverness-shire Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Cradlehall Nursing Home Inverness.

50 St Philips Care, Gary Hartland HC-One £1,400,000 Christie & Co Martin Daw – 07764 241 280

Somerset Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

The Firs Taunton Nursing 40 Halcyon Care Care West Country £1,295,000 Christie & Co Simon Harvey – 07764 241 310

West Sussex Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Chalcraft Hall Bognor Regis 20 Chalcraft Hall Undisclosed Undisclosed Christie & Co Charles Phillips – 07764 241346

IF YOU’RE THINKING OF SELLING YOUR CARE BUSINESS, SPEAK TO THE EXPERTS: Contact our award-winning team on: 0207 448 8826 | care@christie.com 48 | DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024

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business & property | care West Sussex Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Normanton Lodge Bognor Regis 26 Normanton Lodge Care Dr and Mrs Nathan Undisclosed Christie & Co Charles Phillips – 07764 241346

Wiltshire Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Moormead Nursing Home Swindon Nursing 20 Undisclosed Undisclosed Undisclosed Christie & Co Oliver McCarthy – 07702 809 198

Warwickshire Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Platinum Nursing Home Coventry 72 Undisclosed Platinum Nursing Care Undisclosed Walton Healthcare Property Consultants Paul Burford – 07808 764 748

West Yorkshire Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

Manorcroft and Linson Court Care Homes Dewsbury and Batley 80 Constantia Healthcare Undisclosed Undisclosed Walton Healthcare Property Consultants Paul Burford – 07808 764 748

West Midlands Name of property sold: Location: Registration: Purchaser: Seller: Price: Business transfer agent: Contact person:

ww w.wa lto n h p c.co m

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Sherbourne Grange Birmingham 16 learning disability, residential Undisclosed Undisclosed Undisclosed NGA Care Nick Greaves, 07943 107 887

en g l a n d & wa l e s : Paul Burford paul.burford@waltonhpc.com 01926 760 116 | 07808 764 748

S COT l a n d : Gary Walton gary.walton@waltonhpc.com 0141 279 1111 | 07554 009 244

DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | 49

Credit: LNT Care Developments

OUT N O W

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FOR SALE

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Care Home, East of Scotland

Chilterns Manor (Closed care home), Buckinghamshire

Offers Invited

Freehold £2,800,000 • Planning to extend to 42 Bedrooms • Potential for a high-end boutique care home 2470405 T: 07736 615 870

• Registered for 30 • Significant scope for planning

Confidential Property

5274722 T: 07701 315 068

Care Home, North of Scotland Offers Invited • Registered for 32 • Opportunity to increase private clients

Confidential Property

5274620 T: 07701 315 068

Group of two care homes, Lincolnshire

Manor House, Cornwall

Freehold £6,000,000

Freehold £995,000

• 88 Bedrooms, 87 of which are ensuite rooms

• Detached care home registered for 16

• CQC rated ‘Good’, EBITDAM c.£780,000

Confidential Property

5771018 T: 07703 716 156

• 14 single bedrooms, 1 twin room 3270297 T: 07764 241 310

Tudor Cottage, Devon Freehold £635,000 • Attractive care home • Registered for 19 3270257 Penhellis House, Cornwall

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Freehold £3,295,000 • Grade II listed Nursing Home • Registered for 26 3270373 T: 07764 241 310

Elizabeth House (Closed care home), Gloucester Freehold £1,400,000 • 24 bedrooms over four floors • City Centre location 3470741 T: 07702 809 198

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