LINE MANAGERS:
Please ensure a copy of this newsletter is either downloaded, printed, displayed or shared with your teams.
Hello. It’s been a busy, busy summer! I hope that you have all had a good one and managed to have a break from work at some point. We are fast approaching the end of the calendar year and, given how busy we have all been, it seems like a good time to pause to celebrate our collective achievements.
Whether you have been at the Iris Care Group for years, or are new, I hope this edition will keep you informed, connected and proud of the work that we are doing together. Please do read on for this month’s important organisational updates.
Iris Care Group Values
Our vision is to provide excellent services which promote the independence of the people and patients that we support and to assist them to become active and valued members of their local communities. We do this by upholding the highest standards of quality, care and practice.
Please always bear in mind our collective Values, ensuring that the way you speak, your actions and your approach to work is delivered in a way which upholds these Values:
Annual Employee Survey
We continually strive to ensure that all staff have a voice and that all voices are heard. For the past two years, we have conducted a survey which we ask all staff to complete.
This survey is a vital opportunity for you to share your thoughts and experiences about working at the Iris Care Group – what is working well, where we can improve and how we can continue to grow together.
Your feedback will play a key role in shaping our workplace culture, policies and priorities. This is a completely confidential exercise and is easy to complete. Please watch out for your link to the survey which will be sent in the middle of October.
Employee Representatives
I am very pleased to confirm that, following a recent request, a number of people from all areas of the business have been put forward to train as Employee Representatives. This role has been created to strengthen communication and collaboration between employees and management.
The Employee Representative will act as a key point of contact for staff, collecting feedback, raising concerns and positively contributing to discussions aimed at improving our workplace environment and culture. The newly appointed Employee Representatives are being trained ahead of undertaking the full role. I will provide you with the names of the Representatives within your areas in our next newsletter.
Annual employee awards and nominations
We are very pleased to confirm that our third Annual Employee Awards evening is being held on 12 December. We use this event to recognise and reward employees who have gone above and beyond their job role across the year. th
We will have 15 categories this year, (e.g. Nurse of the Year, Team of the Year, Support Worker of the Year), and I would strongly urge you to pause and reflect, identifying colleagues who you feel meet this criteria.
The nomination process, will open next week and we welcome as many nominations as possible. Please do watch this space for further updates!
Employee Assistance Programme
I’d like to remind everybody that you have access to the organisation’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which is designed to provide free, confidential, expert advice to employees across a broad range of subject areas. Your EAP offers you access to professional counselling, legal and financial advice and support for matters such as stress, anxiety, relationship problems and substance misuse, amongst other things.
We believe that the EAP plays a crucial role in today’s fast-paced working environment as it is aimed at promoting a healthy workplace culture, reducing stigma around mental health and assisting teams of staff to maintain health work-life balances. You can access free, confidential advice, 24 hours a day by calling 0800 028 0199
Employee Timekeeping Protocol
This is a reminder, now that we have Softworks live across all sites, to ensure that all of your working hours are accurately recorded by clocking in and out at the start and end of each shift. You also need to book all leave using the Softworks system and should not take leave until your request has been approved. This will ensure that everybody is paid correctly and promptly.
If you haven’t already, please log in to https://iriscaregroup.kallidus-suite.com/learn to read the Employee Timekeeping Protocol and complete the training in the ‘My Courses’ section.
Ethics and Safeguarding
This month we wanted to highlight the role of our Ethics and Safeguarding Lead, Richard Andrews. Richard chairs the Iris Care Group Ethics and Safeguarding panel.
This group has been in place for many years and keeps watch on all of our safeguarding contacts across the group, liaising with senior teams on thematic safeguarding issues. It is, therefore, a really important part of keeping the people we support safe.
It’s also important for everyone to be aware of the Iris pathway for Ethics and Safeguarding referral. This process is designed to make sure that our MDTs have access to advice on complex ethical and safeguarding issues. Please make yourselves familiar with the process for activating a referral to the ethics group. If you’re unsure, please ask your manager.
We will also be updating the terms of reference for this group over the next month so please support this process by adding your comments and feedback via your local management team.
Some Clinical Team updates
Welcome to Dr Maya Harding who has taken up post at Beechwood College.
Thanks to Matt Wilcock who has been with us this year as the first Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Healthtech placement and has successfully passed his doctorate in Clinical Psychology thesis. Matt has tirelessly worked to structure all our outcome data to improve our ability to report on the great outcomes of our services.
Congratulations to Peter Davies who, after five years’ work, has successfully passed his Forensic Psychology training and received HCPC registration as a Forensic Psychologist.
Pete has worked for the company for 15 years and we are so proud and pleased to see this achievement. Congratulations Pete!
Thanks to the Ty Brynteg staff team who have developed their own monthly process for championing the people they support who have achieved their Building Better Lives goals, whilst co-producing Building Better Lives books for each client in the home. Great teamwork, as always.
Sarah Leitch from the Restraint Reduction Network visited us to do a CPD talk on the importance of the 6 core strategies of restraint reduction.
Adam Pitt, Head of Learning & Development, will be meeting with her to talk further about how we can collaborate as we move forward with our organisational development plans.
Thanks to the Pinetree team for working really hard on the positive feedback component of ‘See it, Say it, Send it’.
They have developed their own positive feedback forms to help them increase how often they thank team members for everyday good practice, as this is the most important part of keeping everyone safe.
Some updates from our Hospital teams
The award ceremonies in all 3 hospitals were a huge success and it was amazing to see individuals within the service receive their awards recognising their hard work and dedication.
We have had a number of individuals within Heatherwood Court and St Peter’s Hospital who have been shortlisted as finalists in the Neurological and Complex Care Awards:
Marcus Allen (HWC): Exceptional Training and Development Program
Amy Dymond (SPH): Manager of the Year
MDT (SPH): Best Multidisciplinary Team
They will be attending the award ceremony in London on 28th October. We wish them all the very best of luck!
Some updates from ALP, OCS, and Beechwood College
ALP Supported Living services
We extend a very warm welcome to Dave Chinnick – Regional Manager for ALP Supported Living services in South Wales. Dave commenced on 30th June and will be the lead for the 4 supported living services within ALP. Welcome to the Team Dave.
Ocean Community Services
Ty Pentyrch opened in July. Thanks to Nathan and his superb team for all of their hard work and commitment in the setting up of this new service.
Kye Nicholas has moved from Riverdale to take up post as Manager of Witla Court. Congratulations Kye and good luck in your new role.
Kat Pantry is the new Manager of Riverdale after being promoted from her role as Assistant Manager at Beech House. Wishing you every success in your new role.
Molly Sheehan has been successful as Assistant Manager at Beech House after being promoted from her Senior Support Worker role there. Good luck in your new role, Molly.
On 1st August we held the Annual End of Year Awards day. This was a special occasion where we celebrated the achievements of the students across the academic year and, for the leavers, their whole journey.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff across College for their contribution to the day. The Education team surpassed themselves to make this year so special.
Everyone donned their cowboy hats and had the best time. It was great to see all the teams come together and showcase the amazing team work across education, clinical, residential teams. The day was full of pride and fun. Thank you Team Beechwood College!
BWC were delighted to recently welcome five teachers from Lesotho, who were visiting Wales as part of an exchange programme supported by Dolyn Cymru. Their day at the college was rich with experiences — from engaging in autism awareness training to offering support within the classroom, and much more.
The whole staff team got involved, ensuring our guests felt both supported and inspired. A special highlight was the warm hospitality shown by Fatima, who prepared a delicious home-cooked meal that brought everyone together. It was truly a fantastic day of cultural exchange, professional learning, and collaboration — a reminder of how much we can achieve when we share knowledge, skills, and experiences across borders.
New starters - August
Jake Povah - Learning Support Assistant, Beechwood College
Danielle Watkins - Learning Support Assistant, Beechwood College
Rhiannon Hurton - Learning Support Assistant, Beechwood College
Ignatious Kureva - Support Worker, Hayburn Flats
Toyin Bamimore - Support Worker, Quarrydene
George Howson - Occupational Therapist, St Peter’s Hospital
Jacob Kagi - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Ibrahim Ali - Senior Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Lisa Haskayne - Manager, The Grange
Charles Onyia - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Ann Mariya Sabu - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Megan Bonetto - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Megan Lindsay - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
Emmanuel Oke - Support Worker, Ty Pentyrch
We wish you all a long and successful career with the Iris Care Group!
Yvonne Murray People Director
communications@iriscaregroup.co.uk
As always, please do forward ideas, suggestions and feedback communications@iriscaregroup.co.uk - this is your comms update - we’d love to hear from you!