The Carer Digital - Issue #94

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The Carer Digital

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Issue 94

Care Levy “Won’t Save Battling Providers” Campaigners Warn

People working in adult social care in England will benefit from at least £500 million from the Health and Social Care Levy, however, providers have expressed concerns that the fund to aid health and social care won’t come soon enough to save some struggling providers.

The Health and Social Care Levy comes into force today (April 6) funded by an extra 1.25p in the pound in National Insurance Contributions paid by bosses and employees across the UK. The government has earmarked £500 million of

the levy to tackle the care workforce crisis by boosting staff recruitment, retention, training and wellbeing.

In total the levy will generate a record £36 billion over the next 3 years, which will be invested in the health and social care system to ensure it has the longterm resource it needs while working to reduce patient waiting times and speed up diagnoses, including to clear the COVID-19 backlog in the NHS.

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PAGE 2 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT Welcome to the latest edition of The Carer Digital!

One of the most contentious issues facing the economy/country in recent years has always been “how do we pay for adult social care?”

Adult social care funding has been a topic of successive government reports, published papers and investigations for over ten years, and has invariably always been kicked into the long grass by consecutive governments.

Our economy is now facing a “perfect storm”. There is less money and fewer people in the profession while the sector has always suffered a recruitment problem the government’s mandatory vaccine policy drove thousands of experienced and dedicated staff out of the sector.

Furthermore, increasingly more people are needing care as they age. I remember one of our legal contributors several months ago making the point that “how we pay for care” will be one of them most significant financial decisions a person could make. However, families often have to make a quick and difficult decision to place a loved one in care, taking into account many financial considerations.

Over the years we have reported and published many articles/opinions from industry organisations and observers surrounding future funding for adult social care.

We mentioned several months ago that Germany introduced its current social (or ‘long-term’) care system in 1995 in response to the challenges of ageing and rising costs of care. The system was developed at a time of significant economic and political upheaval in the wake of reunification. In simple terms it is a collective mandatory national funding mechanism in the form of social insurance which ultimately spreads the risk across wider society protecting individuals from often catastrophic (but not all) costs.

Everyone pays in a fixed proportion of their income and everyone continues to pay in beyond retirement. Everyone is entitled to the same benefits on becoming eligible, regardless of age, postcode, means, diagnosis or personal circumstances.

Seems fair to me! I note what Health Secretary Savid Javid said earlier today: “When we spend money on public services, whether it’s NHS or anything else, for that matter, the money can only come from two sources. You raise it directly for people today, that’s through taxes, or you borrow it, which essentially you are asking the next generation to pay for it” Unpalatable though today’s increase is (is there ever a right time?) something had to be done. Adult social care has to be funded somehow, and today is a start!

It’s always good to end on a positive note and another story which took my eye (see page 6) was the England Vs Switzerland match earlier this month which saw the England football team wear nameless shirts in the first ever Alzheimer’s Society International match to raise awareness of dementia.

As part of The Football Association’s (FA) partnership with Alzheimer’s Research to support players and fans affected by dementia, the nation watched on as the squad returned to the pitch after half time with the names missing from their shirts, driving

Editor

Peter Adams

home the idea that football should be unforgettable.

Regular readers (I hope you are out there) will know that dementia/Alzheimer’s is an issue close to my heart.

My own mother suffered terribly in the late 80s, dying in the early 90s, at a time when the condition was relatively unknown to the wider public.

At the time I was living 400 miles away and I was alerted by neighbours of my mother’s (who lived on her own ) increasingly erratic behaviour.

To cut a long story short, my mum spent her remaining years in a wonderful care home in Liverpool, very near to where she had lived for 40 years, and where family and friends could visit on a regular basis.

Since then I have been a keen and vociferous supporter of efforts to raise awareness and funds.

So wonderful to see such high profile stars getting involved.

Concerns about trauma and cognitive issues in contact sports is growing. In my younger days I boxed (hard to believe I know) which has its issues.

According to a study, carried out by Cardiff University, the research team found that men who had boxed in their youth were twice as likely to have Alzheimer's-like impairment as those who had not boxed.

Earlier this week the family of a former rugby player warned of the risk of dementia related to multiple small head injuries, when a member of the family developed dementia in his 50s and died aged 71.

I am old enough to remember the great West Bromwich Albion and England centre forward Jeff Astle who scored over 200 goals and according to statistics half of those with his head.

Unfortunately Jeff died of a very severe form of dementia aged only 59.

There are now 900,000 people living with dementia, and the England team supporting the charity, along with “Three Lions” composer David Baddiel, who is an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society charity, I am confident awareness will be raised even higher, which ultimately will have an enormous impact on funds raised and research.

Once again we are delighted to have received more heartwarming and uplifting stories from residential and nursing care settings around the country so please do keep them coming. Oh and one more thing - we have launched our latest “Unsung Hero Award”.

Every home has one (probably more) that dedicated worker from any department who goes above and beyond, can sometimes go unnoticed, and deserves a reward! A small gesture on our part but it has been well received so please get nominating! See pages 13 and 21 for details.

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THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 3

Care Levy “Won’t Save Battling Providers” Campaigners Warn (CONTINUED FROM FRONT COVER) Half a billion from the £5.4 billion dedicated to adult social care from the levy forms a package of support for the social care workforce as part of the adult social care reform white paper, People at the Heart of Care.

The funding will attract new staff into the sector and support those already in it by providing significant investment in individual learning and development and supporting staff mental health and wellbeing.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: “We must be there for our NHS in the same way that it is there for us.

Covid led to the longest waiting lists we’ve ever seen, so we will deliver millions more scans, checks and operations in the biggest catch-up programme in the NHS’ history.”

“We know this won’t be a quick fix, and we know that we can’t fix waiting lists without fixing social care.

Our reforms will end the cruel lottery of spiralling and unpredictable care costs once and for all and bring the NHS and social care closer together. The Levy is the necessary, fair and responsible next step, providing our health and care system with the long term funding it needs as we recover from the pandemic.”

Minister of State for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan said: “I am incredibly proud of all the social care staff who have worked so hard, particularly during the pandemic.”

“As we recover from COVID-19, we must look to the future and to reform – this £500 million package of support will boost workforce recruitment, allow staff to progress in their careers in the sector and very importantly, ensure staff wellbeing is better supported.”

“The type of genuinely transformational change cannot be accomplished overnight. We know staff will need continued support, but we hope this package will level up opportunities for current and future social care staff.”

Backed by the levy, 5 local authorities in England have already been announced to implement a new and improved adult social care charging reform system which caps the cost of care.

To ensure a smooth transition from the current charging system the 5 local authorities – Wolverhampton, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Newham, North Yorkshire – will put the charging reform plans in place in January 2023 ahead of a national rollout in October next year. The trailblazing areas were selected to ensure a cross section of communities are represented and so any insight, evidence and lessons learned from this initiative will be useful to providers and authorities in all parts of England.

END “UNLIMITED & UNPREDICTABLE CARE COSTS” The levy will initially be based on National Insurance contributions and from 2023 will be legislatively separate, and, the government says will end unlimited and unpredictable care costs. Currently, anyone with assets over £23,250 pays their care costs in full. From October 2023, anyone with assets under £20,000 will have their care costs fully covered by the state.

The cost of care is capped at £86,000 and raises the point at which people meet the full cost of their care from £23,350 to £100,000 – this is nearly four times higher than the current system.

Every individual will contribute according to their means. Those who earn more pay more, with the high-

est 15% of people paying over half the revenues.

FUNDING “WON’T GET THROUGH QUICKLY ENOUGH” Care provider organisation The Independent Care Group (ICG) has today warned that social care’s share of that funding won’t get through quickly enough to save some providers.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Reports suggest social care won’t see much of this new fund for some years when many providers need it right now.

“A lack of investment, the crippling cost of living rises, the pandemic and the slow recovery of care take-up and occupancy levels are combining to create a perfect storm and some care and nursing homes and homecare providers will not survive it. Then the vital role social care and its staff perform, alongside NHS care, will be under severe threat.

“We cannot have a strong and viable NHS system without a strong and viable social care sector, and at the moment that isn’t being supported.”

Reports suggest that just £5.4bn of the fund will go to social care over the next three years, with much of that taken up by implementing a fair cost of care initiative and paying for the £86,000 cap on care costs.

Providers’ battle to survive has been dealt a further blow, with the ending of the infection control fund (£1.3bn) and testing fund (£288m), both introduced to help providers through the Covid-19 pandemic, the ICG says.

LEVY “MUST BE FAIRLY DIVIDED” Mr Padgham added: “Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and it is still creating heartache and hardship for care providers, both in care and nursing homes and for homecare providers, who are struggling to deliver contracts.

“The Levy is very welcome, but it must be divided fairly and social care must get what it needs, urgently.

“The Prime Minister is right to say that we can’t fix hospital waiting lists without fixing social care – but he is wrong if he thinks he is fixing social care through the measures announced so far. He is a long, long way from it.

“And the Chancellor saying the Government will not shy away from difficult decisions to fix social care – I would say that the Government is doing exactly that, tinkering at the edges and failing to give the sector the root and branch reform and better funding it needs to provide a proper service and to recognise, respect and reward its staff properly.”

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CQC Changes Regulatory Approach For Service Providers The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is changing the way it assesses service providers. Ed Watkinson, Residential Care and Inspection Specialist with Quality Compliance System (QCS), the leading provider of content, guidance and standards for the social care sector, shares what he thinks these changes will be, what the impact is likely to be, and what providers need to do to be prepared.

The CQC published a new strategy in 2021 for the whole of health and social care sector, with the main objective of allowing the regulator to become ‘more flexible’ in how it assesses and rates providers.

The changes outlined in the strategy build on what was learned during the pandemic, when the CQC was forced to operate more remotely with services. The new way of working will profoundly alter the relationship between the CQC and providers, which will be more on-going in nature, as the regulator moves from an inspection-based framework to continual assessment.

The CQC also wants to support the development of an Integrated Care Systems (ICS), which pools the knowledge and experience of all the services within a community – from hospitals to GPs, dentists to social care.

There will be a much stronger focus on outcomes for people; the new direction really does put users at the centre of things and reflects what is most important to people using services. While there are many changes, it’s more of an evolution not a revolution, as it builds on what the CQC is currently doing, rather than tearing up the rule book and starting from scratch.

The regulator will actively seek the views of people using services, and the organisations involved with them. This information will be used to assess service quality, possibly without a face-to-face visit.

How to stay up to date with the changes Latest information indicates the CQC will involve people in clarifying the changes now, will test new ideas in the summer, and implement the programme in full in Spring 2023 – although this may change.

QCS will keep providers informed, and ensure its system is updated to reflect the changes. By using the QCS management system, service providers can stay up to date with all policies and procedures changes.

They will also have access to all the audits, mock inspections, and surveys to provide the evidence needed to show they are providing a high-quality service.

What’s staying the same Although the CQC’s new ‘assessment framework’ is still in development, it is based on the published strategy so there is already a lot we know about what will change and what will not.

Firstly, the five key questions the CQC asks of all care services are staying in place. So CQC will still want

answers to the following: are you safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led? But how they reach their decision will change.

The five key questions will be re-phrased as ‘I’ statements. This means they will be looking at the provider from the perspective of a person using services and clarify what they should expect.

Although the ratings stay the same – outstanding, good, requires improvement, inadequate – how they are achieved will be very different. The regulator is proposing to gather information and evidence on an ongoing basis. This will be received in a defined way from the provider, people using services and others with involvement in the service, such as the Local Authority.

The Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs) will be replaced with Quality Statements, phrased as ‘we’ statements from the perspective of the provider – an expectation of what they will do. There are between five and eight Quality Statements under each of the five key questions, each detailing what ‘good’ looks like.

What will change?

The CQC plans to stop on-site inspections within a prescribed timeframe, and will remove the link between rating and time between inspections. But they will base activity more on the evidence they receive about the perceived risk to people using services, while continual assessment will be used more than inspections to assess the quality of services.

An ‘always on’ system will provide an up-to-date and consistent view of services. It is proposed that ratings can be changed without a site visit if the evidence indicates that improvements have been made, or quality has fallen. Inspections will happen when they are the only way to observe first-hand what the issues are.

The CQC has said it will be transparent in the way it works, the information it has about services and what it will do about the issues raised. It seems all evidence sources will be scored, which will feed into the scoring of the individual Quality Statements and then to each Key Question.

The CQC is clear that the way it will inform the public will also change, with a desire to present findings in a simpler, snappier, more user-friendly manner.

Staying up to date and in touch Overall then, the CQC will work to achieve its aims of becoming smarter, more flexible, more focused on what is important to people that use services and ensure services are safe.

For service providers, in addition to using the QCS system to stay up to date, they can sign up to receive the latest CQC information on the regulator’s website. And more importantly, ensure they have the right processes in place for auditing their own service as well as being in touch with the views of people who use or interact with their service.

You can also catchup on our recent webinar for free with Ed on the latest CQC Inspection changes: www.qcs.co.uk/thecarer-webinar To start a free trial, please visit www.qcs.co.uk/thecarer-free-trial

Signature at Parklands Manor Hosts Charity Bike Ride for Dementia Carers Support Group Signature at Parklands Manor has come together to embark on a competition among residents and staff, to raise money for the Dementia Carers Support Group.

Team members, residents, family, and friends have all been encouraged to participate in a cycling competition against each other, to see how far they can cycle individually and collectively.

To date, Signature at Parklands Manor have travelled over 260 miles, raising £100 in the process.

Dementia Carers Support Group offer essential, expert support locally to the countless family members and friends who are supporting or caring for an individual living with dementia. They became an Official Charity in 2010 and have been supporting those living with dementia and their families ever since.

Parklands Manor specialise in providing dementia care to residents, in addition to, respite, nursing and residential offerings. The care home features 24 suites, designed especially to offer unique support for individuals requiring specialist care.

Neil Copping, General Manager at Parklands Manor and current leader in the

cycling challenge, commented: “We all know how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle and to keep fit so here at Parklands Manor we decided to purchase an exercise bike. We put the bike in our busy reception area to encourage more staff and residents to jump on and get some additional exercises throughout the day.

“We also decided to utilise this to raise money for our local dementia charity which is a very worthy cause indeed. The bike has been very popular and has inspired people to do more exercise. It has also instigated some healthy competitiveness amongst the staff team and a leader board has been created to track our leading cyclists.”

Frances Dyble-Goode, Chair of Runnymede Dementia Carers Support, added: “Parklands Manor have been so very supportive of our little Dementia Carers Support Club from the day they opened. They have raised funds for us on many occasions, invited our Carers with loved one to events they hold at Parklands. We consider our Club as a family and feel Sonia & Judy at Parklands is part of ‘our family’.”

CleanEx 2022/Hospitality Expo: Not Long to Go! There’s just six weeks to go until Hospitality Expo/CleanEx 2022 opens its doors to the main grandstand at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire.

It’s been four years since the last CleanEx event with ‘you know what’ constantly changing our plans.

As they say though, absence does make the heart grow fonder, so expect to find all the exhibitors excited, keen and ready to talk you through and show you all their latest innovations.

The brand new Hospitality Expo – will take place at the same time as CleanEx 2022. Same time. Same venue.

Hospitality Expo is aimed at procurement managers, care home owners, general managers and housekeepers from care homes and hotels across the country.

Hospitality Expo will take place on its own floor at Ascot Racecourse. So those visiting Hospitality Expo will benefit from meeting with specialist industry exhibitors, and also be able to walk the aisles at CleanEx 2022 and

see what the leading industry suppliers there are showcasing about their latest innovations, products and services.

Many of the stands will have fully operational equipment and technology and run demonstrations throughout the two-day event so you can see results first-hand. This event is a great opportunity to compare different products or machinery under one roof and talk to leading suppliers directly.

Exhibitors will all have their experts on hand on their stands to answer any questions you have. This will help you to plan your visit in advance to make sure you use the time well and gather the research and information you need to make the right decisions for your business. Exhibitors often run event-only promotions too, so there’s potential savings to be made by talking to the specialists direct.

Visitors to Hospitality Expo and CleanEx include: If you’re in one of the following businesses or job roles then Hospitality Expo is ideal for you!

Care Home owners • Hotels - owners and managers • General managers • Head housekeepers/ managers • Hospitals • procurement managers • Private schools Registrations are open!

FREE ENTRY – FREE PARKING – FREE ENTRY – FREE PARKING It’s simple to register your place to attend Hospitality Expo/CleanEx. Simply visit the Hospitality Expo page at www.megevents.co.uk and click on ‘attend the event’ and enter

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 5

Care Homes – An Upward Trend Despite Everything That COVID Has Thrown at the Sector

CSI Market Intelligence has published Say Hello Wave Goodbye – Care Home Openings and Closures 2021, its 7th annual report and has surprisingly shown that, despite years of being in decline, the trend in care home beds is an increasing one despite everything that the last few years of turmoil.

Care home openings increased by 8% between 2019 and 2020, and by 12.5% between 2020 and 2021, whilst closures were lower in 2021 than in 2019. This means that a net loss of around 1,500 beds in 2019 has become a 440 bed growth in 2021.

Author Mike Short, who is director at CSI MI say “every year when we sit down to compile the data I peak at the numbers through a hand in front of my eyes, as I have been so used to report what is bad news when we see a reduction in care home beds as the 75 plus age sector grows so fast. This was especially the case this year, looking back on what must have been an arduous twelve months for all involved in the sector” Care home closures still outnumber openings and continue to affect thousands of vulnerable people who lose their homes and have to be found new accommodation, and possibly lose the friends with who they have become so close.

“When one reads the reported precarious financial situation that so many care homes find themselves in,” continues Mike “closures are going to continue, and if anything increase unless anything changes drastically

for the better, but at least investment in new larger locations means that that is still a supply of beds for

those who need them” On average a new home in 2021 was registered for 54 beds against 32 for those that closed, and there is an ongoing shift towards nursing dementia homes. Around one fifth of closures did so with an inadequate CQC rating (against one in fifty of all care homes) therefore implying care quality as the rationale for closure, whereas nearly half of closures were either rated good or outstanding (against around two thirds of all homes) which suggest commercial reasons for closure.

The report goes on to show that supply levels still vary greatly by local authority with areas of over supply and low occupancy levels, and areas low supply and a lack of choice for the public.

Mike says, “this has been the pattern throughout my time in this sector, and does not appear to be improving, in fact eight of the ten local authorities that have lost the highest percentage of beds since my reports began also show a higher than average forecast growth over the next five years, so the situation will become even more drastic than now, and are crying out for new developments to rectify this.”

The report can be accessed for free from shwg@csi-marketintelligence.co.uk

Local Mayor Joins Powys Care Home for Staff Anniversary Event The Mayor of Machynlleth joined celebrations at a local care home – as two care workers celebrated their decades of long service to the community.

Cartef Dyfi hosted a celebration to mark the achievements of its staff throughout the pandemic, attended by mayor Tony Jones, Cllr Michael Williams and people and resourcing manager for Powys County Council, Cerys Williams.

As part of the celebrations, two employees were recognised for their long service – Barbara Jones and Kerry Roberts.

Mrs Jones joined the home in August 1998 and within that time has held various positions – from bank team leader to support worker. Meanwhile, Mrs Roberts, a mother of twins, has dedicated 18 years to Cartref Dyfi and progressed from night support worker to team leader.

The pair received certificates to mark their impressive milestones, as well

as chocolates and flowers as a thank you for their on-going commitment.

Service manager of the home, June Stalham, said: “We have had such an enjoyable few weeks here at Cartref Dyfi. We recently celebrated Derwena Owen’s 100th birthday – one of our residents who had a special day with her loved ones.

“It was a pleasure to recognise our staff for their ongoing hard work and commitment. It has been a very challenging two years, but everyone pulled together as a team and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Chief operating officer for Shaw healthcare, Mike Smith, also attended the event.

Ms Stalham added: “It has been wonderful to invite people back into our home to celebrate with us and we look forward to welcoming more people from our community over the summer months.”

PAGE 6 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

A Refreshed Suite of Best Practices for Supported Living Providers Now Available in QCS Quality Compliance Systems (QCS), the leading provider of content, guidance and standards for the social care sector, has updated its suite of best-practice tools and resources to help Supported Living providers deliver transformative, person-centred support.

Its refreshed tailored policies recognise the diverse range of service users that providers support, and the challenges those working in the sector face. Delivering clear direction and guidance, they promote best-practices and positive outcomes.

Damaris Daniels, Content Director at QCS, said, “When services are steeped in regulation and best practice, the sector can be empowering and change lives for the better, enabling individuals to live the life they choose – rather than the life that has been chosen for them.”

Content in existing key policies has been boosted with the addition of topics such as Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and communication. QCS has also streamlined the suite, used more inclusive language and updated titles to ensure the content is appro-

priate for Supported Living providers.

The umbrella of supported living services provides hundreds of thousands of people, in the government’s words, with “a safe, stable and supportive place to live”. Barry Price, QCS Specialist Contributor, said that ensuring this is the case is easier said than done. “It requires teams to embrace a person-centred culture of best practice learning, which ultimately reflects in organisational policies and procedures such as support plans.”

When providers sign up to the QCS service, they gain access to a library of expert resources on topics such as enhancing wellbeing, promotion of independence and tenancy agreements.

For more information about the Supported Living Management System or start a free trial, please visit www.qcs.co.uk.supported-living. You can also contact our compliance advisors on 0333-405-3333 or email sales@qcs.co.uk.

England Team Played Match in Nameless Shirts to Raise Awareness of Dementia The England men’s team took to the pitch against Switzerland in nameless shirts at the first ever Alzheimer’s Society International match to raise awareness of dementia.

As part of The Football Association’s (FA) partnership with the leading dementia charity to support players and fans affected by dementia, the nation watched on as the squad returned to the pitch after half time with the names missing from their shirts, driving home the idea that football should be unforgettable.

For an England fan, it’s almost unthinkable to forget the name of a player in the national team, but this is a reality for many of those watching the game who are living with dementia.

The powerful gesture displayed in front of a sell-out crowd illustrated the challenges so many people with dementia face every day. The squad have donated these iconic shirts to auction, raising life-changing funds to ensure everyone has access to Alzheimer’s Society’s vital support services.

Gareth Southgate OBE said: “Our players weren’t just playing for themselves or for their country, they were showing their support for the 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK today.”

“It’s brilliant to be back for the first time this year at Wembley, especially to a sell-out crowd – it brings back so many memories for us and just highlights how football should be unforgettable.”

“Taking the names off the squad’s shirts draws attention to the reality of living with dementia and I hope it inspires fans up and down the country to get talking about dementia and support Alzheimer’s Society’s crucial work.”

The 22’ team were cheered on by some very special guests and familiar faces as they played their first match since the international break – it was also the first time the squad have being back at Wembley since the nail-biting moments of the Euros in the summer of 2021.

Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador and ‘Three Lions’ anthem singer David Baddiel hosted a dedicated box for Shelagh Robinson and Stephen Freer, who are both avid fans living with dementia, giving them a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch the game they love in style.

Having recently lost his father to Pick’s disease, a rare form of dementia, earlier this year, David knows all too well the heart-breaking nature of the condition. Sir Geoff Hurst also made an appearance on pitch side to meet Shelagh and Stephen.

David Baddiel added: “It was a real honour to cheer on the squad alongside Shelagh and Stephen today and be a part of the ‘Alzheimer’s Society International.”

“Football is a team sport, and that team goes beyond the players on the pitch; it’s the fans that travel for hours not to miss a game and the millions more that come together to cheer the team on from their homes.

“We all support each other and if we can encourage more people to talk about dementia, we can help people living with it to continue to feel part of the team.”

“The charity’s partnership with The FA will make a huge difference – for anyone affected by dementia, it’s important they know they can get the support they need through Alzheimer’s Society’s vital services.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 7

Lords Committee to Investigate the ‘Invisibility’ of Adult Social Care The House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee today publishes its call for evidence, and invites the public to share their views, as part of its new inquiry: ‘Lifting the veil: Removing the invisibility of adult social care’.

Adult social care provides services for people from young to old; from those with inherited disabilities from birth to those who become ill, frail and dependent as they move into later life. Across these many different conditions and personal circumstances, people with care needs rely for much of their support, care and independence on carers; and in many ways, both the people who draw on care and support and their carers are largely invisible.

The inquiry will, therefore, consider how that entrenched invisibility of adult social care impacts on the lives of people who draw on care and support and the lives of the people who enable them and care for them. It will explore what needs to change to create a fair, resilient and sustainable care system that better enables everyone to ‘live an ordinary life’, and in doing so, gives individuals choice and control over their lives. The inquiry will acknowledge the diversity of ambitions and aspirations that those with specific care needs have for their lives across every age and consider how adult social care should best enable them

to achieve these different goals.

The Committee will focus on three key issues: • The invisibility of adult social care, and its consequences; • Better support for carers; and • Putting co-production at the heart of care.

The committee invites all those with an interest in adult social care, but particularly experts by experience – those who draw on care and support, and those who care for them to submit written evidence by 27 May 2022. The full call for evidence is available on the committee’s website.

Baroness Andrews, Chair of the Adult Social Care Committee said: “While people understand by experience what the health service does, very few people understand what adult social care is, how it works and why it matters, until they themselves or their friends and families are directly affected.

“This relative ‘invisibility’ means that it can be difficult to bring about positive change on the ground, not least because so much is so far from sight.

“The nature of invisibility, for example, describes not only the enormous diversity and different challenges faced by those who draw on

social care, but also the experience of the many millions of family members and friends across the country who support their loved ones -young and old – to live their lives, often providing more care and support than formal services.

“In launching this inquiry, our main purpose is to understand and recognise how these barriers of invisibility can be dismantled and how both those who receive different types of support and care at different ages can meet their aspirations for a full life, as well as their families and friends who care for them.

“By listening and learning from those who will share their experience and knowledge with us, we also seek to reflect on what the meaning of social care should be and ask how far the system remains from realising that meaning in the everyday lives of people who draw on care and of their families. In doing so, we can challenge the assumption that unpaid care is always an option and anticipate the need for new forms of care and support.

“We encourage a wide range of witnesses to come forward and submit evidence, especially those with lived experience, in the full knowledge that your views are valued and will have an impact on the future of adult social care in England.”

Care Employers Working Together for Ukraine Care employers have been working together to understand how they can provide a meaningful employment opportunity for those displaced from Ukraine and other parts of the world and finding a home within the UK. The National Care Forum (NCF) in association with the Care Provider Alliance have brought together a wide range of partners committed to offering support. This includes expertise from across national and local government, housing, recruitment specialists, legal and immigration experts and regulators.

Employers and partners are working closely with recruitment experts to enable displaced people from Ukraine and other parts of the globe, to identify roles within the care sector, signpost individuals to localised support and ensure that employers work together to pro-

vide the best opportunity for those who wish to work.

Whilst this work progresses, the broader support for people displaced from Ukraine through the Homes for Ukrainians scheme is being clarified. Alongside this, Local government have an important role in how local support will work, with specific roles and responsibilities still emerging. It is imperative that the desire to work is aligned with the need for displaced people to be connected into wider community and pastoral support.

Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the NCF said: “Like many people affected by the plight of the people of Ukraine, care employers are pulling together to take action to help. The ideas are progressing at pace, and there is a strong desire to do something meaningful to help the people of Ukraine, and others from around the

globe who arrive into the UK. We are pulling together opportunities for care and support employers to share details of available job vacancies, which we hope will be tied into the broader communications for displaced people. There are many other ways for people to offer support, including support to Ukrainians needing care and support, assistance with vetting and matching, and those who have a housing solution.

“However, there remains significant unanswered questions around regulatory requirements, right to work entitlement, safeguarding, etc.

We need the government to work at pace alongside adult social care employers to resolve this. Furthermore, we are working with other partners, to understand how most effectively the sector can be engaged to provide a solution at this moment of crisis.”

PAGE 8 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

The Future of the Laundry in Infection Prevention The laundry room in any care home is a crucial part of the day-today operations. The job of handling both soiled and clean linen normally falls to the front-line care staff as very few establishments are big enough to have a dedicated laundry team or laundry manager.

Because soiled linen is a breeding ground for infection, the way this is handled by the care team is crucial to infection prevention and control in the care home and helps to protect both residents and staff alike.

As part of the mandatory training that is provided to all care staff on an annual basis, the handling of linen is described at length but in the everyday operation of a care home it can be difficult to ensure that the very highest of standards are being achieved. Space can be a limiting factor as many organisations have very small laundry facilities so being able to effectively separate clean and soiled laundry can be practically quite challenging. Time is also a major factor in the daily workings of the laundry room. Without a dedicated laundry team, front-line care staff are performing the duties of a laundry team as part of their daily tasks so being able to take the time and care over the specifics of the laundry operation is not always a priority.

At Miele Professional we understand the challenges that care staff face when it comes to providing the very best in infection prevention and control in the laundry versus the reality of providing high standards of care for some of our most frail, elderly people. Our laundry equipment is designed to help take some of the guesswork out of infection

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Birthday to Remember for Formby’s Oldest Resident She may have celebrated her last birthday in lockdown, but last Friday was a day to remember for Formby’s oldest resident Marjorie Hodnett who celebrated turning 108 on 1 April 2022.

A resident at Formby Manor care centre on Liverpool Road, Marjorie, known fondly by all as Auntie Marj, is just one of a select group of just 50 centenarians in the UK. Following on from last year’s celebrations, the team at Formby Manor pulled out all the stops to ensure it was a day to remember with a garden party complete with afternoon tea and entertainment from vintage singer the Golden Age Songbird.

Auntie Marj’s family joined her fellow residents and friends at Formby Manor to spend the afternoon with her in person and enjoyed celebrating with fizz and cake.

Home manager at Formby Manor, Janet Lewis, said: “Auntie Marj is a real character and very much part of the home’s wonderful family of staff and residents. Still alert and active, she continues to pursue her lifelong passions of poetry writing and painting and often shares her incredible writing with us here at Formby Manor.

“We were delighted to celebrate this special milestone with her and so pleased to be able to welcome

her family in to mark the occasion with us. It was a fantastic afternoon.”

Auntie Marj has enjoyed a long and happy life. She was born in Harleston, London, before moving to Wembley. She met her first husband Stanley in 1939 at the Fellowship of Reconciliation and they married in 1941, living initially in Wembley before moving to Harrow after the war.

Sadly, Stanley passed away in 1955 after 14 years of marriage, and in the following year Auntie Marj married Hugh (Stanley’s brother) who passed away in 1958 leaving Auntie Marj widowed for the second time at the age of 45.

Just before Hugh passed away, the couple had moved to Sidbury in Devon in 1956 where Aunty Marj was a teacher in a primary school for 23 years. Finally, Aunt Marj moved to Formby Manor to be nearer to her family. She has remained very active continuing to read, write poetry and paint and continues to take an interest in news and politics.

Commenting on life, Auntie Marj said: “Life is for living and I am very happy here at Formby Manor. In life, I believe that you should do all the good that you can, by all the means that you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. They are five good rules to live by – but I don’t think I’ve stuck to them entirely!”

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THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 9

Carers Need Help as Covid-19 Restrictions Ease

CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the Government to help social care as it faces a fight to survive as Covid-19 restrictions ease.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) is worried that financial support for care providers during Covid-19 is ending even though they are still facing hardship.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “The Covid-19 pandemic, sluggish occupancy and the growing cost of living crisis have left the sector on its knees.

“Now the fund set up to help us to staff the Covid-19 pandemic is ending and nothing is being put in its place.

“Homecare providers are struggling as they experience their worst staffing crisis in years.

“It is good that restrictions are being relaxed and care and nursing homes can open up again – it has been very hard on residents and their relatives to be separated these past two years.

“But Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and if a home has two or more cases it cannot accept new admissions for 10 days, which is bound to compound current financial difficulties. It also means backlog issues for the NHS because hospitals cannot discharge patients into care settings.

“If we are to reopen and relax restrictions, with all the risks that that will bring, we must have some support, or more and more providers are going to go to the wall.”

The ICG has warned that the increase in National Insurance contributions will hit those working in social care.

Mr Padgham added: “The National Insurance levy will ultimately help social care but initially it is all being funnelled to the NHS with very little coming our way.

“And to add insult to injury, the National Insurance increase to pay for it will take money away from those working in the sector during a cost-of-living crisis.”The ICG argues that more funding is urgently needed for social care to pay its staff properly, to reward them for the work they do and to address the staffing crisis hurting the sector.

Mr Padgham added: “We need that extra funding straight away and cannot wait for the NHS to absorb all available money first. And we should be funding it through income tax, so that those who can afford most pay most and it doesn’t fall disproportionately on the lower paid.”

Concerns Mount Over Scotland’s Soaring Covid Care Home Deaths Concerns are growing as deaths due to COVID continue to rise in Scottish care homes.

Statistics published last week revealed that 79 care home residents died with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the week ending 27 March, in increase of 121% on the previous week, and the highest weekly rate since January 2021.

Just over a third (37.8%) of residents in care home for older adults have had their fourth dose of the vaccine following the roll-out of the booster programme.

Labour Party health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie has called on ministers to speed up the rollout of the latest booster vaccination campaign.

The party also wants to see more anti-virals delivered to care homes to help treat those who contract the virus, as well as continued testing for all staff.

Ms Baillie challenged health secretary Humza Yousaf on the issue, warning: “The price of inaction will be further lives lost and families shattered.

“There is no time for delay – Humza Yousaf must act now.

“Two years into this pandemic and the residents of Scotland’s care homes are still being failed.

“While the rest of the country begins to return to normality, our care home residents are being left behind and put in danger.

“Covid deaths are rocketing in our care homes – if lives are to be saved, the Cabinet secretary must act

now.

“We need to see a rapid acceleration of the booster programme in our care homes and the retention of regular, asymptomatic testing for care home workers.”

Minister for Social Care Kevin Stewart said: “This claim is unfounded – the wellbeing of people in care homes is a top priority. COVID-19 has not gone away and we are fully aware of the risk it represents to individuals who are immune compromised or frail, including those who live in care homes. Every single death to this virus is a tragedy that we mourn and deeply regret.

“Clinical advice is clear that testing care home staff with a weekly PCR and twice weekly LFD is proportionate and offers sufficient protection to those at highest risk. Our spring booster programme is already well underway with an increasing number of eligible care home residents having already received this additional protection.

“All care home residents are eligible for antiviral treatments and it is a clinical decision to prescribe these, based on assessment of individual residents.

“We continue to work closely with Public Health Scotland and ARHAI (Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection) Scotland to review recommendations in place for adult care homes, balancing risk with harms, so that care homes can return to normality, as soon as is possible.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 11

Skills for Care is Encouraging Social Care Organisations to Join them in #CelebratingSocialCare this April

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On social media, Skills for Care is asking individuals, providers, and other organisations across social care to get involved by sharing their #CelebratingSocialCare messages.

Suggestions include: • posting thank you messages on social media to your colleagues, tagging them and using the hashtag #CelebratingSocialCare Skills for Care is #CelebratingSocialCare throughout April and is encouraging everyone working across social care to get involved. The campaign launched on Monday 4 April.

While the organisation recognises and supports the achievements of the social care sector yearround, this dedicated month is a time to encourage people to shout out the importance of social care and the dedication and skills of the people who work within it.

The campaign follows the Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection which was held on 17 March and the lifting of public COVID-19 restrictions, two years since the pandemic began.

The organisation will be posting blogs and articles across their website and other communications channels, sharing good news stories from the sector as well as stories of innovation and learning and development through the pandemic.

• sharing your good news stories and stories of success throughout COVID-19 using the hashtag #CelebratingSocialCare • recording a short video paying tribute to the hard work of your teams using the hashtag #CelebratingSocialCare The impact of the pandemic is still being felt for people who work across and draw upon care, and as Skills for Care creates a time and space for people working in social care to reflect on their achievements, they’ll also be providing information on ongoing support to help social care teams as they adapt again to the changes in how COVID-19 will be managed.

More information on the campaign and how to get involved can be found at: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/CelebratingSocialCare

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PAGE 12 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Most Care Homes in SE Scotland Still Use Paper-Based Management Systems CARE homes for older people in south-east Scotland are largely run using paper-based management systems, a new study into the sector’s digital readiness has revealed.

Only one in three (35 per cent) used an electronic care management system and only two in five (43 per cent) used an electronic system or software to manage medication.

Most care homes were also dogged by poor connectivity.

Only two in five in SE Scotland (42 per cent) described their internet connection as “good” with fast loading of content and no interruptions.

And nearly two thirds (58 per cent) of the care homes which provided information reported that remote electronic access to resident information was not possible for any key health and community-based professionals.

The findings emerged from a study led by Edinburgh Napier researchers working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC).

Funded by the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) programme, the work was set against a backdrop of Scottish Government proposals for a National Care Service and the related construction of a National Digital Platform.

However, the findings raise question marks about whether care homes are ready for a future in which digital innovation will be key to post-pandemic recovery and improved efficiency in health and social care.

Research lead Lucy Johnston, from Edinburgh Napier’s School of Health & Social Care, said fast connectivity, capacity for data capture and information sharing capabilities were “limited and unevenly dispersed”.

Calling for more support and coordinated resources for the sector, she concluded: “This targeted assessment of data and digital readiness exposes the fragile and insecure foundations of a care home data plat-

form for Scotland.

“The findings confirm that care homes are only in the foothills of what is a complex, vast landscape where the direction of travel is rightly ambitious and therefore uphill and the pace is fast.

“To ensure care homes are not left behind, they require a trusted, well-informed and certain national and local route map, secure ties to the new and developing infrastructures and continued integration of health and social care services.”

The study – Landscape Assessment of Data and Digital Readiness of Scottish Care Homes (LADDeR) – was set up to map current data and digital readiness in terms of connectivity, systems for collecting resident data, and how this information is shared with other care partners.

Carried out from July 2021-January 2022, the LADDeR report drew on information from 55 per cent of the 200 registered residential care homes for older people in Edinburgh, Fife, the Lothians and the Scottish Borders, collected through an online survey, direct contact and additional research.

A third of homes gave the cost of introducing digital systems as a reason why they remain paper-based.

More than two-thirds (69 per cent) which are currently paper-based did plan to introduce electronic care management systems in the next 12 months, but these were overwhelming privately rather than local authority-owned.

The study suggested that what will primarily drive increases in digital capabilities may be the investment decisions of larger group providers.

Professor Bruce Guthrie, Director of the ACRC, added: “Improving access to, and making better use of, data is a core aim of what we are trying to achieve at the ACRC. “COVID-19 brutally exposed how invisible care home residents are in data, and supporting the care home sector to develop their digital capacity is an important step in meeting this aim, which will, in turn, lead to improvements for care home residents.

“This study helpfully illustrates the scale of the challenge in care homes.”

A spokesperson for the DDI programme said: “This report provides an important insight into the care home sector’s challenge in embracing a digital future and we will use its findings in our work to support a more digitally integrated and data-driven health and care sector within SE Scotland and more widely.”

Local Nurse Is Student Nursing Times Awards Finalist Staff and residents at Barchester’s Cheverton Lodge Care Home in Islington are over the moon because their Deputy Manager, who is also one of their much-loved nurses, Krisztina Vadnai, has reached the final of the Student Nursing Times Awards 2022. She has been shortlisted in the prestigious Learner of the Year category.

Organised by Nursing Times, the awards are designed to bring together the nursing community and shine a light on the brightest talent making their way into the profession.

The awards are now in their 11th year and competition is fierce with each of the categories receiving hundreds of entries. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday 27th May 2022.

leagues and residents alike.

Krisztina says: “I feel so lucky, I absolutely love my job here at Cheverton Lodge. I have been so well supported while I have been studying, I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. We are such a tight knit team and our residents are wonderful. It is a pleasure to come to work every day and spend time with everyone.”

General Manager of Cheverton Lodge, Earl Elliott, comments: “We are so proud of Krisztina, we cannot think of anyone more deserving of the title of Learner of the Year.

She enrolled on her Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care at

Krisztina is passionate about learning and development and takes every opportunity

an incredibly difficult time, it was the height of the pandemic when it was all hands to

to better herself. She has thrown herself into her studies with drive and determination

the pump and she was already working long hours and additional days, but she stuck

whilst still doing a full time role at Cheverton Lodge. A wonderful mentor to the team,

at it. She is a force of nature and the heart of our home, everyone loves her, she is so

she is hands on and leads from the front. She is incredibly popular with all her col-

positive, passionate and caring, every day we all try to be a bit more Krisztina.”

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THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 13

Are YOU The Carer’s Next Unsung Hero?

Once again we here at The Carer are looking for our next Unsung Hero!

A super deluxe luxury hamper will be the prize for the lucky winner!!

March 23 marked the country’s second National Day of Reflection, as people from across the country join together in a minute’s silence at 12noon to reflect on those who have died and show support to the millions.

No sector was impacted as much as adult social care, and National Care Forum CEO Vic Rayner put it very well when marking the first anniversary last year when she said: “In amongst all of this [ The Pandemic] the country turned its focus to social care – often because that is where the epicentre of impact of this deadly virus has hit home. It has been care workers who have borne the brunt of supporting people in homes and communities – day in day out – seven days a week. It has been care providers who have had to change and flex the way that they provide care to cope with the ever-changing understanding of how to provide care in a COVID-19 environment. Critically, it has been people living in care homes who have lost so much – so many of whom have tragically lost their lives to COVID, while huge numbers have been unable to see loved ones throughout this terrible year.”

Regular readers will know we launched our Unsung Hero award 10 years ago when we were celebrating our 10th anniversary, and it proved to be so popular we have been running it ever since. When the pandemic broke, and we began reporting on a daily basis on how COVID and

restrictions were impacting care homes, staff and residents, and we were reporting on a daily basis the dedication of care staff and the difficulties they were experiencing.

So, we decided to add on a few more awards!

And, we received hundreds of nominations each time, heart-warming, heart-breaking and inspirational stories, making it almost impossible to choose an overall winner, so much so that each time we tagged on runner-up prizes!

We are thrilled to announce our latest unsung hero award!

Every care home will have somebody who goes that extra mile, which, due to pressures of work can sometimes go unrecognised or rewarded.

A small gesture on our part and we aim to put that right! Once again, a luxury hamper awaits our next “Carer Unsung Hero”.

No-frills, glitz or glamour, just send us your nomination with a paragraph or two, and please do give a little background/detail of what your nominee has done, and why you think your nomination deserves to be rewarded.

Your own Unsung Hero can be from any department, frontline care, laundry, maintenance, kitchen, administration gardening– we will leave that up to you!

Nominations close Monday, May 2 please send to:- nominate@thecareruk.com

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PAGE 14 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Behaving Badly? The New Dirty Word of Health And Social Care?

By Peter Bewert, Managing Director at Meaningful Care Matters (www.meaningfulcarematters.com)

I often find myself wondering why and how the word ‘behaviour’ is associated with negative connotations in health and social care settings. Is this a new dirty word? For me, the term behaviour can have an array of different connotations, though, it can be considered derogatory for a person living with dementia or mental illness, as it is not a word associated with person centredness due to its polarising nature.

Unfortunately, the term behaviour has been coined by health care workers from the days of highly task focused institutionalised care. Sadly, this remains a current narrative all too often experienced.

Behaviour as a term, can be defined as an adverse behavioural expression, which remains shocking at best whilst being demoralising and stigmatising, particularly for people living with mental health problems or dementia at best.

I am disappointed to say as a Senior Executive, I too, could rationalise these to be ill-informed and not fully reflective of truth. I know better and am ashamed this was once my attitude. Once I truly understood what person centredness looks, sounds, and feels like, I always faced the reality we could do better and simply saying sorry when getting it wrong was no longer enough.

We can’t blame our teams or staff for this, as it is a sign of culture. person-centred cultures need to be real, authentic and genuine with the attitude of what can we do better.

Put simply, behaviours do not define people; feelings and emotions do. An expression of illbeing which is commonly considered to be a ‘challenging behaviour’ is simply an expression of need being communicated, which we as health professionals are yet to figure out.

So, what in fact is ‘Behaviour’?

1. The way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially towards others 2.The way in which an animal or person behaves in response to a particular situation or stimulus 3.The way in which a machine or natural phenomenon works or functions In my opinion, behaviour is an outward expression to the world in which we live, based on our internal feelings and emotions. People living with dementia cannot regulate their response in the language construct, which people who are able to communicate and comprehend can. The outward response is an expression of an internal feeling and emotion.

That said, we need to learn to speak in the language of feelings to recognise our own response and actions to support the person to feel safe, comfortable and secure, while restoring their internal equilibrium through sensing and feelings-based responses.

Behaviour is not a dirty word, it is a natural human phenomenon, and we need to change the narrative that our behavioural expressions are unique, individualised and completely normal. Lanzer (1950), states that all human behaviour is both a product and a response of the situation, in an effort for the human being to adjust to that situation. Furthermore, the concept of normality in behaviour is based on feelings and emotions (individual internal psyche) and is not a matter of scientific objectivity.

In short, expressions are real, feelings/emotion-based and individualised, so we need to accept the reality and interpret them through the lens of emotions and feelings, after all, we all have them. Individual perception and personal reactions of behaviour are normal, and are either expressed in an emotion or feelings response. This elicits ill-being or well-being and no circumstance is ever the same or related to a pathological disease morbidity. (Strack, 2016) Psychology has taken the notion of exploring behaviour as a learned interaction with the environment over time (conditioning) and our response to the environment stimuli (2017, McLeod). This would indicate that behaviour is in fact neither good nor bad, but instead an interplay of three components – actions, cognition and emotions (Farnsworth, 2019).

Overall, there is a stigma which is associated with the word behaviour when in fact, behaviour is a healthy part of humanity and we need behaviours to be happy, healthy, and responsive in our society. Feelings matter most. We cannot forget the person behind the expression. After all, they are communicating something to us we desperately need to know. That is the behaviour that needs to be our new norm.

Peter Bewert is the Managing Director of Meaningful Care Matters, a leading care and organisational development group that specialises in helping health and social care providers to access a variety of support services. The group helps to facilitate the creation, reinvigoration and sustainable implementation of person-centred care cultures where people matter, feelings matter and we are ‘Free to be Me’.

References Dean., R. P. (1993). The Quality of Interactions Schedule (QuIS): Development, reliability and use in the evaluation. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 819 - 826.

Farnsworth, B. (2019, July 4). IMotions. Retrieved from IMotions Blog: https://imotions.com/blog/human-behavior/ Howden., T. (2018). I Talked to a Lady. Alzhiemer’s Society - United Against Dementia. World Poetry Day 21 March 2018, United Kingdom, England, United Kingdom. Retrieved February 02, 2022, from https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/three-poems-about-dementia Lanzer, I. A. (1950). A Critique of the concept of normality in behaviour. The Journal of Educational Sociology, 86 - 92.

McLeod, S. (2017, February May). Behaviourist Approach. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html Strack, F. P. (2016, March 1). Editorial: Emotion and Behaviour. Retrieved from Frontiers in Psychology: www.frontiersin.org

Veterans’ Wellbeing Boost: Renovating Surbiton Care Home’s Garden Work has begun on renovating the outdoor area and garden at Royal Star & Garter in Surbiton, which provides care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia.

The project started in February and is expected to be finished before Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this summer.

The renovation work is being supported with generous grants from The Monday Charitable Trust, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and the B&Q Foundation.

Work will see the current garden landscaped, making it more accessible for residents. Improvements will be made to the planting areas and raised beds to engage the veterans in gardening activities, and an outdoor dining and visiting area will also be created. New features will include a garden room which will operate as a hybrid space, hosting family visits and events, training and a place for staff to meet. The garden will also include additional pergolas and decking, a water feature, gazebo and benches and a wheelchair-friendly nature trail through a wild garden area.

Spending time in green space or bringing nature into your everyday life can benefit both mental and physical wellbeing. These include increased confidence and self-esteem and a reduction in feelings of

stress and anger.

Brigadier (Ret’d) Peter Monteith, Chief of Staff at ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, said: “Royal Star & Garter’s Homes are among the most highly rated in the country. As its brand states, this wonderful organisation has been providing ‘care with courage’ to armed forces veterans for over 100 years, including award-winning specialist dementia care. Our charity is honoured to support its work.”

A spokesperson for the Monday Charitable Trust said: “We are delighted to support this imaginative project for the garden which will give great pleasure to the residents and staff at Royal Star & Garter.”

Paul Crisp, Trustee of the B&Q Foundation, said: “At the B&Q Foundation, we believe everyone needs a place to feel at home. So we’re putting our efforts behind local charities who share our vision – helping to create better, safer places for the people in our communities who need them most. Royal Star & Garter perfectly embodies these values and it gives us all at the Foundation great pleasure to support them.”

Home Manager Helena Maher commented: “Residents are really excited to see work starting in the garden. Once complete, they will have a beautiful area to spend time in, whether it’s enjoying the summer sun, gardening, watching the wildlife, relaxing, eating, or spending time with loved ones. Our Wellbeing Team are also looking forward to hosting lots of fun and engaging activities outdoors.”

Award-Winning Family Business Medoris Has New Family At Its Helm For over 20 years, Brenda, our founder, paid particular attention to designing specialized care products for those with differing care needs and to providing good, old-fashioned customer service.

Today, we’re proud to say that the Bird family continues to follow in her footsteps. As a family run business, we too put people’s care needs and customer satisfaction at the heart of everything we do.

In the late 90s, Brenda, in conjunction with the Occupational Therapists in Oxfordshire, identified several areas in need of improvement when it came to addressing comfort and dignity issues for the vulnerable.

Combining her vast experience in textile design and her close working relationship with the care profession, she developed a range of easy-to-use, adaptive clothing for the elderly together with other helpful products addressing the issues of dementia, pressure care, positioning and continence care.

Today, with the help of modern technologies and medical advancements, we have been able to expand these ranges and introduce new innovative products for a broader range of care needs, including those for children.

Alongside Medoris Care, the Bird family also owns a domiciliary care company and a daycare company for children up to 5 years old. We believe that our first hand experience in these allied areas of care, gives us the knowledge we need to continually develop exciting products giving the comfort, care and dignity for those in need.

For more information, please visit our website at www.medoriscare.com or call us on 01202 925 914 for further information.

PAGE 16 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Make Your Patient Data Cyber-Secure by Design Antonio Weiss, Senior Partner at The PSC (www.thepsc.co.uk/team/team-member/antonio-weiss/) and author of The Practical Guide to Digital Transformation on how to keep your patient data secure in a digital world.

For several years now in the UK you’re more likely to be the victim of a cybercrime than of physical violence or robbery, with the collective cost of cybercrime to reach $10.5 trillion in 2025 - more than the entire value of the illegal drugs trade combined.

I’ve seen first-hand the kind of benefits that come from digitalising processes in hospitals and health and care centres – such as patient admission and administration – freeing up valuable time and resources to deliver care to the people who need it. Digital technologies are in this way catalysing the rate of patient care, through automating lengthy paperwork processes and ultimately freeing up space from A&E departments – where this kind of support is needed most, increasing rates of care by up to 54% in a week compared to the usual baseline.

But with this digital progression comes the risk of handling and storing more patient data than previously experienced, opening organisations up to cyberattacks, particularly to phishing attacks. Data breaches or cybersecurity attacks should be near the top of any digitally pro-

gressive organization’s risk register, with hospitals and health and care centres on high alert as the NHS issued a warning for all organisations to shore up their defences as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia continues.

From the outset, it’s crucial that patient data is stored in a legitimate and legal way adhering to EU General Data Protection laws Regulation (regulations will change depending on where you are based of course), but with so many potential avenues of attack – known in the cyber language as ‘vulnerabilities’ – it can be hard to know how to prioritize defence efforts going forwards.

So, what are some core basics you need to do? First, make sure your organizational leadership is committed to cybersecurity. Chief information security officers (CISOs) or similar are becoming increasingly common in companies, however this role is traditionally handled by the CIO in the health and care sector. So long as you ensure someone on your board – and ideally an executive and non-executive board member – is responsible for overall cybersecurity this leadership should help to spearhead activity and ensure it stays high up on the list of priorities.

Second, solidify your networking security by running a series of penetration tests. This is where a paid actor, acting on your behalf, tries a series of ways of attacking your network and identifies vulnerabilities which you can then mitigate. To make the most of penetration tests, they should cover where your greatest risks lie. Health and care organisations tend to have large digital and technology estates, which makes this challenging. Your Electronic Health Record (EHR) or component systems is an obvious target, but many medical devices are particular weak points too.

Third, ensure applications are up to date with the latest upgrades for cybersecurity. The infamous 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack on the NHS was possible due to Windows operating systems being run without up-to-date security patches. As NHS and care organisations have

so many staff – and thus accounts – this makes your applications particularly vulnerable, and make sure you understand where the points of risk lie with them.

Fourth, implement staff training. This should involve everything from secure password management to understanding what to do in a disaster recovery scenario. In the busy world of health and care, it’s crucial that all administration staff have a universal understanding of IT practises to keep their patient data safe, and to ensure people can react quickly in the most effective way should a cyberattack hit.

And finally, implement strong password management and access control. Anecdotally – accurate data is hard to come by as many organizations are reluctant to share how often they have been attacked – poor password management is one of the most common methods of attack for cyber criminals. Ensure all staff use secure passwords and good password maintenance hygiene – NHS Digital has good guidance on this. Access control rules mean that only those that need access have access. Multi-factor authentication is by far the most secure approach to access management but often not available on older health and care applications. Ensure that particularly sensitive data, such as patient level data being access for research or planning purposes, securing “Trusted Research Environments” are used with multifactor authentication a prerequisite for gaining access.

Health and care providers are increasingly turning to digital processes to help streamline and revitalise their processes following the worst of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the UK. However, it’s vital overall cybersecurity and individual employee practises both work to ensure patient data is as safe and secure as possible. We are seeing a new age of digital health and care arising, the question now is: are organisations prepared to commit to the safety procedures needed to keep patient details private?

Residents Welcome New Manager To Nab Wood Care Home A new manager has been welcomed at a Nab Wood care home. Jonathan Ward has been appointed at Brookfield Care Home, one of five homes owned and run by Czajka Care Group.

Jonathan has worked in the care industry for more than nine years and been with Czajka Care Group for two. He joined the family run firm as a deputy manager at its Fairmount Nursing Home, which is also in Nab Wood, Shipley. He was promoted to acting manager there, before moving across to Brookfield Care Home this year.

Jonathan said: “Nursing is in my family genes, I initially trained as a nurse, studying for three years at Huddersfield University. I have worked for both the NHS and in the private care sector, covering roles in mental health, learning and disability nursing, and also working for the crisis team within the Leeds & York NHS Trust.

“I felt the time was right for a career change, and was introduced to Czajka by an old colleague, who already worked for them. She couldn’t speak highly enough of the care group, and I was keen to work for an independent company where the focus was on providing the highest levels of care for older people.”

Brookfield Care Home looks after 40 residents, who all have their own private en-suite rooms. Jonathan

will head a team of 47 care professionals who provide full-time care, respite care, palliative care, day care and short breaks at the purpose-built home.

Brookfield Care Home is part of a wider development at Fairmount Park, which includes Fairmount Nursing Home, Fairmount Park retirement homes and The Clubhouse, a first-class leisure facility, all on Nab Wood Drive in Shipley.

Konrad Czajka, managing director at Czajka Care Group, said: “Jonathan is experienced, compassionate and has great managerial skills. He came to us highly recommend and he has proved himself over these last few years as an excellent nurse and a great people person, with an eye for detail and compassionate approach to everything he does.”

Jonathan added: “Our residents at Brookfield often move in because they no longer feel comfortable or safe living at home, or they have been recently widowed. Many like the companionship they feel here, and they enjoy the social interaction with fellow residents. Making new friends and being part of our vibrant community, all whilst feeling safe and cared for is what makes our home so popular. This week alone we have had six new enquiries from people wanting a place with us, many of whom have had personal recommendations from family and friends which is incredibly rewarding.”

The Residential & Home Care Show, 18-19 May 2022, ExCeL London Join us at The Residential & Home Care Show, the UK’s leadership event for delivering outstanding care, returning to the ExCeL London on 18-19 May 2022.

Free for all care professionals to attend, the CPD certified conference programme will focus on the big issues facing the social care sector including recruitment and retention challenges, new employment law, personalisation, integrated care, safeguarding, raising quality, dementia, CQC ratings, which technologies work and business development.

After an extremely challenging few years for the care profession, this will be the opportunity to come back together and refocus your mind.

Promising to arm you with strategies, products and services, The Residential & Home Care Show will help you be in the best position to address challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead.

Reasons to attend: • Free for care and healthcare professionals • Take away practical ideas and solutions you can adopt in your own organisation • Join thousands of Owners, Directors, and Senior Managers • Meet and network with 200 exhibitors showcasing their latest products and solutions • Build relationships between residential care providers, nursing homes, domiciliary care providers, NHS, local government, the voluntary sector and suppliers • Learn from 50 expert speakers who will share key case studies and deliver important panel discussions with more industry leaders and successful care business operators Visit the event website: https://www.residentialandhomecareshow.co.uk/TheCarerUK Click here to register for FREE: https://rfg.circdata.com/publish/hpc22/?source=thecareruk

Robby Steam & Vac by OspreyDeepclean®: The Ultimate Cleaning Machine, Proven By Independent Scientific Research The healthcare sector requires rigorous cleaning methods to maintain the highest levels of hygiene to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, residents, and staff.

The National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness, first published in May 2021, outline modern methods of cleaning and infection prevention and control, whilst imparting important considerations for cleaning practices during a pandemic.

In principle - healthcare environments should pose minimal risk to patients, staff and visitors. Compliance to these standards are mandatory by April 2022 for all healthcare settings.

How can you ensure compliance?

Invest in a manufacturer who has been guided by scientific research and medical sector expertise to equip your cleaning team with the right tools for the job.

We were the first company to formally assess the efficacy of dry steam cleaning in healthcare environments. Partnering with the NHS and University College London Hospitals, our machines achieve up to a 5-log reduction.

The Robby Steam & Vac is an all-in-one machine, ideal for maintaining hygienic standards of housekeeping. The dry steam, delivered at 4.5 bar, eliminates the need for harsh chemicals and the powerful integrated vacuum can be used simultaneously, ensuring surfaces are left touch dry and ready for use, removing harmful pathogens and allergens for fast and effective deep cleaning, every time.

To ensure your care home is properly equipped to deliver hospital levels of clean, we have a great offer, exclusively for The Carer readers.

Our Care Home Complete Cleaning Bundle includes: 20% off our Robby Steam & Vac all 21 accessories incl. brushes and nozzles a black metal trolley for improved manoeuvrability a cleaning sign All for FREE! To claim this offer give us a call on +44 (0) 1242 513 123 or email us at info@ospreydc.com quoting “Robby Cares”.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 17

42 New Alzheimer’s Risk Genes Discovered in Major Study Researchers have found 42 new risk genes for Alzheimer’s disease.

In total, the new international study identified 75 genes that were associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, with 42 of these not previously linked to the condition. The science journal Nature Genetics published the findings of the largest study of its kind.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects over 600,000 people in the UK today.

Genes are the instruction manual for life and someone’s genetic makeup varies from person to person. Certain small errors in genes can increase someone’s risk of getting Alzheimer’s and scientists in this study are working to better understand how this is the case.

In this project, researchers collaborated with hundreds of colleagues internationally involving eight partner countries. Researchers at the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) in Cardiff, co-founded and co-funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, led the UK arm of the study.

Using an approach known as ‘genome-wide association studies’ they analysed genetic make-up of over 100,000 people with Alzheimer’s disease in detail. They compared this with information on 600,000 healthy people.

Researchers found genes already known to be involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Including genes implicating hallmark proteins in the diseases called amyloid and tau.

The work also gave further compelling evidence to support a role for inflammation and the immune system in the disease.

Using the data, the researchers were able to create risk scores associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease that were more powerful than previous methods.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “Genes are the instruction manual for life, the code for producing proteins that govern our biology. Certain gene variations can pre-dispose someone to disease, including Alzheimer’s, however they aren’t the only factor, with age and other lifestyle factors accounting for some of the risk.

“Previous genetic discoveries underpin much of our current understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and the direction of research into new treatments. Creating an extensive list of Alzheimer’s disease risk genes is like having the edge pieces of a puzzle put together, and while this work doesn’t give us the full picture, it provides a valuable framework for future developments.

“Using this genomic wide sequencing approach, researchers were able to uncover more evidence that the immune system plays a pivotal role in the development of Alzheimer’s, which gives us clues about the pathways that might be most important to look at in our search for new treatments. The research also, however, tells us just how complex Alzheimer’s is, with several different mechanisms implicated in the development of the disease.

“It’s going to take a concerted and global effort to develop life-changing treatments, but this seminal study also gives us hope that research will win, and it gives us the opportunity to work on new treatment targets.

“Well-conducted collaborative efforts like this, including researchers at the UK Dementia Research Institute, underline the positive impact that investment in dementia research in the UK can deliver.

Alzheimer’s Research UK are proud to have co-founded the UK DRI and must thank the dedication of our supporters across the UK for making this work possible.”

Romanian Carers Offer Support For Job-Hunting Ukrainian Refugees Two Romanian care workers based at Azalea House in Bedford are sharing their stories by way of support to Ukrainian refugees who are seeking employment once they arrive in the UK. Andrei Baltag-Demetriade and Tiberius Michituc arrived in the UK in 2017, speaking relatively little English, but have demonstrated that this need not stand in the way of a successful career in care.

Through their work at Azalea House, they have become fluent speakers and can confidently help the people they support and their families.

Andrei has now achieved his Level 3 apprenticeship as a lead adult care worker and Tiberius is working towards Level 2 in Health and Social Care.

The pair hope that their story will inspire Ukrainian refugees making their home in the UK to consider a career in care to bring normality back to their lives.

Andrei said: “Before I came to the UK, I had experience in care with my family. My dad died young, and I was called on to care for my uncle who had schizophrenia. This was excellent training for working with people with special mental health needs.

“I know a lot of people coming from Ukraine will also have transferable skills, such as nursing, and they

might be frightened to apply if their English isn’t very good. I say, if you think you’ll be a good carer, go for it. You will be helped and supported and the language will come.”

Tiberius said: “It can be really difficult to start a new life far away from home, especially under the circumstances that the Ukrainian refugees are coming here. Working at Azalea House has been like joining a family – really supportive and encouraging.”

Donna-Maria Masters, manager at Azalea House, said: “We’re so proud of everything Andrei and Tiberius have achieved in such a short space of time.

“Salutem Care and Education, which operates Azalea House, has offered financial support to help them both with their studies, but it is Andrei and Tiberius hard work that has really made them successful.

“We’re all following what’s happening in Ukraine, and we want to do whatever we can to help. It would be fantastic if we can find positions for talented people coming into the UK.” Azalea House is operated by Pathways Care, which is part of Salutem Care and Education. It is rated Good by the CQC.

PAGE 18 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Outdoor Loving Nurses Take A Walk On The Wild Side A married couple with 95 years of nursing service between them are retiring to take a walk on the wild side.

Hilary and John Mills will be sorely missed by colleagues and residents at Pendine Park’s Highfield Care Home in Wrexham.

Hilary has worked for the group for 19 years and John for 12 years. But the pair who met in their teens when they were student nurses have both now reached retirement age.

When not working they have always loved being outdoors enjoying leisure time in the countryside and are keen walkers.

So, they are looking forward to swapping their nursing scrubs for hiking boots and say one of their first ports of call post retirement will be the wild hills of Keswick for a refreshing break taking in the scenic landscape around the Lake District.

After so many years of nursing they are sad to be saying farewell to their many work friends and the families of Highfield residents who they have come to know well during their years at Pendine Park.

But the couple are confident that much loved patients will be in good hands.

Hilary said: “One of the most rewarding parts of our time at Pendine Park has been to welcome promising new, young staff members into the team and see them grow in ability and develop their careers. There are some excellent highly skilled nurses here.”

Hilary who celebrated her 66th birthday on March 17 started at Highfield 19 years ago while John, also 66, was recruited a little later - 12 years ago - by Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE. John said: “Technically I had already taken retirement from my job with the care homes quality commission which inspects and monitors nursing standards in care homes nationally but Mario commissioned me for a special project and after that finished he offered me a job staying on as a nurse. I’ve never regretted it.

There’s a real family ethos at Pendine.”

John and Hilary say even though they were approaching retirement they have never stopped learning throughout their successful careers and that has been particularly the case in the last few years.

Hilary said: “With all the difficulties care homes generally have faced resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns we have all had to adapt our thinking and our skills-sets to contend with the everchanging situation.

“It’s been a challenging two years during which we’ve learned new skills, and different ways of approaching tasks. we’ve really had to be at the top of our game to protect our patients.”

She and her husband say they have many happy memories of working at Highfield and meeting its diverse array of characters.

Hilary said: “Working in a care home is different than a hospital as the patients are here long term so in many cases we get to know them over a number of years and develop a close bond with them. We have had the honour of meeting some wonderful people all with different and interesting life stories to tell.”

Hilary and John are both originally from South Wales but moved to North Wales in the 1980s and now live in Pandy, near Wrexham.

Hilary grew up in Cwmbran and did her nursing training art Bridgend General Hospital, while John, from the Rhondda, trained at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Having met as students they married 45 years ago when John was 19 and Hilary was 18.

Hilary said: “Nursing was a vocation for both of us. We were lucky that we knew from the start that this was the career we wanted to do.

“Eventually we were married just two weeks after I was fully qualified.”

They now have two grown up daughters, Sarah and Rebekah, who each have a young son.

As well as walking and exploring the countryside Hilary and John are excited that they will now have more time to spend with their two grandsons, Zac aged 12 and Jonah, eight.

Fellow staff at Highfield organised flowers and a cake to mark the couple’s retirement.

Pendine Park trainer Laura Shone said: “John and Hilary have been here such a long time. They are much loved by staff, residents and their families.

“We will all miss them deeply but we wish them many happy times in retirement. We know they will keep in touch and we look forward to hearing all about their hiking treks and other adventures in retirement.”

Highfield deputy manager Terri Broderick added: “We are naturally sad to see Hilary and John leave us but we wish them both a long and happy retirement.

“We are grateful for the brilliant service they have given us in caring for our beloved residents and they have been excellent role models for the new generation coming through, so their legacy will remain.”

Rita Celebrates Her 100th Birthday With A Surprise Visit From Down Under At Friends of the Elderly’s RNNH Care Home in Bournemouth, Dorset, one of its residents, Rita Crumplin, has been celebrating her landmark 100th Birthday which was topped off with a wonderful surprise treat – a visit from her son, Paul, who flew all the way from Australia to share in his Mum’s special, centenary day.

Rita, who has been a resident at RNNH for two and a half years, is a ‘Bournemouth born and bred’ lady. She attended East Howe School, which over a century ago was the first purpose-built school in the area, with the only other schools at the time in the vicinity being St. Mark’s at in Talbot Village and Kinson School.

Rita’s favourite subject at school was cookery as she said :”I really enjoyed our cookery classes as we had to go to another school to use their facilities. It got us out of our normal classroom and made a nice change to go and see another school.”

During World War II, Rita served her country in the Land Army. When she left the forces, Rita worked in a garden centre in Ringwood before meeting her husband-to-be Ronald and becoming a full-time Mum and Housewife.

Rita and Ronald – who served as a soldier in the War – met one evening when they both were on leave from the Army and happened to be taking a stroll in the same place, at the same time. “I was out taking a walk with my friend when we happened to bump into Ron and his pal. I suppose the rest is history,” Rita said.

“We got married in St Mark’s Church on Wallisdown Road in Talbot Village on 16th June 1943 and managed to have a lovely week’s honeymoon in Bridport before Ron went back to the War,” she added.

Following the end of the War, Rita and Ronald – who became a skilled and crafted painter and decorator - stayed in Bournemouth and raised their family, having four children – Cheryl, Kelvin, Wendy and Paul.

Over the years, their family grew and Rita is now a proud grandmother to seven grandchildren and five

great grandchildren.

Rita’s milestone birthday was a rollercoaster of surprises, not only with the amazing visit from Paul, but she also received her commemorative telegram from Friends of the Elderly’s Royal Patron, HRH Her Majesty The Queen.

Two days before her 100th birthday, the care home team started the celebrations with a pre-birthday party with all Rita’s care home friends. Rita was showered with flowers, gifts and cards – as well as enjoying a scrumptious birthday cake. Rita’s festivities continued on her actual ‘Centenary Day’ with a family outing for a delicious birthday lunch at a local golf club.

Talking about her decision to move to RNNH, Rita said: “My family helped me to choose where I wanted to live. I decided to come to RNNH as I love and know Bournemouth so well. The care home is so lovely, there’s always something going on and the care team are so caring, it was a natural choice. I am very happy here; this is my home now and I have made some lovely friends.

“My favourite activities are the Knit and Natter Group, as well as playing Bingo and the flower arranging sessions and all the care team are very nice to me,” Rita added.

Alan Johnston, the Care Home Manager at RNNH said: “Rita is a very popular resident at RNNH, she spends much of her time knitting and attending our activities. She has a good sense of humour and an infectious smile. We are all so glad Rita had a wonderful 100th birthday, she’s a special lady and we wanted to show her how much she means to us.”

“I had a really lovely 100th birthday, it was a very special and memorable day. Seeing Paul and all the family was magical. I thoroughly enjoyed my wonderful lunch and afternoon birthday tea. I could not have wished for a better day.

“The other day I was asked what was my secret to a long and happy life? That’s easy, a loving and supportive husband and family,” Rita concluded.

The Access Group Launches Platform To Make Policies and Procedures Management Easy For Care Providers The Access Group has added Access Policies & Procedures to its Care Management Software suite to help busy care managers stay on top of and be able to evidence compliance to the CQC. Access Policies & Procedures, which is the newest tool in The Access Group’s Care Management Software, contains over 260 policies for Care providers in England. These policies are continuously reviewed by a team of expert policy writers, in line with updates in the sector, to ensure documentation is kept up-to-date. Care providers can easily upload their own documentation to the platform and a print option is also available.

The solution is designed to help both new and established care providers improve efficiency and get the best ratings possible from the CQC for the quality care they provide.

Through the platform, documents can be updated quickly and allocated to relevant groups. Care staff can easily see what documentation they need to read and confirm they have understood the information with just the click of a button. All documentation is written in plain English, there is a translation feature and easy read versions are available on key items too.

Activity is visible in one dashboard, allowing managers to review and chase up outstanding items and demonstrate compliance to a regulator in a simple snapshot. Overall, making it easier for carers to keep up to date the latest policies.

Access Health and Social Care works with more than 10,500 registered care locations in the UK, including over 6,000 care and nursing homes and around 4,500 community care agencies. Its managing director, Steve Sawyer, sees the new platform as another step in the care solution provider’s vision to help care set-

tings reduce time consuming tasks that take them away from their focus on providing quality care, he said; “Access Policies & Procedures will make demonstrating compliance much easier for care managers. They will be able to manage and distribute policies to those who need to read them and can quickly identify any issues or instances where care workers need to be brought up to date. All actions are captured in an easy to view dashboard which can be used to help demonstrate compliance to the CQC. “Provision of top quality care is a key focus of all care providers. Our vision is to provide tools which remove time consuming tasks that are of course important, but ultimately take care workers and managers away from serving the needs of their residents and service users. Access Policies & Procedures makes compliance management easy, for what is a traditionally time consuming and complicated process.

“All home care and care home providers in England require policies and procedures to become a registered Care provider and maintain the ability to provide care. It is crucial for them to remain compliant.

Access Policies & Procedures is a vital tool for care settings. We will be updating each policy in line with regulatory requirements and carrying out bulk updates twice annually to support settings with their compliance. We are confident in the quality of our policies as we have a team of expert policy writers who, collectively, have over 150 years of experience in the sector.”

For more information about Access Policies and Procedures, go to www.theaccessgroup.com/hscpolicies.

PAGE 20 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Care Group to Pay for Visitor Covid Tests A North Yorkshire care group is opening its doors to visitors but paying for their Covid-19 tests to ensure its stay residents safe.

Saint Cecilia’s Care Group says it is happy to allow visitors into its nursing home and three care homes but wants to protect its residents and staff too.

Managing Director Mike Padgham said: “We believe, with infection rates for Covid-19 soaring, that the Government might have been a little premature in relaxing so many of the rules.

“From 1st April, we are happy to have visitors, but we will still require them to take a test. To prevent that from being a financial burden, we will provide a test when they arrive or supply them with tests to use before they come, at our expense.

“Our residents and their relatives were apart for too long during the pandemic and so we are pleased that they are now able to enjoy more contact with each other.

“But, like all care providers, we are mindful that we are caring for some of the most vulnerable people in the community and some of the most susceptible to Covid-19, so we have to keep protecting them as best we can.

“We must never forget that more than 45,000 care and nursing home residents have been lost to Covid-19.”

The care provider is also mindful of the impact an outbreak can have.

“If we have a Covid-19 breakout at one of our homes, it has serious repercussions for us and there is no longer any support from the Government,” Mr Padgham added.

“We have to keep our residents safe and, to the best of our ability, protect our staff too, so that we can remain a viable operation and keep on providing care for around 110 people.”

The testing will include the care group’s Nursing Home on Filey Road in Scarborough, the Saint Cecilia’s and Normanby House care homes in Scarborough and the Alba Rose care home in Pickering.

Barbara Celebrates Her 101st Birthday In Style with Music, Singing and Lots Of Laughter At Friends of the Elderly’s New Copford Place care home in Colchester, Essex, the care team has been celebrating Barbara Purves’ milestone 101st Birthday with gifts, cards and a special birthday afternoon tea treat complete with music and singing with her care home friends.

Barbara, who has been a resident at New Copford Place since September 2019, grew up in Surrey and has many happy memories of attending school, where Sports was her favourite subject as “I was quite good at it,” Barbara recalls.

Talking about her move to New Copford Place, Barbara said: “I decided to come to New Copford Place as I was so taken with the home’s beautiful gardens. I love gardening, it’s always been a hobby of mine and it’s lovely to be able to enjoy the delightful, picturesque grounds.”

Daniel Sabau, the Care Home Manager at New Copford Place said: “Barbara is an amazing woman; always smiling, cheerful and a very proud lady. Even when she had problems with her legs that caused her massive pain every time she had her dressings changed, she’d squeeze my hand, but then joke and laugh about it. She is also quite a charac-

ter.”

“Everyone here at New Copford Place wanted to make sure Barbara had a wonderful, unforgettable 101st Birthday,” said Camilla Korgba, the care home’s Activities Coordinator. “Barbara is a fun, lovely lady who likes to get involved with our activities, she’s particularly keen on Balloon Tennis. Barbara is a real personality and a wellloved and caring member of our New Copford Place family.”

Barbara continued: “I had a really lovely 101st birthday, it was a very special day. I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday tea, not only the delicious birthday cake, but all the music, singing, laughter and chatter, it really made my day.”

Daniel added: “Barbara is always “shooting” us with her walking stick or “chasing” us throughout the home, making us all laugh. I met Barbara on my first day at New Copford Place and I can’t imagine this place without her. We’re all so glad Barbara enjoyed her landmark day, we wanted it to be special, just like her.”

“The other day I was asked what was my secret to a long and happy life? I’d have to say men!” concluded Barbara.

DO YOU KNOW THE CARER’S NEXT UNSUNG HERO? Regular readers will know we here at the Carer have been awarding an Unsung Hero regularly since 2016!

Now, in these unprecedented and testing times we are Say hello looking for another to some Unsung Hero! previous (How we wish we could winners! reward you all!)

Care Home urst of Cloverfield Marion Brockleh

A Super Deluxe Luxury Hamper for the lucky winner!

Court n of Chamberlain Suzanne Goodma

Thelma O’Leary of Fern hill House Care Home

Tina Higginson of Sam brook care home

A no-frills, no glitz or glamour competition - all we ask is for you to send us a paragraph or two nominating your Unsung Hero from any department with a brief description of how they've gone that extra mile and deserve to be recognised.

✓ Do you know our next Unsung Hero?

Email your nomination to us by Monday May 2nd 2022 at

nominate@thecareruk.com

PAGE 22 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Investigation into the Management of PPE Contracts Continues The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) says it is continuing to deal with the contract management issues caused by the need to purchase unprecedented volumes of PPE in 2020 due to COVID-19, with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money still at risk, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

Since February 2020 DHSC and its NHS procurement partner, NHS Supply Chain Co-ordination Limited (SCCL), have awarded almost 10,000 contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE). DHSC has so far spent £12.6 billion of the total £13.1 billion it expects to spend on almost 38 billion items of PPE. In the spring of 2020, DHSC was operating in an extremely overheated global market with desperate customers competing against each other, pushing up prices and buying huge volumes of PPE. To secure the unprecedented amount of PPE estimated to be needed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DHSC established two new procurement routes: the Parallel Supply Chain1, established in late March 2020; and a new UK Make route2, established in April 2020 to purchase PPE specifically from UK-based manufacturers.3 Some 394 contracts worth £7.9 billion were awarded through these two new procurement routes, largely to new or unknown suppliers to the NHS. Of these 394 contracts,115 were awarded to 51 ‘VIP lane’ suppliers: suppliers suggested by government officials, ministers’ offices, members of Parliament, senior NHS staff and other health professionals.

To date, DHSC has taken receipt of 31.5 billion items of PPE, with a further 1.4 billion items stored in China and 5.0 billion still to be received. Of the 31.5 billion items received, some 17.3 billion items have been delivered to frontline services and 14.2 billion items remain in UK storage. Between March 2020 and October 2021, it had cost the

Department £737 million to store PPE, including penalty charges of £436 million because it had to store PPE in containers for longer than expected.

Assessing the total demand for PPE at the start of the pandemic was challenging due to the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 and the precise technical specifications for the PPE necessary to respond to it.

DHSC estimates it now has 3.9 billion more PPE items than it needs; around 10% of the total PPE it purchased. The Department is trying to reduce excess stock by selling, repurposing, donating to other parts of the public sector or recycling. It is currently spending an estimated £7 million a month storing these items.

DHSC is also storing 3.6 billion PPE items that it considers are not currently suitable for frontline services, accounting for 11% of all PPE it

has received. Some 64% of all items assessed as not currently suitable for frontline services were procured through the Parallel Supply Chain and UK Make. Over half (53%) of 51 VIP suppliers provided some PPE that DHSC considers is not currently suitable for frontline services. In addition, some 1.5 billion items of PPE currently in storage are estimated by DHSC to have passed their expiry date and therefore unable to be distributed.

The Department does not have a single end-to-end stock management system and the management data it holds contains inconsistencies between the volume of PPE ordered and quantities received. In data provided to the NAO, in 21 of 36 contracts there were differences of more than 1% between the number of PPE items contracted for and the number actually received. For 14 of these contracts, DHSC received a total of 107 million fewer items than it had contracted for. In the remaining 7 contracts it received 13 million items more than it had contracted for. Discrepancies arise for several reasons including the double counting of PPE as it is moved between locations, and some stock being missed from the count in cases where it is held in storage by the supplier.

DHSC says it has so far concluded discussions about contract disputes on 76 contracts with suppliers, worth £1.9 billion. Through contract cancellations and variations, DHSC has reported that it has reduced costs by £572 million. DHSC continues to manage 176 contracts where it is in dispute, where it believes it may not achieve full value for money, putting an estimated £2.7 billion at risk. DHSC assesses that 35% of these cases will not be resolved until 2023. The primary cause of contractual dispute is the quality of PPE that has been delivered.

NHS Launches Landmark Mental Health Campaign With ‘Help!’ From The Beatles The NHS has launched a new landmark campaign using the iconic Beatles song ‘Help!” to get the nation taking better care of their mental health.

Backed by some of the UK’s biggest artists, the campaign encourages people struggling with their mental health to seek support.

‘Help!’, written by John Lennon in 1964, was credited by the superstar songwriter as one of his most honest and genuine songs and with lyrics like ‘Help me if you can I’m feeling down’, the song is the ideal soundtrack to get others thinking about their mental wellbeing.

Since the start of the pandemic some 2.3 million people have come forward for NHS talking therapies, but with new figures out today showing that over 50% of people were concerned about their mental health last year – and around half also experiencing stress, anxiety, low mood or depression, and the majority not seeking professional help – many more could benefit.

The NHS is encouraging anybody experiencing anxiety, depression, or other common mental health concerns to come forward and see how talking therapies can help them.

NHS mental health talking therapies are a confidential service run by fully trained experts and can be accessed by self-referral or through your GP and is also now available in British Sign Language (BSL). To find out more visit nhs.uk/help.

And thanks to Sony Music and Apple Corps, who have donated the lyrics and melody of the Beatles classic to the campaign, top names from the UK music industry including Craig David, Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts, Tom Grennan, Laura Mvula, Ella Henderson and Max George, will launch the campaign with a speaking rendition of the song – encouraging more people to seek ‘Help!’.

Speaking of her experiences, Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud praised the impact therapy made on her life.

She said: “I’m someone that has benefited hugely from talking therapy. I think there is such a taboo around it that people almost feel like they’ve failed or they weren’t strong enough to figure out a situation by themselves. But if you’re feeling like you can’t see the wood from the trees or light at the end of the tunnel, it’s imperative to reach out because you can’t always do it alone. It’s about saying this is what is happening to me, it’s not my fault, but my happiness matters and I’m going to put my hand up and say I need some help. I wouldn’t be where I am now without therapy.”

Laura Mvula, added: “Through my own personal experience of when I had therapy on the NHS, it did so much for my emotional well-being just to know that someone was truly caring for me on a regular basis.

It helped me see that things are temporary and however bad and permanent your situation feels, reaching out and sharing with someone you can trust is so important. It’s okay to ask for help - everybody needs it.”

The all-star campaign, which will run across radio, social media, and on demand, is also being backed by a number of leading charities including Mind, Royal College of Psychiatrists, and AGE UK. NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch said: “The pandemic has taken a toll on the nation’s mental health, and we know January can be a particularly tough month for many.

“Over a million people already use NHS talking therapies every year, but we know we can help millions more just by telling them it’s there for them and that is exactly what this campaign is all about.

“If you are experiencing anxiety, stress, or are feeling low, it’s important you know you are not alone and that it is okay to get help. No one should suffer in silence.

“NHS staff have pulled out all the stops throughout the pandemic to keep mental health care services

open, and it’s fantastic to see some of the biggest names in music back our campaign and encourage people to get the support they need.”

One of those who has sought treatment in recent years is former police officer Paul, who says, “that it is not an embarrassment to come forward for mental health issues” and urges others to do the same.

Paul, a former police officer and rugby player, has suffered with his mental health since 2009 while serving as a police officer, and was diagnosed with PTSD. As a six-foot rugby playing detective, he found it very difficult to admit to himself and others and over the next seven years that he needed support and had several breakdowns. In 2016, his poor mental health caused him to retire from the force and finally seek help.

After researching mental health services online, he self-referred himself to the NHS mental health services and undertook cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Of his experiences, Paul said: “When I first sought help through the NHS services, I felt that someone cared immediately. Just those first conversations over the phone, and when I walked in for my first appointment and was met by the receptionists’ ‘smiley eyes’, I felt comfortable and welcomed and that someone was going to listen.

“It is not an embarrassment to admit you have mental health issues. Even if you feel like you’re on your own, there are people out there who care. By contacting the NHS mental health services like I did, you will be given help and the tools to look after yourself. I urge anyone who is feeling low to ask for help”.

Through the NHS Long Term Plan, the NHS is boosting its community mental health services by £2.3 billion a year – improving access to services such as adult talking therapies for millions.

Statistics also show that the NHS is improving access to adult talking therapies, with more than 90% of patients starting treatment within six weeks of making a referral.

To support people with the effects of the pandemic, the NHS is also doing more than ever to deliver faster support – with every area of the country now benefitting from a 24/7 mental health helpline to help people in crisis get urgent care – two years ahead of schedule.

The rollout of local mental health teams in schools has also been accelerated, delivering more support for children and young people than ever before, with around 200 teams now in place for pupils at over 3,000 schools – and NHS services have supported nearly 630,000 children with mental health issues between October 2020 and September 2021.

Dr Adrian James, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The pandemic has affected so many of our lives and has led to many more people needing support for their mental health.

“Anyone from any background can experience anxiety and depression and it’s important that people with these symptoms come forward to seek help.

“This campaign is vitally important and will help even more people get the mental health support they need from our fantastic NHS services.”

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s Charity Director, said: “This campaign could not be coming at a better time. The mental health of many older people has taken a real battering during the pandemic and we hope that this new initiative will encourage everyone who could do with some support to reach out and ask for it. ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ as they say - it's good to talk and there's no reason for anyone to feel embarrassed or ashamed because they are feeling very low. We've all been through a lot these last twenty months, many older people more than most."

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 23

Industry Leaders Write Open Letter to Health Secretary on “Living With Covid in Care Settings” Industry leaders have written an open letter to Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the letter, from Methodist Homes (MHA), the National Care Forum and the Care Workers’ Charity, follows the publication of the guidance for testing and visiting in care homes issued this week, and reads:

(Open letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – 1 April 2022) Dear Secretary of State Living with Covid guidance for health and care: risk of provider destabilisation We write regarding the Written Ministerial Statement dated 29 March 2022 which set out the Government’s approach to Living with Covid in care settings. The care sector has some significant concerns about the impact the associated guidance will have on people working in care and on organisations delivering care. As we understand it, the intention is for care workers to continue asymptomatic testing, and this will not apply to residents or the majority of visitors. Yet the Government has ended funding to support the payment of sick pay for people working in care settings. At the same time, infection rates amongst this group are likely to rise as visitors and others inadvertently bring Covid into these settings.

In the midst of a cost of living crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will be expecting care workers to self-isolate more, and to do so without pay. The end of Infection Control Funds (ICF) puts social care workers in the unfair position of being the only people to now have to experience Living with Covid as something that has a material impact on their family’s financial situation. The social care workforce is already on its knees and it seems inevitable that as it stands this guidance will further exacerbate the recruitment and retention crisis.

The financial sustainability of charitable care providers has already been significantly affected by the pandemic, and the new guidance threatens to destabilise these organisations further. We are aware that there could be catastrophic consequences for organisations attempting to cover sick pay. For example, for the UK’s largest

charity care provider for older people, MHA, supplementing the withdrawal of Government funds for sick pay would cost the organisation in the region of £100K – £150K for one month. If the guidance continues to be in place for longer periods, this one not-for-profit care provider could be looking at around an extra £1.5m for a year, with a knock-on impact on services to enable people to live later life well. Meanwhile, the devolved nations of Wales and Scotland are continuing their sick pay support until the end of June, but in England, the care sector is, once again, on a cliff edge.

It seems incredible that the guidance will recommend that care staff continue to test for Covid when they have no symptoms, but that the people they care for and their visiting loved ones will not be expected to do so. This renders the testing of staff ineffective and pointless, with only one part of the infection control puzzle being in play.

We desperately want people who use care services and the people who so brilliantly care for them to be able to Live with Covid. But the Government’s guidance will put at risk the ability of not-for-profit providers to continue delivering. Given the severe financial and operational impact on care provision, we would ask you to reconsider the Government’s position on Living with Covid in care settings and specifically: • Provide funding through which care providers can offer our hard-working colleagues the sick pay that they deserve, • Address the inconsistency in care setting testing arrangements, • Share publicly the evidence upon which the new guidance is based, • Meet with representatives of the social care sector.

We look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely, Vic Rayner – Chief Executive, NCF Sam Monaghan – Chief Executive, MHA Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive, CWC

Queens Oak residents Receive MP3 Players from Purple Angel Purple Angel is a company based in Devon, whose aim is to raise awareness of dementia and provide support for people who live with it.

The company recently got in touch with the team at Queens Oak Care Home in Peckham to offer them five MP3 players for people living in the home. They wanted to ensure residents have access to music and can feel the benefits of listening to familiar songs – not only does this help to boost mood, but also bring back connected memories from the past.

The team working at Queens Oak thought this was a wonderful gesture and so, they sat down with five people living at the home and discussed their favourite songs.

These tracks were then used to create playlists, which were sent to Purple Angle to pre-load onto the MP3 players.

Not long after sending off the lists of songs, the MP3 players arrived at Queens Oak. People sat there with their headphones on, listening to the songs they selected. They were smiling, singing and dancing along – it was wonderful for the team to see the immediate benefit these devices were having.

A person wearing headphones Description automatically generated with low confidence.

One lady said, “I love that I can now listen to my favourite songs when I want and relax in my room!”

Since the mp3 players arrived, they have been passed around the home so everyone can take some time out to listen to music on their own. This has been calming and uplifting for many people and has certainly improved personal wellbeing.

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National Care Hero Award for Harrogate Carer Aneta Ryczkowska, Care Assistant at Vida Grange Care Home in Harrogate has won a national social care hero award in recognition of her hard work.

The award has been made this week by Support Social Care Heroes (SSCH), an organisation which aims to preserve, protect and improve the health and wellbeing of those providing social care.

SSCH launched the monthly award programme this year to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the 1.54m people working in social care in the UK. Aneta, who was nominated for March 2022, is the third award winner.

Aneta was nominated by her colleagues, her manager Victoria Edwards said: “Aneta is truly worthy of this award which was recognised by myself and her team. Aneta is fantastic in her work, putting the residents at the heart of all she does. Well done and congratulations on this welldeserved recognition.”

On hearing she had won the award Aneta said: “I am very surprised, I didn’t expect this, I’m doing my job the best I can and am really happy I have won this award.”

Aneta will receive a £50 voucher for the grocery store of her choice, a box of chocolates, certificate, a SSCH hoody and Vida Grange Care Home will receive a bunch of flowers. The prizes have been sponsored

by VAT Solutions.

The social care workforce is often overlooked yet they keep the most vulnerable people in our society

safe and well. It is hoped that SSCH will receive significant support following research which found that the overwhelming majority of the public feel that social care staff are undervalued (81%) and underpaid (80%).

The monthly care hero awards have been created to show that care workers are appreciated.

Nicola Richards, Founder of Support Social Care Heroes, explained the thinking behind the idea: “Social care staff often do not get the recognition that they deserve despite being valued by their managers and employers.

“Many care homes already have ‘employee of the month’ schemes and we really felt we should do something to bring all these nominations together from around the country to celebrate all our social care heroes and the amazing work they do.

“The pandemic has brought social care colleagues across the country together as we have supported each other like never before. I hope these awards will provide a positive boost to carers, managers and the wider care home teams.

“These awards are the first step in our long-term plans to ensure those who need care, and those caring for them, are valued by all in society.

“Our country’s social care heroes have been on the front line and in the headlines for almost two years and this new initiative will help show them that they are valued and recognise the work they do.”

Social care employers are encouraged to nominate their staff for a care home hero award (employee of the month). Taking part has been made simple and easy: post a photo of your employee of the month and which care home you represent, to social media, with the hashtag #SocialCareHeroAwards and tag Support Social Care Heroes page. Tell us in 160 characters why the person is a social care hero.

All nominations will be curated by the Support Social Care Heroes team and on the last Monday of each month a winner will be chosen at random.

Anyone who wishes to donate to Support Social Care Heroes can do so by visiting: www.ssch.info.

Residents Reflect on Their Younger Selves as Greensleeves Care Turns 25 Throughout April, Greensleeves Care is celebrating 25 years of providing exemplary residential, nursing and dementia care to older people across England.

Greensleeves Care operates its homes with a person-centred approach to care, celebrating the residents as individuals. This includes colleagues at the homes having a firm knowledge of each resident’s likes and dislikes, as well as their own personal history.

In the spirit of the anniversary, residents across the charity’s 26 homes have been reminiscing on what their own lives looked like when they were 25 years old.

his boss’ daughter, Madge, who he later married!

Paul then became a London bus driver which he describes as his favourite job. He particularly enjoyed the route down the West End where everyone was dressed up for the shows. He would watch them running in the rain with their shiny shoes and umbrellas to catch his bus.

In the 1960s Paul became an avid activist for workers’ rights, calling a strike for better pay and working conditions. Later in life he worked for a bank and started the National Union of Bank Employees with his friend Mick.

JEAN JACKSON – THE MANOR CARE HOME (OLD WINDSOR)

PAUL O’CONNELL – DE LUCY HOUSE (DISS)

time off over Christmas to go and collect all my belongings from Scotland, where I am originally from.

I asked the Matron and she told me that no one was allowed holiday in December however everyone took it anyway. She would not give me actual permission. She said that I should just do as the others did. That is not my way of working so instead I resigned, and she quite calmly said “well you can have your job back once you’ve had your holiday if you want?”

I didn’t quite say “stuff it” to her but that’s what I meant! I went and collected all my belongings from up North and then started a new job in Berkhamsted with an Orthodontist where I had to travel on the bus every day an hour each way!”

riage and had a 3-month-old son, Paul.

It was good and bad being home from Malta. I loved the greenery of Britain but certainly didn’t like the cold damp weather! We moved to Worksop where I worked as an instructor in the RAF, and it was nice to be part of a small team instead of a large squadron.

I remember singing along to Jo Stafford and riding my motorbike complete with my wife and baby in the sidecar! I think we went as far as Scotland in it once!”

GEORGE WALKER – HARLESTON HOUSE (LOWESTOFT)

JOHN HARRIS – THE MANOR CARE HOME (WINDSOR)

When Paul O’Connell was born in Cork, Ireland, and moved to England as a teenager where he joined the Navy. After the war, he worked as a labourer, building new houses to regenerate England’s post-war economy. This is where he met

“When I was 25, I had only been married 2 years and had no children yet, they came later. It was 1958 and that was the year we moved from the East End of London where we overlooked a football ground to Slough where we overlooked parkland.

I was a Staff nurse on a male orthopaedic ward in Upton Hospital and I remember needing to book

“I was 25 in 1956. It was a good year, life was good. I had just returned from being stationed in Malta for three years, I was three years into mar-

“Having just left the army as a Gunner I became a domestic plumber for a small family firm, and me and my wife brought our first house in London”.

“Life was stable with a wife and working as a plumber, life was good”. “Others and I were settling down to peace following the end of the war and people were moving on, life was getting better”.

Ventilation Issues Resolved At Luxury Retirement Development Friary Meadow is a newly-opened luxury retirement development near Fareham in Hampshire. Located by a lake & surrounded with landscaped gardens, it comprises of 86 properties & includes facilities such as its own on-site cinema.

It also has a full-service restaurant served by a new fully-equipped commercial kitchen. The restaurant is looked after by its own on-site chef daily cooking a range of new & exciting dishes.

However, the ventilation & kitchen extract system was causing both overheating issues in the kitchen & was noisy, spoiling what was otherwise a great kitchen.

So managing agent, Oak Retirement Ltd, contacted Building Ventilation Solutions of Salisbury to help them try & resolve the issues.

Following an in-depth survey, BVS quickly identified a badly designed make-up air system, which was both causing the noise & starving the kitchen canopy of air. This also caused draughts from the restaurant & poor extraction from the canopy.

A detailed report was provided & approved & BVS then quickly carried out the works, resulting in immediate improvements. Including a considerable reduction of heat in the kitchen, better extraction from the canopy & much lower noise levels. Much to the delight of the chef who commented; “Until BVS resolved our issues, the kitchen was a very hot & stuffy place to work & very noisy. Now it’s like a different world & a very pleasant environment” Oak Retirement director, Stephen Ladyman commented; "We were very impressed that Building Ventilation solutions quickly identified problems that others couldn't resolve. They then retrofitted solutions that cured all the issues, greatly improving the kitchen conditions. We are very pleased & wouldn't hesitate to recommend Building Ventilation Solutions" In addition, each of the accommodations include a whole-house venti-

lation system with heat recovery (MVHR units), manufactured by VentAxia & quite a number of these were also problematic. So Building Ventilation Solutions found & rectified all the problems with these & recommissioned & serviced each system. BVS also resolved other issues being experienced on site with split air-conditioning units in the common areas as part of their comprehensive range of services Building Ventilation Solutions can be contacted at www.bvs-ltd.co.uk

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The ‘Invisible’ Power Behind A New Generation of Care Homes

Stephen Cavanagh, long-term care specialist at Ascom (www.Ascom.com), explores the importance of technology that integrates seamlessly and discreetly to create a new generation of care homes.

In sci-fi novels and films set in the future, technology is always central. It’s overt. The design of any setting is built around it, and it’s always bright, neon lit and noisy. It’s inescapable. So, when we talk about the care home of the future, most believe that for technology to play a vital part it needs to be visible and dominating. But in reality, it needs to be the exact opposite.

Our partnership with Principle Care Homes is the perfect illustration. The group has ambitious plans for how technology will be integral for not only resident care, but also how it operates as a business when it opens its purpose-built flagship 60-bedroom care home, Heron Manor in Fleet, next Spring.

Their aim, in the words of Subhaan Iqbal, head of systems at Principle Care Homes, is to “create a new generation of care homes, where technology creates an invisible ecosystem of protection and support for our residents, their loved ones and our team. To create an environment where everyone feels special.”

DISCREET DATA THAT DRIVES INFORMED CARE The key to achieving this is discreet, near-real-time data collection via deployment of sensors, cameras, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and associated management software to unite and, essentially, turn data points into actionable insight.

Subtle changes in resident behaviour, especially where dementia is a factor - for instance getting up more regularly at night or breaking from established habitual movements throughout the day - might indicate a change in physical or mental state that needs to be investigated. But these are also changes that might easily be missed. No one care team member has a 24/7 holistic view of each resident in their care. With technology, they can.

This unlocks the ability to make improvements based on facts before there is a need for critical intervention; the ability to make informed decisions that improve care by pre-empting problems and adapting to changing needs.

SMARTER MONITORING THAT MAKES SUPPORT LESS INTRUSIVE Of course, not all changes are subtle. But that doesn’t mean the subtle use of data capture can’t deliver benefits. Take falls as an example.

Falls are a serious challenge for care home providers. In fact, according to ‘The Falls in Care Home’ study, residents are three times more likely to fall than older people living within the community.

Given the potential consequences of falls, prevention is naturally better than cure. But taking measures to ensure a resident doesn’t stumble can also be detrimental. Being monitored more closely by carers may impact on feelings of independence.

Technology tackles this issue. Residents can now be monitored through integrated technology, which records vital signs such as blood pressure, weight and hydration. Pressure sensors and acoustic monitoring installed in a resident’s living area can monitor environmental changes and track movement – providing insight into someone’s everyday life and wellbeing.

When talking about this aspect of their planning at Principle Care Homes, Subhaan told me: “We want residents to feel at home and to maintain as much of their independence as they can. Technology enables us to keep a close track of a resident’s health without it feeling intrusive. Especially when it comes to falls.

By equipping ourselves with tools that enable us to pick up on subtle signals that a resident is a little unsteady on their feet, struggling to move around or get out of bed, we can act quickly.”

It’s a scenario that’s better for residents but also better for staff. As Subhaan put it, “no-one becomes a carer because of the administration and paperwork. They want to spend time supporting residents”. In other words, by continually analysing data Principle Care Homes will be able to make improvements in how their teams work. Empowering them to spend time doing the part of the job they enjoy and are highly trained for.

Interestingly, and again reflective of forward trends for future care homes, Principle Care will also be using AI-based solutions to support wider operational decision making. From simplifying HR processes and accounting, through to ordering food for residents based on their individual care plans. In fact, the ambition is for their first home to be 100 per cent paperless by the time it opens next year.

THE CONNECTED FUTURE OF LONG-TERM CARE When you consider all these factors, it’s easy to see how tracking the real-time behaviour of care home residents could be life-changing, if not lifesaving.

What’s more, the benefits on offer can be further enhanced by making links that extend beyond care home walls. Certainly, for Principle Care Homes, the future of care is not siloed. Their aim is to integrate directly with GPs and pharmacies to “make the care pathway for residents truly connected”.

It’s exciting to see, and for Ascom to be a part of this new generation of care homes that are emerging.

Technology has become such an important part of our everyday lives. To now witness it transform our health provision and the care of our loved ones, is truly inspirational.

Hallmark Foundation Appoints Three New Trustees Three new trustees have been appointed to the board of Hallmark Care Homes Foundation to help leads its work on ageing well and improving the quality of care. The charity funds research and innovation and works with partners to maximise its impact.

Christine Whatford CBE, Kirstie McMillan and Steve Cockell bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills to lead and develop the work of the charity.

Christine Whatford CBE is a former headteacher and director of education and children’s services in London boroughs and currently is a governor of Anglia Ruskin University.

Kirstie McMillan is a strategic technology transformation consultant with KPMG, changing organisational

culture, with personal and professional experience of care.

Steve Cockell has held senior roles with NatWest and RBS and now advises on lending and fundraising, alongside non-executive roles with commercial and charitable bodies.

Full profiles and photos of the trustees can be found at: Trustees & Team - Hallmark Foundation Age Well, Every Step of the Way Avnish Goyal, chair of Hallmark Foundation, said: “We are delighted to recruit three new trustees with a range of backgrounds to help lead the Hallmark Foundation. Their experience in public, private and charity sector leadership will bring substantial knowledge and skills taking forward our important work to make Britain a better place to age well and improve care by supporting and developing the workforce.”

Access Enhances Public Sector Offering in Cloud Commissioning Technology Services Through the Acquisition of Adam Human Touch Technology The Access Group, a leading business solutions and software provider for mid-sized organisations, today announced the acquisition of adam Human Touch Technology (HTT), a provider of highly configurable purchasing solutions to public sector bodies across a range of spend areas, from complex community care, to transport and housing.

The addition of adam’s technology will allow the Access Health, Support & Care division to further expand and enhance its solution offering in the public sector space and will deliver wide ranging benefits for Access customers in the form of financial savings, improved service provision, streamlined processes and the automation of administration tasks.

Steve Sawyer, managing director, Access Health, Support & Care comments: “adams’ cloud-based commissioning has enabled local government and

NHS procurement teams to streamline processes, connect providers and patients and react quickly to support the provision of consistent and highquality care. The digital revolution in the procurement of services in the public sector has the potential to transform the quality and consistency of services received by the end user, for this reason, adam solutions are an essential part of the Access offering” “Access is committed to helping public sector bodies realise their potential to provide better health and care services in their geographies. Through adam, Access helps provide significant time and economic benefits to customers in the provision of commissioned services. We are on track to deliver our vision of a unique ecosystem of solutions across the health and social care spectrum aligned with the government’s strategy for integrated health and care systems resulting in better outcomes.”

PAGE 30 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

Can Assistive Technology Solve Lincolnshire’s Care Needs? New Research Released New research from the University of Lincoln has found that sensors – including cameras, temperature and movement monitors – are ideal for safely observing vulnerable people in their homes and supporting face-to-face care appointments.

The findings form part of a wider research paper examining how modern and cost-effective technology can be used to improve independent living for vulnerable adults, such as the elderly, less abled, and those recovering from illness or returning home after hospital treatment.

The ‘Social Care Technology Innovation for the Citizens of Lincolnshire’ project has involved seven months of work between the University of Lincoln, public services provider Serco, and Lincolnshire County Council, who have jointly examined how ‘assistive technology’ (AT) could help adults with health and social care needs live more independently and safely within their own homes, for longer.

The starting point was to consider how AT – ranging from smartphones, tablets and apps, through to digital assistants, wearable technology like smart watches, cameras and remote sensors – could help people complete day-to-day tasks like cooking, bathing, leisure and social participation, while also monitoring and supporting other individual health needs.

These demands are becoming increasingly crucial for the 8,905 adults in Lincolnshire who require long-term assistance with their mental health, learning disabilities and physical or social requirements, and who are currently supported each year by Lincolnshire County Council.

This scenario is further being played out across the UK where the national care system is currently in the midst of a significant overhaul to meet the requirements of 14.1 million less abled people and 5.3 million people aged over 75.

The project outcomes were presented at a recent event held at the University of Lincoln, which brought together over 45 academics, health and social care providers, Serco representatives and other technology experts, to discuss the headline findings which indicated that: Understanding how care technologies work and are interacted with needs to be carefully considered, particular for elderly people Everyday, low-cost technology able to network and interface with the Internet is an ideal choice to help people, rather than expensive, bespoke / specialist devices Sensors, including cameras, temperature and movement monitors, are ideal for keeping vulnerable people safe in their homes, and can also support care staff in their work While privacy concerns are valid, there is much research supporting the preservation of privacy within-home monitoring systems AI and robotics systems can serve a wide variety of patient needs, including guidance and route planning, medication reminders, provid-

ing company through socially-assistive robotics, and physical help with patient transport, lifting and feeding Societal and ethical challenges surrounding Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) are a potential obstacle, and some patients are uncomfortable with the idea of a live-in robot assistant.

Comments following discussion of these findings included: Dr Salah Al-Majeed, Deputy Head of the School of Computer Science at the University of Lincoln: “Technology offers increasing potential for new methods of diagnosing, detecting and monitoring warning signs in vulnerable adults, and can also serve to connect friends, families, carers and communities within a wider web of support.

“At the same time, mainstream tech can’t do everything – it can’t [yet] put you to bed, clean or hug you, but modern, prevalent devices including remote-sensing, wearable-tech, machine learning and AI can free up time to allow social workers, occupational therapists and professional carers to apply their valuable skills, experience and knowledge.

“Our work has identified multiple ways in which home care technology could be improved to better suit care recipients. Looking to the future the next stages of this project will be to develop ‘IDEAL’ – an ‘Integrated Device Ecosystem for Assisted Living,’ which will act as a centralised hub for inter-device communication in homes.

“At the moment there are plenty of Internet-linked devices that can act as AT, but getting technology from different manufacturers to connect and cooperate is very difficult. IDEAL will increase care-recipient independence and decrease carer workloads by allowing people to be cared for in the comfort of their own homes for longer.

“In collaboration with select partners, The University of Lincoln will also lead on the creation of a ‘UK Centre of Excellence for Health &

Social Care Innovation.’ Based at the University and working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, Serco and other supporters, this initiative will establish long-term research and development projects to tackle a multitude of current and future challenges within the care sector, bringing together expertise and providing well-framed outcomes for local and national communities.”

Glen Garrod, Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, Lincolnshire County Council: “Many people’s needs can be met online and digital may be the way forward, particularly given the resources identified and the clear link with the Government’s White Paper on Social Care Reform the Integration White Paper and the Health and Social Care Bill.

“To be successful in the future will require new ways of thinking and the use of devices, often already in the home, which can be used to help people be more independent, resilient and remain connected into the local community. There should also be benefits for front-line practitioners in health and social care in helping to better manage pressures of work.

“Lincolnshire is the fourth most dispersed county and for adults with autism, learning difficulties and mental health issues, staying connected and battling isolation are among the biggest challenges.

“The University of Lincoln’s plan for a Centre of Excellence should begin as a three-to-five-year proposal. We’ve got to think ‘big’ and long-term for the potential of digital and robotic assistance and, if the evidence is there, we will help fund and support this initiative.”

Ben Johnson, Serco Head of Technology within Local Government Partnerships: “Serco has been working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council since April 2015, providing high quality services including IT, , customer service centre, finance, payroll and other important public services.

“The University of Lincoln’s research shows that technology has a significant role to play in health care quality, effectiveness and efficiency in both a support and preventative capacity.

“As part of this project Serco and the University of Lincoln have met with start-up tech organisations with exciting new ideas offering significant improvements to the quality of life for care recipients.

“We are beginning to see the first signs of the Government’s social care transformation plan emerge and the timing of this collaborative research could not be more significant.

“The findings highlight key opportunities and challenges as to how we must innovate and deliver high quality, next generation and accessible social and health care services to UK citizens.”

To see the full Social Care Technology Innovation for the Citizens of Lincolnshire’ project site, please visit https://tinyurl.com/yevymkvx

Don’t Go ‘Like For Like’ - Trade Up To High Performance, Fuel Saving Efficiency For Limitless Hot Water Temperature Accurate On Demand Readily Available Now Hydrogen blends-ready Rinnai continuous flow hot water delivery units&systems analysis shows 20% (min.) carbon emissions reduction compared to heated storage systems When a stored water system or unit comes to the end of its working life it is assumed that replacing ‘like for like’ is the best option. But, says Pete Seddon for Rinnai, ‘If we look at the ‘like for like’, out with the old one and in with the same model stored water heater - there is actually a huge and costly amount of work involved. Changing the same old for the same new does not mean it is better. Most plant rooms are limited in space which would require the old equipment being removed before the ‘like for like’ appliances can be installed.

Easy access and continuous, limitless flows of hot water are critical components of building services for all applications in all sites adds Mr Seddon.

He says, “Continuous flow technology in hot water delivery provides constant flows of temperature specific and controlled delivery end-product, which are hydrogen blends and BioLPG ready. They are also a one-man lift requiring no lifting gear.

‘Not only that, but if the appliance being replaced was non-condensing and the new appliance was condensing, then the flue would most likely require changing as well as the provision to discharge condensate. Plant rooms are very rarely designed to remove equipment. This requirement to remove equipment before new is installed would have a major impact - and it takes so much time,’ adds Pete Seddon.

‘The hot water system would have to be completely shut down to allow such major works to take place and all sites, especially healthcare ones, cannot simply allow this to happen.

Due to the size and weight of these appliances it can make life exceedingly difficult for installers. They are usually manufactured with Enamel Lined (Glass Lined) Mild Steel which can make it extremely heavy but also very fragile. It would require multiple personnel to manoeuvre these out and in, even specialist lifting equipment and for plant rooms high up cranes would be required. All of this will add a lot of time and cost to the overall installation. Not only that, but if specialist lift equipment and cranes are required you are going to need suitably trained personnel as well as permits.

Says Pete Seddon, “So, what can continuous flow solutions offer that can make this entire process a lot easier? Well, we will start with their size and weight. This type of technology is 30kg. That is a one-man lift.

Two sizes are available - 47kW and 58kW. This would equate to a large volume of hot water for such a physically small appliance. (774 and 954 litres per hour at a 50-degree rise).

‘The other benefit is the ability to cascade these appliances so when more hot water is required you would simply add more continuous flow water heaters. This would mean that just a single installer could create a system that would produce vast amounts of temperature accurate hot water. Whilst also creating built-in redundancy – this means that if one unit needs to be shut down the complete site still has ready access to hot water.

“Also possible is a ‘plug and play’ cascade sequencing control system that will automatically control how many appliances are running at any one time, all the installers would have to do is plug it in and select the primary water heater. Continuous flow can easily cope with any size of healthcare site. Simple as that,’ adds Mr Seddon.

With a continuous flow system there are also externally sited units where there is just no space in a plant room. These external hot water heaters are fully weather protected with and hold IPX5D rating.

Installations also come with frost protection down to -20°C and will keep the appliance protected so long as the mains power supply is left switched on.

When measured in economic performance, continuous flow water heaters are half the yearly costs on a Peak Period of 3 hours per day at 960 I/h that a combustion unit would accumulate.

A typical water storage-based installation will cost £5,662.13 per year, where in comparison a Rinnai continuous flow water system will cost £2,736.02.

Rinnai’s complete range of hot water heating units are available for next day delivery on orders placed before the previous mid-day.

Rinnai UK has excellent stock levels of all units in the range plus spares and accessories.

Installers can contact the company direct in gaining access to the supply of units Call 01928 531 870 or email engineer@rinnaiuk.com and sales@rinnaiuk.com alternatively use the smart online contact points “Help Me Choose” or “Ask Us a Question”, all held on the website homepage at www.rinnaiuk.com For more information on the RINNAI product range visit www.rinnaiuk.com

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 31

NIHR Changes Name to Emphasise LongTerm Commitment to Social Care Research To emphasise thier enduring commitment to social care research, from today the NIHR will officially become the ‘National Institute for Health and Care Research’. The acronym ‘NIHR’ will remain unchanged.

Since its establishment in 2006, the NIHR has invested over £200m in more than 470 social care research projects across its portfolio, with £90m worth of NIHR-funded social care studies starting in the last three years. Of these, over a third have been funded by the NIHR’s dedicated School for Social Care Research.

NIHR-funded research is diverse, exploring a wide range of important issues, and has led to a number of changes to social care practice.

In one example, a new approach was developed which reduced challenging behaviours among people with learning disabilities in residential settings by two thirds and was rolled out across 800 residential care sites.

As well as the £200m in direct funding, we have also supported and delivered social care research through our wider infrastructure, in particular the Applied Research Collaborations which worked with local authorities to support over 80 studies in 2020/2021, and the Research Design Service which supports researchers to develop high quality applications.

Additionally, the NIHR has supported those who want to develop their career in social care research, funding internships, career development and senior leaders awards and PhDs through the NIHR Academy and the School for Social Care Research. We have also supported those working in the social care sector through the Local Authority Fellowship Scheme.

DEEPER AND BROADER COMMITMENTS Tied to today’s announcement are a range of investments and commitments to future work.

These are designed to both deepen and broaden the range of social care research the NIHR supports – through funding, building capacity

within our research delivery infrastructure, strengthening the links between academia and practice, and engaging carers and people who need care and support.

An increase in spending of £5m a year has been dedicated to social care research, some of which will go towards funding an additional call run through the Research for Social Care programme. This programme funds research which generates evidence to improve, expand and strengthen the way adult social care is delivered for users of care services, carers, and the public. From today, this work will be accompanied by a commitment to fund much-needed research in the area of social care for children and young people, working in partnership with the Department for Education.

Our Health and Social Care Delivery Research Programme is today launching a ‘Social Care Rapid Evaluation’ funding call, designed to fund new teams to deliver rapid reviews of promising social care innovations identified by the social care sector. This will generate nationally relevant evidence to improve care and outcomes for people who use services and professionals delivering those services. And next week, the NIHR and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will be announcing the studies funded through a new, jointly-run call focused on transforming care and health at home and enabling independence.

The NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment programme is establishing a social care prioritisation committee with wide representation from social care practice, people with lived experience and others. This aims to examine social care research questions, prioritise them and then oversee commissioning briefs to be advertised.

Prof. Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive of the NIHR, said: “At NIHR, we believe that funding and supporting research that expands and strengthens the way that social care is provided is one of the most important ways to improve standards of care for people who need it. We want to support the incredible work being done on the ground by both paid and unpaid carers.

“This name change is more than symbolic. Our history of investment in social care research already tells a strong story, and today’s concrete plans to further fund and support such research is a clear affirmation of our commitment to this vital part of the health and care sector.

“It is our hope that today’s name change will inspire not just current and future generations of social care researchers, whose talent and expertise can revolutionise the social care sector, but also people who need care and support, carers, the public and those working in social care. The involvement of all these groups will be key to getting the right research to the right places in the right way.”

Minister for Innovation, Lord Kamall, said: “We want to see the UK continue to be a catalyst of innovation for health and care research from rapidly creating new vaccines to advancing new research to improve the effectiveness of social care, such as developing best practice for supporting people with learning disabilities.

“NIHR’s name change and this additional funding will ensure we remain at the forefront of ground-breaking research in both health and social care.

“I encourage researchers, social care users and practitioners to get involved with social care research. Research is a key way to identify and address current challenges to improve the lives of carers and people receiving social care.”

Community Outreach Helping Young People Understand Dementia Justine Ellory has an important role at the Morris Care group of nursing homes.

As Community Relationship Manager Justine helps forge close ties within communities around its six nursing homes engaging with local people, professionals, groups and importantly with youngsters.

As part of her job, Justine has been helping to create awareness and understanding of dementia, recently talking to year 9 students at The Priory School in Shrewsbury in a virtual session with over 100 fourteen-year-olds as part of their Lifeskills module.

The session began with Justine introducing Morris Care, its values and how it cares for those living with dementia in a compassionate and positive way. This included bringing to life what happens in later life and the facilities and insights the nursing home group has developed to help create the best environment and experience.

Justine began: “I found the pupils’ response both fascinating and encouraging – they were genuinely surprised when I explained that one in three of us is likely to develop dementia and that over a million of us will have dementia by 2030. So, understanding how to see the signs of early onset and how to respond to those in our communities living with it, is vital for us all.”

The pupils asked a number of erudite questions after the talk and Priory pupil Poppy Thorpe commented: “I really enjoyed the presentation and to have a guest speaker makes such a difference after Covid.”

One of the main points that resonated with Justine’s audience was the importance of kindness.

She continued: “One of the best ways to explain all the facets of dementia is to visually show how peo-

ple may behave with the disease and the impact of some simple but effective measures.”

A video showed an elderly lady getting to a hospital for an appointment and the hurdles she had to get over, helping the children to second guess the anxieties she faced. A second video featured a gentleman who had advanced dementia and who was transformed through music. He had been a musician as a young man and when he listens to music it takes him to his happy place, so he can pick up a tune and sing along again feeling happy and calm.

“I think we were all moved by the real-life examples in the videos” Justine said.

“Not just the tutors and the pupils - I felt emotional too!

“It is so uplifting to see how some interventions can bring about such a positive change for those living with dementia.”

Morris Care has developed its own bespoke philosophy of caring for those living with dementia focused on person centred care – seeing the person not the disease. Every single resident has their own bespoke care plan devised around their own life story with elements ranging medical support to help slow the disease, to talking therapies and cognitive stimulation.

Justine summed up the session: “I really hope it was helpful and stimulating and want to thank the pupils for being so receptive. When I began, I couldn’t believe that I was speaking to my old school – as I have very fond memories of studying at The Priory before leaving in 1999.

She continued: “I do hope that if I communicated one thing it would be that understanding and respect is fundamental to helping those living with dementia. After today many of these young people understand a little more. A great outcome from my perspective.”

Care Home Chef Caters for his Former College Lecturers’ Silver Wedding Anniversary There was a special 25th wedding anniversary surprise for Alan Williamson, a resident at Hartford Court in Portsmouth, and his wife Judith.

Cooking and preparing their anniversary lunch was Hartford Court’s Head Chef, Steve Pakiry, who was taught by both Alan and Judith at Highbury College in Cosham, Portsmouth, in 1974.

Their anniversary lunch comprised canapes and champagne for starters, followed by a main course of salmon fillet with seasonal vegetables and new potatoes, with profiteroles and cream, berries and chocolate ganache for dessert, rounded off with tea, coffee and mints.

Steve came to the UK from Mauritius in 1974. He went to Highbury College Portsmouth where Alan was the pastry chef lecturer and Judith the front of house

service lecturer.

Steve says: “It was an absolute joy to be able to cook for Alan and Judith on their Silver Wedding. I hope they enjoyed their anniversary lunch. They were so helpful to me when I first started my catering career here in the UK and this was the least I could do to repay them for their help and support when I was training.”

Hartford Court is one of the 16 care homes located across the south of England operated by Hartford Care, part of a family-owned business, established more than a century ago in 1908.

The company is governed by its core principles of care, comfort and companionship in an environment that is safe and happy for all.

PAGE 32 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Hygienic Warewasher is Central to Care Home‘s Efficiency When choosing a commercial dishwasher for a healthcare environment there are a number of factors to consider including the plumbing and electrical supply, the financial outlay and the physical space available. Most important however are the industry and individual care-home’s specific hygiene requirements.

Forbes Professional always conducts a comprehensive site survey to ensure that the right machines are specified for each site. They are proud partners with Miele, whose commercial dishwashers are fully WRAS compliant and comply with all the necessary industry regulations. For a care environment, Forbes’ latest range of tank dishwashers enable an impressively fast throughput, which is invaluable for a busy kitchen. However, for some care homes a specialist hygiene dishwasher is required in order to ensure that the highest levels of hygiene are maintained. Miele PG8059 HYGIENE freshwater dishwashers deliver a particularly high temperature final

rinse that is maintained for 5 minutes to ensure the ultimate hygienic clean.

With a default temperature of 85c they more than exceed the Department of Health’s recommendations of a twominute cycle at 82c. During lockdown, Forbes continued to install and service these machines for a number of NHS hospitals as they meet the most stringent hygiene standards.

Forbes Professional’s experienced account managers provide all the necessary advice to ensure adherence to the relevant operating parameters.

Under their complete care package, clients avoid capital outlay and the fixed monthly payments are entirely deductible pre-tax profits. Clients also have the peace of mind afforded by a first-class engineer response service, at no extra cost for the duration of the contract.

Contact info@forbes-professional.co.uk, 0345 070 2335 or www.forbespro.co.uk or see the advert on page 25.

Cash’s Labels- “The Name Behind the Name”

At Cash's, we aim to capture, reinforce and communicate our clients’ brand equity through quality and innovation, from design to distribution.

Our product range fully caters for the needs of both small and large retailers and brand owners alike comprising of woven and printed labels, woven badges, care labels, branded and promotional swing tags, garment accessories, packaging and barcoding. Our ground breaking labelling and security technologies are also able to provide an unrivalled level of protection to our customers' brand

by assisting to combat counterfeiting and grey market activity.

Our industry leading eCommerce system is designed to reduce cost, improve efficiency and streamline supply chain management and will fully protect the integrity and accuracy of critical business data. The order entry process is very simple meaning suppliers and vendors can spend their valuable time on tasks other than ordering apparel labelling and accessories.

Visit www.cashslabels.com or see the advert on page 23.

Temporary Catering Facilities For Events & Kitchen Refurbishments Mobile Kitchens Ltd specialises in the hire or sale of temporary catering facilities and foodservice equipment.

Ideal for events or to provide temporary catering facilities during your kitchen refurbishment, our versatile units and equipment offer an efficient and economic solution to the caterers’ needs.

Production Kitchens, Preparation Kitchens, Warewashing Units, Dry Store Units, Cold Rooms and Restaurant Units are available as individual units in their own right or they can be linked together on site to form a complete complex.

Alternatively, we can offer modular, open-plan facilities, usually for larger, longer-term hires.

We offer a free design service, and project management from concept through to delivery and installation on site, plus full technical support throughout the hire period.

The standard specification of our smallest

Production Kitchen unit includes a six burner oven range, salamander grill, twin basket fryer, upright fridge, hot cupboard, single bowl sink unit with integral hand wash basin, plus ample power points to plug in Microwaves, Food Processors, Toasters etc. Internal equipment can be interchanged and clients can effectively specify their preferred layout.

We have many tried and tested design layouts and would be pleased to put forward our recommendations for your project.

So if you’re planning a refurbishment or need to cater for an event then why not give us a call and we’ll be happy to provide advice and put forward a competitive proposal.

For further information or to arrange a site visit, email: sales@mk-hire.co.uk or call us on 0345 812 0800, or visit our website: www.mk-hire.co.uk or see the advert on page 23.

Reduce Your Operating Costs!!

The first 10 CARE HOMES to respond will receive a FREE SURVEY to identify potential savings and recommendations for how you can realise: · Precise control of engineering and building services to reduce costs: • Plant room, water tanks, hot and cold distribution, heating and ventilating, lighting · Laundry services to achieve hygienic standards HTM0104 compliant: Optimum processing of bed linen, towels, staff uniforms and residents clothing · Health and Safety standards for your residents, staff and the building(s): HSG220 is the recognised guidance for implementation in CARE HOMES ACoP L8 and HTM04-01 compliance to ensure Legionella control Public Health England Covid 19 guidance on PPE and operational procedures · Sustainability, carbon footprinting to achieve a 'net zero' emissions strategy

Call or Email NOW: 07831 873355 admin@opeque.com Opeque can assist in reducing energy bills, complying with legislation, managing health and safety and achieving a sustainable operation.

Over years, Opeque has worked with various industry sectors, from tyre manufacturing to laundries, schools to hotels and hospitals to care homes, optimising their manufacturing procedures and facilities management.

Applying industrial engineering principles, we address productivity, resource efficiency, quality control, health and safety and asset management, bringing people, utilities, equipment, and buildings together to realise product excellence.

We have worked with many care homes to provide laundry services and water hygiene and it is from these close relationships that we believe we can further assist your CARE HOME to reduce operating costs. or see the advert on page 6.

Just Imagine Being Whisked Away by Rail on an Iconic Steam Journey… Any Time – Any Place!

Escape FIRST CLASS by rail through the misty mountains and glittering lochs of the Scottish Highlands OR wind through the Settle to Carlisle railway on one of the most scenic and impressive railways in the UK, all in pure comfort with familiar faces and a cup of tea to hand...

“The Jolly Journey” creates a familiar and stimulating environment for residents to be whisked away with friends and family in an exciting steam carriage anywhere in the UK. Get your posh frock on, grab your handbag and enjoy the indulgence of the journey of a life time reminiscing about old times of travelling, holidays and sparking conversations about times gone by. Lunch can be served in the First Class carriage followed by afternoon tea and then a Jolly good SING SONG! The ‘Jolly Journey’ is a complete pod that is supplied and installed by our Little Islands team in just one day. It requires just 5 sqm metres of floor space; we can also theme the area around to create a traditional Victorian railway wait-

ing room. Featuring real wood panelled wall with brass luggage racks, ornate wall lights, gold cushions, antimacassars and period memorabilia. A table with brass lamp, opposite-facing seats which are designed to look and feel just like an oldfashioned travel carriage. A 55-inch 4K TV large clear window shows footage filmed in full HD with sound aboard live railway journeys from around the UK. The result is the residents can all enjoy a nostalgic day out day after day. Visitors will come more often and stay longer when joining in a live experience like ‘The Jolly Journey’. Children would love visiting and look forward to an exciting experience as opposed to being bored just sat in the lounge of the care home! The main thing is that the resident’s wellbeing and mood has been lifted supporting their mental health.

Give us a call to find out more information – The Little Islands Team on 0800 093 8499 or visit www.littleislands.org You can view a demonstration at www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEruZVNUV1k

NRS Healthcare Launches New Online Store, Healthcare Pro NRS Healthcare, the UK’s leading provider of independent living aids and associated services, and an official supplier to the NHS and local authorities, has announced the launch of its new online store, Healthcare Pro. Part of the NRS Healthcare family, Healthcare Pro demonstrates the company’s commitment to serve healthcare professionals and the general public online, underlining its unrivalled in-house occupational therapy capabilities and professional expertise in helping people live independently in their own homes.

The new online shop, www.healthcarepro.co.uk (previously known as www.nrshealthcare.co.uk), offers over 4,500 independent living aids, from personal care, to bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and mobility, chosen and trusted by professionals. Additionally, the website includes a new range of services, such as the Expert Product Advice and Home Living

Consultations with Occupational Therapists, to better support all its customers with a more complete solution.

The company’s public sector and clinical services divisions remain unchanged and continue to operate under the NRS Healthcare brand and at nrshealthcare.com With a dedicated Occupational Therapy team of 130 professionals, the company offers a go-to source for up-to-date information and guidance on daily living aids, offering peer-to-peer engagement, education and support as well as guiding customers to a ‘right first time’ purchase.

Clinical Services Director, Rachel Seabrook says: “NRS Healthcare is delighted to announce the launch of our new online store, Healthcare Pro. Through our 75-year heritage and position as an official supplier to the NHS, NRS Healthcare has a longstanding reputation as a trusted partner for healthcare professionals, who often recommend our website and products to the people they see.”

Rachel Seabrook continues: “Healthcare Pro focuses on our high levels of expertise, credibility and professionalism, improves the customer journey and shopping experience, as well as providing easy access to product advice, support and associated services. We trust that this will give all our customers the added reassurance that they are shopping where the professionals shop.”

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 33

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Gailarde - Wholesale Supplier To CareZips Dignity Trousers The Care Home & Healthcare Sector ™

Gailarde is a family run business established in 1979 to provide household textiles specifically manufactured for the contract trade. Our core principals of putting our customers’ needs first has helped us to grow into one of the UK’s largest suppliers to the contract market.

Gailarde have been successfully supplying the care home and healthcare industry for over 40 years, supplying both the public and private sector. We are proud to hold a framework agreement as a supplier to the NHS for wipeable pillows, duvets and flame retardant bed linen.

Our best selling bedroom collection includes flame retardant and easy care linen, as well as our core offering of specialist pillows and duvets designed with infection control features. Our bathroom range features superior towelling, shower curtains and bathroom accessories.

Our competitive homeware range, features table

linen, tableware, kitchenware and cleaning supplies. We are also pleased to offer inventory, ready-made and build your own packs suitable for housing associations and supported living schemes.

For refurbishment plans and new build projects, we supply a wide selection of furniture, including beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs and dining tables all compliant with care home and healthcare regulations. Our Soft Furnishings collection is ideal for transforming rooms.

By using fabric from the leading suppliers, we can supply cushions and bedspreads through to runners and curtains, in a variety of styles and designs.

As a customer you will have a dedicated account manager, on hand for any questions.

For all enquiries, please give our friendly team a call on 020 8905 2776. Alternatively, please email our care home and healthcare specialists directly: jo@gailarde.com or shelley@gailarde.com www.gailarde.com or see the advert on page 8.

Wall & Door Protection for a Caring Environment For 55 years Yeoman Shield wall & door protection systems from Harrison Thompson & Co. Ltd. have been delivering healthcare providers with a solution to costly and unsightly impact damage to interior walls & doors. This proactive approach to impact damage can show a year on year saving on maintenance time and budgets.

Offering a comprehensive range which includes, protection panels, protection rails, handrails and fire rated door protection systems, offered in over 48 colours, gives customers a wide choice to realise functional and aesthetic requirements.

The ability to incorporate colours, signage and images, into Yeoman Shield’s core products can be beneficial to mental health environments be that creating a calming atmosphere or a practical

assistance in wayfinding.

The Guardian Handrail can also be supplied in an anti-ligature option safeguarding service users.

Fire doors are never more important than in a residential setting catering for those more vulnerable.

Yeoman Shield offer a full fire rated door protection system that when installed can prevent compromising impact damage and by doing so extends the functioning lifecycle of fire doors.

To complement these products is the company’s newly launched Fire Door Services giving reassurance to the building’s responsible person by offering fire door assessments, remedial and door replacement works all carried out under FIRAS & FDIS accreditation.

More information on Yeoman Shield’s range of product and services can be found at www.yeomanshield.com or see page 10.

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

AKW Launches Upgraded Doc M Range and Installation Compliancy Guide AKW, one of the UK’s leading providers of accessibility solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of its ugraded Doc M sanitaryware range for public-use accessible toilets and washrooms.

Committed to ensuring that compliance is as straightforward as possible, AKW has also launched a design advice guide alongside the range, to make compliancy as straightforward as possible.

Ensuring toilets and washrooms conform to Document M of the UK Building Regulations involves buying and correctly installing the appropriate products. As well as giving examples of how a fully compliant Doc M washroom or toilet area should be designed and installed, the guide also includes the latest AKW Doc M pack options.

There are 10 AKW Doc M packs to choose from and they range from fully compliant Doc M washrooms (including hand dryers, soap dispensers Etc.), to individual toilet cubicles. As well as traditional styling, there are two contemporary Doc M packs that feature stainless steel rails to fit in with any modern design aesthetic.

Designed with hygiene in mind, the packs include an AKW Navlin Doc M close-coupled or low-level

rimless, raised-height toilet pan, a water-saving cistern and direct flushing system. The ergonomic, soft-close toilet seat and the grab rails are also available in a range of colours, to enable high colour contrast between surfaces for those with visual impairments. All of the Doc M packs feature either fixed or fold-up rails, and the washroom options are available with easy to use taps and British Standard BS 8300 wash basins.

Stuart Reynolds, Head of Product and Marketing at AKW comments: “Our upgraded AKW Doc M packs offer specifiers even more choice when it comes to installing a public-use accessible toilet or washroom. Each pack has been designed for maximum comfort and ease of use and also comes with recommendations for how and where to fit the products to ensure compliance. Our Doc M guide has also been created to help make the whole process even more straightforward and can be downloaded at www.akw-ltd.co.uk/documentation/catalogues-brochures-guides” For more information, please contact AKW on01905 823298, email: sales@akw-ltd.co.uk or visit www.akw-ltd.co.uk.

CareZips™ preserve dignity and privacy of people receiving care during diaper changes.

CareZips™ make diaper changes easier and faster, reducing workload, saving efforts, and saving time!

CareZips™ help to deliver better standards of care!

Fitted with unique 3-zip fastening system, the CareZips™ make changing of incontinence diapers more dignified and comfortable for the patients and easier and faster for the carers.

CareZips™ feature 3 strategically positioned zips, 2 of which run from the waist to the knees on both sides of the body. The 3rd zip goes from the inside of one knee up to the crotch and down to the second knee on the inside of the other leg. This zip facilitates total opening of the trousers at the crotch during diaper changes. The 3-zip system ensures fast and easy access to the abdomen and crotch without having to undress the patients or pull their trousers down.

CareZips™ are suitable for men and women. They

are available in 7 sizes for perfect fit. CareZips™ are soft and wrinkle resistant with stretch and give for extra comfort. Practical, durable, washable and noniron, the CareZips™ trousers are the perfect choice for daily use.

Contact Win Health Medical Ltd - 01835 864866 www.win-health.com or see the advert on page 5.

Herriot by Skopos – A Timeless Wool-Look Collection for Care Upholstery Skopos recently introduced the launch of the new upholstery collection, Herriot, perfect for upholstery solutions within Care. Four timeless designs brought together in a woollook quality, developed specifically for the contract sector with the added benefit of a waterproof layer, antimicrobial protection and soil resist. Inspired by the natural wilderness of the Moors and Dales, Herriot is a nod to the simplicity and beauty of the Yorkshire countryside, with a natural texture and favoured classic design cues, which bring sophistication and class to contract furniture. Herriot is one of many Skopos upholstery collections specifically developed for Care Interiors and has been developed using new

back-coating technology, minimising the use of chemicals in a move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly flame retardant contract upholstery solution.

Herriot upholstery fabrics achieve 40,000 + Martindale rubs for inclusion into high traffic contract areas, across all sectors. Sitting under the new Skopos Pro-tect Plus umbrella, with the added benefit of an antimicrobial finish, this collection supports best practise hygiene goals within caring interiors.

Free samples of all of our fabrics are available via our website, or by calling our sales team 01924 436666 or visit www.skoposfabrics.com or see page 11.

Consort Claudgen launches Consort Connect app Consort Claudgen have launched Consort Connect app which allows users to have complete control over their heating remotely via their smartphone or tablet. The app is free and downloadable from Google Play or Apple Store. It can control Consort’s Wi-Fi enabled heaters and SL heaters connected to an SLPBWIFI wireless controller. It gives quick access to four operating modes and provides a 7day timer with twenty-four heating periods per day. It is easy to set up and users can configure the settings of all connected heaters on

the app. Users can also view the energy consumption statistics. Other features include a lock function, open window tracking and response capability, and custom automations. There is a selflearning control ability utilising occupancy and temperature sensors, however, this is only available on the SLPBWIFI controller and Consort heaters with Wi-Fi and occupancy sensor.

For more information, contact our sales at 01646 692172 or visit www.consortepl.com or see the advert on page 6.

Safeguard Your Care Home with InVentry Care homes are crucial for our society, so it’s important to ensure they’re a safe setting to help staff carry out the best possible care.

With many family members and friends visiting their loved ones daily, InVentry is essential to track who’s entering and leaving your care home. Visitors are met with a simple signing in process and their information is stored directly in the system. This not only allows you to track who is onsite at any given time, but it ensures an even faster sign in during repeat visits.

You can also ensure that the contractors you have onsite have the skills to do the job safely by asking custom questions before they sign in, with options to include documents they may need to read upon arrival, ensuring health & safety and the security of

your site is always maintained.

InVentry can even help you become CQC and Care Inspectorate Compliant as our software allows you to receive star-rated feedback from those who have visited your care home. You can store this feedback within your system and note any actions taken to improve your processes and procedures!

Head to our website: www.inventry.co.uk or see the advert on page 11.

Renray Healthcare Renray Healthcare has been producing high quality furniture for over 50 years and is one of the UK’s largest and leading suppliers to the healthcare sector.

Whether you require a fast efficient delivery of quality furniture or a full room installation and fitting service, we have the experience and resources to handle your contract.

We manufacture and assemble our products in our own purpose built factories in Cheshire and Europe to British Standards. Hence we are able to ensure your furniture is produced to the highest quality, working with you to plan and meet your projects time schedule and budget.

We understand you are purchasing furniture that is fit for purpose, stylish and will continue to perform well into the future, which is why we design and build our furniture with you in mind.

Telephone: +44 (0)1606 593456,

Email: info@renrayhealthcare.com, www.renrayhealthcare.com or see the advert on page 3 for details.

PAGE 34 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

CATERING FOR CARE

Catering for Your Residents with Bidfood An estimated 70% of residents in care are affected by Dementia. The term actually describes a group of symptoms, including memory loss, confusion, mood changes, and difficulty with day-to-day tasks. It’s more likely to occur as we age. It’s a difficult phase of life for residents affected by dementia, and it is important to help them maintain their independents, dignity and a daily routine.

The reduction in cognitive function caused by dementia can make eating and meal occasions difficult and it can be challenging to serve the right food in the appropriate way. Some top risks and challenges include: • Risk of malnutrition • Not recognising food • Resisting being fed • Limited manual dexterity • Change in temperament Creating uplifting resident mealtimes tailored to those who are living with dementia is so important as mealtimes are a familiar, stimulating and important part of the day. However, for those who have problems holding a knife and fork, or holding their attention for a period of time, mealtimes can be stressful and challenging. Some of the tips that can make a real difference are: • Stimulating the senses: if residents can hear the sound of food preparation, or the table being laid, smell the food as it’s being prepared, and see activity in the kitchen, the familiar sounds, smells and sights as well as tastes may prompt their memory and help to stimulate the appetite.

• Introducing finger foods: these are an ideal way to help residents retain independence and dignity, making it easier for them to eat with their hands or to eat on the go, whilst walking about. Introduce finger foods over a few days to get the person used to a new way of serving food.

• Think smaller, frequent meals: these can help maintain nutrition levels and are easier to eat than three big meals a day.

• Create memories with meals: themes and celebrations not only lift the spirits, but can help your residents recover memories. Music is a great way to engage residents at mealtimes and spark nostalgia and memories.

• Two finger food recipesFinger foods are an ideal way to help residents maintain their independence, dignity, and a daily routine.

SMOKED KIPPER SCOTCH EGGS: These scotch eggs are a perfect snack to provide your residents. Delicious, and a great

finger food for your residents with dementia.

Serves 10 40 minutes Ingredients: Free range medium eggs x 12 Hot & cold mix mashed potato 150g Water 50ml Whole milk 600ml Boned Scottish kipper fillets 200g Natural breadcrumbs 300g Plain flour 100g Method: 1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the eggs for 8 minutes. Then cool the eggs down as quickly as possible before taking the shells off carefully.

2. Place the other 2 eggs in a bowl with 200ml of milk and whisk together.

Set to one side.

3. Place the rest of the milk and water in a pan and bring to the simmer.

Place the fish in and poach until just cooked.

4. Then flake the fish into a bowl and add the mashed potato mix. Combine well, and then add the warm milk to the bowl until the potato swells and becomes firm. Allow to cool.

5. Wrap the potato and fish mixture around the eggs and allow to chill.

6. Place the bread crumbs on a tray along with the flour. Firstly, roll the eggs in the flour, then dip into the egg mix, then roll in the breadcrumbs (this process may need to be repeated).

7. Then place the Scotch eggs on a tray and either deep fry until golden brown and reaching temperature, or place in a hot oven until cooked.

BRIE AND BLUEBERRY TART: This brie and blueberry tart is a perfect combination of sweet and savoury. An easy recipe guaranteed to satisfy any resident's taste buds.

Serves 10 30 minutes Ingredients: Puff pastry sheets 280g Brie 200g Frozen blueberries 100g Thyme 5g Squeezy clear blossom honey 20g Method: 1. Defrost pastry and blueberries.

2. Preheat the oven to 180° then grease a muffin tray.

3. Lay the puff pastry out and

cut into 10 equal squares, then place into a muffin tin.

4. Cut the cheese into 10 equal parts and place on top of the pastry, then top with the blueberries.

5. Wash and pick the thyme and sprinkle over the blueberries.

6. Place in the oven and bake until the pastry has a crisp base and the cheese has melted.

7. Then allow to cool slightly before drizzling with honey and serving.

DYSPHAGIA We all love to sit down for a nice meal, but when you have dysphagia, the meal itself can be a danger. Dysphagia is more common amongst the elderly but can affect people of all ages. It affects our ability to swallow which can lead to food or drink entering the lungs leading to significant risk of choking or pneumonia. It can be a common reason for hospital admission for care residents and can even be fatal. Catering for those living with dysphagia means helping them stay safe when eating and drinking as well as helping them retain pleasure in mealtimes. Modifying meals, for example by pureeing, means running the risk of losing up to 50% of the nutritional content, and they aren’t always pleasing to the eye. Specialist ranges of texture-modified dishes can help here, for example Simply Puree which is available through Bidfood. This range is individually created for people with dysphagia, and each meal complies with IDDSI textures. This means that you can prepare them safely and with reassurance that each one has consistency in nutritional content.

Having dysphagia may mean a person consumes less, so a pureed diet should be fortified to maximise the calorific value of each spoonful.

Instead of using water therefore, try full fat milk or cream, melted butter or oil, sauces, gravy, honey, or juice for dilution. The first taste is with the eye, so to ensure meals are also visually appealing, make up modified consistency foods separately, then pipe them onto the plate while still hot and serve immediately. Use stronger flavours so that the food is still tasty when diluted and pureed, and make sure you taste food before servingwould you like to eat it?

It’s also vital to make sure you’re regularly monitoring residents’ intake closely, including a nutritional assessment and weight check weekly to ensure that they are not losing weight, and are receiving sufficient nutrients. Make sure those who are preparing food are fully trained and aware of the risks related to swallowing difficulties, and the correct way to prepare modified consistency foods, and to thicken fluids for patients with this need.

The International IDDSI Diet Standardisation tool is a global standard with terminology and definitions to describe the texture modified food and thickened liquids used for individuals with dysphagia of all ages, in all care settings and for all cultures. The Simply Puree IDDSI guide is a free easy to use tool to help you understand and cater for the different IDDSI textures.

Read the Simply Puree IDDSI Guide at https://tinyurl.com/bddvdwxj

You Are What You Eat: Chef With Michelin-Star Experience Embeds Person-Centred Meal Times In Care Home

By Ross Baxter, Chef at Exemplar Health Care (www.exemplarhc.com)

For many of us, mealtimes are an important part of daily routine. They’re often much more than satisfying our appetite - they give us the chance to sit down with loves ones and catch up on the day’s events. And that’s no different for people who live in care homes. A good dining experience helps to increase nutritional intake and enhance social interaction.

Ross Baxter is the head chef at Exemplar Health Care’s Tyne Grange care home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He joined the home at the start of 2021, switching from a role in the hospitality sector.

Ross’s previous experience at a luxury resort has helped him to embed a person-centred approach to meal times in the home.

His commitment to promoting choice and providing nutritious meals that meet people’s dietary needs, earned Ross a win in the ‘Care Home Chef’ category at the 2021 North East Great British Care Awards regional finals.

Here, Ross explains his journey from the hospitality industry to the care sector and how he’s changed meal times at the care home to promote choice and independence which leads to overall improved health and well-being for the residents.

A FRESH START

I joined the team at Tyne Grange in 2021 after seven years as a chef in the hospitality industry.

I was inspired to make the move from the hospitality sector to the care sector because of my mother, who lived in care home.

When I visited her, I saw the impact that food has on those living in care homes, and it struck me that I had the capabilities to make a difference in people’s lives with my cooking. I’ve always wanted to do something meaningful with my skills, so this was an extremely important factor for me to consider when making such a move.

My past experience saw me working under the guidance of a head chef who had experience in Michelin star restaurants. I am always grateful to him for his mentorship and for teaching me my current skillset.

Through working at luxury resorts and hotels, I have gained experience of creating delicious and luxurious meals, based on what customers want.

When starting at Tyne Grange, I thought that the meals should be no different to the top-tier quality that I had been producing in my previous role. While I knew that working in the care sector would be different than working in a restaurant, I wanted to provide a restaurant-style experience for residents, and this is what I have done at Tyne Grange.

IMPORTANCE OF CHOICE Tyne Grange supports 20 adults living with complex care needs. Our approach to care focuses on supporting people to maximise their independence, build their everyday living skills and live their best life! In the catering team, we promote choice and independence at meal times, as much as possible.

We have set up our mealtimes to replicate a restaurant-style environ-

ment. Our meal times span an hour and a half which gives people ample time to come and enjoy their meal without feeling they’re stuck to a regimented schedule. This makes the environment and experience more relaxing.

Our colleagues provide hostess service, taking people’s orders and serving their meals and drinks - just as would be done in a restaurant.

The menu consists of two choices and a third ‘weekly special’ which is chosen by our residents. We develop our menu based on feedback from weekly meetings. We have an open and transparent culture in which we listen to people’s thoughts and feedback, and use it to make meaningful change. This ensures that our menu is based on what people like and enjoy!

We have designed menus on each table, as well as a menu board, so people know their choices. We also produce menus in different formats, such as using coloured graphics and images, to meet people’s communication needs.

We make all the food fresh to order and have a choice of handmade desserts to follow.

If someone doesn’t want what’s on the menu that day, we ask them what they’d like and do our best to accommodate their request.

We’re proud that our approach to meal times has people at the heart of it. I take great pride in cooking healthy and comfortable food that people love! I’m so glad that I chose to start a career in social care. It’s extremely rewarding and I’m glad that I can use my skills to make a difference to people’s lives.

Support Vegetarians This Dementia Action Week: 16–22 May 2022 This Dementia Action Week, Vegetarian for Life, a charity supporting vegans and vegetarians in later life, is encouraging carers to consider how they support people’s beliefs.

What happens to the beliefs and values of those with dementia? If a person struggles to remember ideas that mattered to them, how do they continue to practice their values?

This year, Dementia Action Week coincides with National Vegetarian Week – a time to reflect on how carers can and should support people to maintain their beliefs.

The charity Vegetarian for Life (VfL) works with vegans

and vegetarians in later life. Many have been committed to meat-free diets for decades, often motivated by ethical desires to prevent harm to animals. Many fear, if they need care, that they may lose their ability to choose diets free from animal products.

This fear is not unfounded. An Inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism highlighted many instances where dietary practices linked to beliefs were not supported in care. In some instances, people who had been vegan for decades were regularly being fed

meat.

In many ways, this concern goes beyond just respecting a person’s past wishes. Recent dementia research has considered the ideas of identity and personhood. Simply because a person struggles with memory, does not mean that their beliefs, and right to hold values, have disappeared.

Dementia research begins to suggest that even when the condition is advanced, people should be supported to interact with ideas and concepts that are important to them.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 30...)

PAGE 36 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

CATERING FOR CARE Support Vegetarians This Dementia Action Week: 16–22 May 2022 (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28) This may support them to retain a sense of identity in a care setting, especially when interacting with carers. In such cases, the carer actually supports the person to retain a sense of themselves, even as their condition progresses.

Practically, the question remains over how carers can be aware of the values held by those they care for. In some cases, people have families to explain beliefs that have guided a person’s life. However, VfL strongly recommends that people document their future wishes.

In its Self-Advocacy Guide, VfL provides a template Statement of Wishes, allowing people to document their dietary beliefs. This statement includes sample wording, clearly explaining to carers how to support people on meat-free diets if they appear to be choosing meat based dishes. This may involve offering alternative meals and fortifying foods with plant based alternatives.

Alzheimer’s Society also provides a template advanced statement to allow individuals to document their values.

When values are documented, it is important that care providers reference these views and act accord-

Halo Hydration More than 70% of us are dehydrated at some point during the day - this can cause drowsiness, lack of focus, tiredness, confusion, muscle soreness and a dry mouth. We know water is boring, but it’s one of life’s necessities…there is however an alternative. Adding just one HALO sachet to your glass of water makes it not only delicious, but makes it highly nutritious, and makes your water work harder for you!

Instead of trying to drink the recommended 2 bottles of water per day, simply mixing one sachet of delicious HALO Hydration to your glass of water gives you the

ingly. To support providers, VfL has produced a Memory Care Pledge, encouraging people to investigate and acknowledge individuals’ dietary beliefs.

The pledge consists of five simple good practice points that care establishments can follow to ensure that vegetarian and vegan residents experiencing capacity issues or cognitive losses will be offered a choice of meals, drinks and snacks that uphold their ethical beliefs.

Good practice recommendations include offering a resident the opportunity to eat at a vegetarian-only, or vegan-only table when possible, and in the event of an ‘accidental’ choice to eat meat, offering an alternative that upholds their philosophical beliefs. These recommendations are suggested because Vegetarian for Life is aware of vegetarian residents experiencing issues with capacity or cognition, who may otherwise pick meat from others’ plates.

Beliefs are central to our identity and personhood.

Dementia Action Week should be a time to focus on how providers can best support those with limited capacity to maintain beliefs and values that define them as people.

For more information, visit www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk or call 0161 257 0887. same amount of minerals that drinking 4 litres of mineral water does!

Each HALO Hydration sachet contains a daily dose of Vitamin C, B Vitamins, magnesium, sodium, zinc, potassium, calcium, and an array of trace minerals, with only 1g of natural sugar and ZERO artificial ingredients. These are the nutrients that your body needs to hydrate properly, which, in these amounts, are not found as readily in a modern-day diet.

Sir Andy Murray is a huge HALO fan and says: “HALO is the healthiest way to hydrate”. If there was ever a person to listen to, it’s 2 time Wimbledon Champion and father of 4, Sir Andy Murray.

With summer fast approaching and dehydration becoming a factor for everyone, why not try HALO to help boost your hydration.

Visit www.HALOhydration.com

PAGE 38 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

HYGIENE AND INFECTION CONTROL

Robust Testing for Airborne Illnesses Urged Across the Care Industry to Protect Residents and Staff Airborne illnesses beyond COVID-19 and influenza must be part of prevention strategies in care homes to reduce hospitalisation of residents this winter, according to healthcare company Abbott.

While the nation is increasingly familiar with COVID-19 symptoms, as well as influenza, there are airborne diseases that are also putting people at risk. Respiratory Syncytial Virus – known as RSV – is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. While COVID-19 and influenza testing are becoming common practice, visitors entering care homes with RSV may go undetected.

The vital role testing plays in protecting both care home residents and staff is supported by Care England, the leading representative body for care providers in England.

"It is helpful to raise awareness of other airborne diseases that care home staff, residents and visitors might be unfamiliar with. Before the pandemic, not many people had heard the term ‘coronavirus’, but increased awareness has helped most understand why safety precautions and testing are of paramount importance in the care sector," commented Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive at Care England.

"We are fully aware of the immense pressure care homes are under as we head into the winter season, but the first line of defence against lesser-known airborne diseases – like RSV – is ensuring care staff are aware of it, increasing education on the symptoms, and ensuring testing is in place wherever possible," added Green.

RSV symptoms may include a runny nose, cough, temperature, sore throat, and wheezing[i]. For those aged over 65, RSV accounts for 175,000 appointments with general practitioners, 14,000 hospitalisations and 8,000 deaths per year in the UK[ii]. There are currently no specific treatments for RSV infection and management is purely supportive through oxygen sup-

plementation; therefore, prevention of contracting the disease is essential.

To detect RSV, care home providers should look to utilise kits that scan for airborne diseases – like Abbott’s ID NOW – a portable instrument used for front-line testing in health settings. It quickly provides results for COVID19, influenza A & B, strep A and RSV, with positive results shown in a little as five minutes, and negative results in 13 minutes.

Gabriela Zackova, director of Dementia and Wellbeing at Loveday & Co Care Homes has recently added an ID NOW testing device.

Gabriela said: "We’re excited to be using this point of care test for our staff, residents and their visitors. Last year, winter was one of the hardest times for our sector, not only due to the increased pressure to keep people safe, but also for our residents, who were separated from the people they love which had a significant impact on their wellbeing and mental health."

"ID NOW is a small, lightweight machine, about the size of a toaster, that will allow us to make even better decisions about risk levels for numerous viruses, enabling us to provide a more robust screening process for everyone at the facility."

Abbott has been a global leader in COVID-19 testing throughout the pandemic.

"While many staff and visitors will self-test for COVID-19 at home before entering the premises, it is vital precautions are taken for other airborne illnesses. By utilising a diagnostic testing device onsite, we can slow the spread of illness, better protect vulnerable residents, and minimise the risk of catching potentially life-threatening illnesses this winter," added Sam Lloyd, general manager, Infectious Diseases at Abbott’s rapid diagnostics business in the UK and Ireland.

For more information on Abbott’s ID NOW testing instrument, visit: www.Globalpointofcare.abbott/idnow

Fragrance Solutions for Care Home Environments At Oxy-Gen Powered®, we understand the sensitivities and challenges associated with the caring business, especially when it comes to providing a clean, safe and odourless environment for your valuable members.

The Oxy-gen Powered range is designed to counter the unpleasant, tough odours that can present themselves despite a thorough cleaning regime.

They are effective for odour elimination, yet safe for health.

The Oxygen-Pro uses patented technology that ensures a precise dose of fragrance oil is released consistently and continuously, guaranteeing the same level of freshness throughout the cartridge life, silently and discreetly. Oxygen-Pro is a true nonaerosol, continuous Fragrancing and Odour Elimination System.

Our air-care systems contain the proprietary odour neutralising agent, Neutra-Lox, which eliminates malodours rather than masking them. We can offer nonfragrant cartridges that simply eliminate nasty odours or a fantastic fragrance range that will not only eliminate those bad odours but will emanate continuous, clean, fresh-smelling fragrances into the air.

The system is easy to use and is Carbon Footprint approved. In an independent study, the product has

been assessed and verified for emissions and energy consumption and was found to have a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to aerosol products on the market. Changing cartridges is hassle-free and, more importantly, they are recyclable at the end of the cartridge life.

The Oxygen-Pro system is an ideal replacement for environmentally harmful aerosols, gels, liquids and other fragrance systems. There are no allergens, no added VOCs, no propellants, no solvents, no alcohols, just continuous, clean fresh fragrance all day, every day!

Email: fdtuk@oxygenpowered.com or tel: 01270 766676.

Angloplas Dispensers Help Reduce the Risk of Cross Infection Angloplas are a UK manufacturer who specialise in producing dispensers for the health and hygiene industry.

Although these are designed to keep the workplace tidy and uncluttered they are, more importantly, built knowing the control of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a priority for healthcare providers, and who are employing a combination of infection prevention and control strategies, including hand hygiene, cleaning, training and the adoption of new technologies, to tackle the problem.

As a result, a wide range of infection control products and technologies are emerging on the market, including antimicrobial technology. Angloplas’ range of dispensers are produced in the world’s first proven Antimicrobial PVC with silver ion technology and which

is exclusive to Angloplas. This helps reduce the risk of cross infection by stopping the growth of bacteria and mould and works continuously for the lifetime of the product, reducing levels of bacteria such as MRSA, E Coli, Legionella, Salmonella and mould by up to 99.99%.

For non-clinical environments Angloplas has recently launched its new Budget Range of products which are made to the same exacting standards as the antimicrobial protected ones but with lower price tags.

You can order Angloplas products directly from its website by going to www.angloplas.co.uk and clicking Hospital, Health and Hygiene or by using the Quick Response code.

PAGE 40 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

CONTINENCE CARE

Top Tips for Managing Incontinence from Ontex FLUID INTAKE

SMOKING

Drinking sufficient fluids each day is essential for maintaining a healthy bladder. If you don’t drink enough your bladder will become overly sensitive. You should try to consume at least 1.5-2 litres (or 6-8 glasses) of fluids each day.

There are a number of health risks associated with smoking. A ‘smokers cough’ can place extra pressure on the muscles of the pelvic floor, increasing your chances of experiencing stress incontinence.

DRINKS TO AVOID

If you don’t drink enough your bladder will become more sensitive to smaller amounts of urine, which means you will go to the toilet more frequently.

It is advisable to avoid certain types of drinks, such as tea, coffee, cola and chocolate, as they contain caffeine which can irritate the bladder. An irritated bladder becomes overactive, which makes you feel as though you need to empty your bladder when it is not full.

HEALTHY EATING Your diet should be balanced, not too high in fat, with plenty of fibre, and contain at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Healthy eating is also important because being overweight can make bladder problems worse.

DEHYDRATION

INFORM YOUR GP

It is a good idea to notify your GP if you are experiencing bladder weakness for the first time or if you already have bladder weakness and it has become worse.

RECOMMENDATIONS: KEEP A BLADDER DIARY Maintain a record of every time you experience bladder weakness.

Ontex Launches New Odobin Incontinence experts Ontex have launched the innovative new Odobin for use in care homes. Odobin removes bad incontinence odours in order to improve the experience of those living, working and visiting your care home.

The Odobin has many important features, which make it the perfect partner for your establishment.

FIVE KEY FEATURES Ergonomic – Odobin allows you to throw away incontinence waste easily and ergonomically.

Fast – It is quick and easy to handle the Odobin – think of it as your personal assistant for removing incontinence waste fast.

Note the activity you were performing at the time, the types of beverages and the quantity you consumed beforehand, as well as the extent of the leakage.

Limiting fluid intake may actually increase the frequency of incontinence. Drinking a total of 6 to 8 glasses of water throughout the day is recommended. Unless advised to do so by your health professional, never restrict fluids to control incontinence.

RECOMMENDED DIET* • 40% Fruits and vegetables • 30% Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods • 12% Meat, fish, eggs, beans • 8% Milk and dairy foods • 1% Oils and Spreads * https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide

Hygienic – Odobin provides the most hygienic way to remove incontinence waste.

Odourless – Odobin is adept at removing up to 75 litres of the unpleasant odours of incontinence waste to ensure they don’t hang around the care home.

Silent – The wheels on Odobin have been designed to ensure a silent operation, which is particularly important for those working a night shift who don’t want to disturb residents.

For more information email Ontex at salesandmarketing@ontexglobal.com

Introducing The World’s First Movable Bedpan Disposer Panaway® M1 A game-changing evolutionary step towards transforming waste management in elderly care, hospices and hospitals.

Haigh, a respected leader in waste disposal technology, is launching Panaway® M1 – the first-of-its-kind movable bedpan disposer helping hospitals and care homes safeguard their patients, offering a mobile, cost effective, energy efficient and environmentally friendly solution to medical waste disposal.

Originally developed to deal with issues relating to sluice room flexibility, site access and maintenance response caused byCOVID-19 restrictions, the innovative design has been a game changer helping healthcare organisations rethink their infection prevention strategies.

An estimated 95%* of the UK NHS sites now use disposable medical pulp products for managing patient waste, with disposable (single-use) systems rapidly becoming established worldwide as best practice to prevent infections and crosscontamination within the healthcare environment. Panaway® M1 gives care organisations all the convenience, accessibility and benefits of a modern sluice room where and when it’s most needed - without compromising on safety. Easy to set up and relocate, Panaway® M1 is supplied with all fixtures and fittings required to use in a wide range of locations.

Leading the way in performance, versatility and ease of use, the Panaway® M1 is economical and energy effi-

cient, using less energy and water than other washing systems. With no hot water required, it is good for the environment - and the paper pulp is eco-friendly, hygienic and highly cost effective.

Quiet, quick and easy to use, the Panaway® M1 disposes of pulp product and contents in less than a minute. It aims to make the life of the user as straightforward as possible, freeing up time for patient care.

Panaway® M1 is an invaluable addition as an emergency stand-in when a bedpan machine or washer is unavailable or as a cost-effective temporary solution whilst migrating a site to a disposable system.

Jacob Shepherd, Managing Director at Haigh, said “We have been bowled over by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from Panaway® M1 trials. This is the tool site operators wished they always had when it comes to patient waste and the associated infection prevention procedures. Even sites that do not currently use disposable pulp can see benefits without having to switch from washing systems all in one go.

We’ve already seen some neat ways Panaway® M1 has been used that were completely new to us and we are genuinely excited to see how this further develops over time.”

For more information about renting, purchasing or a trial of Panaway® M1 contact Michelle Marriot on +44 (0)7500 626463 or email info@haighmed.com

PAGE 42 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

CONTINENCE CARE Help To Manage Your Incontinence Issues Independently The Bendi Bag is ideal for wheelchair users who can sometimes find toilet access difficult The Comfort Leg Bag range comes in variety of materials from velvet smooth, real cotton and flock backing The Children’s Bag with smaller capacity and proportions comes with a discreet and secure twist tap that will not open accidentally while moving, or out and about

Urinary incontinence affects millions of people in the UK. Although a widespread problem, incontinence remains a taboo topic.

Embarrassment often stops people from talking about it, let alone feeling able to access products and services that can help them. So, without the correct help and support, the problem often remains unsolved, which has a negative impact on people’s lives.

COMFORTABLE AND EFFECTIVE

IQ CATHETER

Since 1976 Manfred Sauer have provided a range of innovative urology products to help sufferers of urinary incontinence. But unlike other providers, our products are often designed and tested by both end users and healthcare professionals to ensure effective and user-friendly solutions that work. This means your incontinence issues can be managed independently, without worrying about frequent emptying or toilet access and do not impinge on your ability to live life to the full.

Read about four of our most popular product ranges, which are all available on prescription.

SHEATHS We offer 5 types of urinary sheath to facilitate the drainage of urine away from the body into a drainage bag. They are made from either latex, or synthetic materials and available in a range of sizes. We also offer skin friendly tapes, straps and adhesives, hair guards, measuring tape as well as Preventox, which cleans and protects the skin, so you are always comfortable and have the best fit possible.

LEGBAGS

We supply four main types of leg bags with varying capacities.

Perfect for being outdoors, and packed full of unique features and benefits, you now have a choice when it comes to managing your incontinence issues.

The shape of our Discreet Thigh Bag allows for it to be worn high up on the thigh area and can even be hidden under shorts, skirts and even swimwear

Thousands of people across the country must perform Intermittent Self-Catheterisation (ISC) to effectively empty their bladder and having something that is simple to use, soft, flexible and easy to lubricate is essential. That’s where our IQ-Cath shines, plus, new for 2022 are male/paediatric and female single-use hydrophilic catheters which are immersed in saline and ready for immediate use.

Nephsys For people who have had a Nephrostomy, and tubes are already in place, our NephSys system can drastically improve their lives. As well as providing a secure and sterile solution, which consists of an adjustable, elasticated belt; drainage bags and suspenders to secure the bag to the belt in the chosen position, the system is also comfortable and discreet.

For help, support and advice, call 01604 595696, email helpline@manfred-sauer.co.uk or visit www.manfred-sauer.co.uk for more information about each product, or to order a free sample.

Texible Wisbi Smart Care Support Monitoring incontinence of a resident is often difficult and undignified. If that client also has dementia or is liable to fall out of bed, ensuring that they are safe is also challenging and time-consuming.

The innovative Texible Wisbi Home Smart Incontinence and Bed Exit Sensor Mat will detect if the bed has been wetted and send a notification via the free Texible app to the caregiver. This allows the caregiver to change the bedding as soon as possible, preventing pressure sores caused by laying on soiled sheets.

The Smart Incontinence and Bed Exit Sensor Mat also detects if the person has left the bed, allowing the caregiver to monitor someone at risk of falling out of bed.

The Texible Wisbi Smartphone app connects the bed pad control box to your smartphone via Wi-Fi. You can download the free app (suitable for both Android and Apple devices) and you will be able to see both the continence and occupancy status of your loved one at all times, wherever you are. This gives you

peace of mind and allows you to carry on your day, or get a good night’s rest, without constantly stopping to check your resident or worrying if they are ok.

For bed users who can toilet themselves, the app allows you to adjust the amount of time that your resident is out of the bed before it alerts you, so that it only sends the caregiver a notification if the user has been out of bed for more than the normal time.

Texible Wisbi is hygienic, washable and very easy to use. The sensor mat can be machine washed at 95°c, and each mat has a lifetime of 100 washes. The pad will absorb up to 700ml/m², providing excellent absorption.

See the advert below or visit www.willowdesign.uk.com for further details.

PAGE 44 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

NURSE CALL AND FALLS MONITORING

Smart Synergy: Why Two Leading-Edge Technologies Are Set To Transform Care

By Stuart Barclay, UK Sales Director, Vayyar Care (info.vayyar.com/careTC2) COVID-19 derailed the plans of many start-ups and for a technology supplier serving the nursing home sector, the challenge might well have proved insurmountable.

Unable to physically access care homes, Arquella was prevented from piloting or deploying their cuttingedge nurse call system, the only such solution featuring a unique embedded care app. Fortunately, the company was able to use the enforced hiatus wisely, by integrating Vayyar Care’s transformative touchless technology.

Arquella instantly saw the value of Vayyar Care’s unprecedented fall detection accuracy, its ability to gather rich activity data, and easy interoperability. The convenience of its app-based functionality was also key. It would allow carers to receive real-time updates on their mobile devices, allowing them to work more efficiently and react more rapidly to emergency scenarios.

In fact, enhancing staff effectiveness is a core purpose of the integrated offering. Since the start of the pandemic, care providers have had to do much more with severely limited resources. Vayyar Care’s recent survey of the sector confirmed that staff recruitment and retention is the most significant challenge for two-thirds of care providers.

Data revealing response times and how long staff spend in rooms will allow them to receive the support they need to do what they do best, increasing long-term employee satisfaction.

The response from Arquella’s customers has been exceptionally positive. They intuitively understand the benefits and appreciate the opportunity to replace legacy devices such as floor mats that trigger frequent false alerts, wasting time that frontline carers can ill afford. That’s why the accuracy of Vayyar Care’s fall detection is a true game changer — for both staff and residents.

Older adults are far more safety-conscious and technologically aware than they were just a couple of years ago.

They now demand fall alert and monitoring solutions that ensure safety without compromising their dignity, privacy and independence. What’s more, they’re no longer willing to settle for solutions such as hard-to-reach buttons and cords, wearables that often cause embarrassment, or cameras that inevitably intrude on their personal spaces.

The pace of digital transformation in care is increasing, partly thanks to the efforts of CQC and the government, and partly due to the challenges presented by COVID. Communities must ensure that care is person-centred and enables proactive interventions and to do so, they need solutions that automatically gather real-time data which can easily be shared between caregivers. That data will also be used to demonstrate the quality of care and its outcomes.

The sector requires data-driven, digital alternatives to outdated analogue technologies and Arquella is a key player in the ecosystem we’re enabling. The company is looking forward to its first in-market installation in the coming months, supported by distributor Panacea Healthcare Group.

The offering will play a pivotal role in transforming operations for care homes across the UK and unlocking true personalised outcomes for residents.

To find out more, please email me at stuart.barclay@vayyar.com

Why 4,438 Daily Falls in UK Care Homes Deserve Our Attention A’ “Responding to falls in care homes: two innovations” report by Dr Mark Hawker and River Rea from Involve, discussed how best practice in post fall management can provide time and cost savings to the wider health and social care system.

Combining benefits of assistive lifting technology and video-based clinical support could return costs savings of up to £3,911 per fall, whilst also safeguarding residents’ lives.

Across the 15,000 + care homes registered by the Care Quality Commission there are between 270,000 – 1,620,000 falls per year. As one of the most frequently reported accidents among residents, falls represent a pressing issue for providers of care, particularly as demand for places is expected to rise as the population ages.

Author, Dr Mark Hawker says, “the risk factors for falls in care setting are diverse and the multiplicity of elements influencing the likelihood of falls makes them incredibly difficult to eliminate entirely. For the individual, the consequences of a fall are numerous and distressing, while the repetitive lifting requirement of carers puts them at risk of musculoskeletal injury.

“The pilot studies we’ve examined demonstrate that by giving care home staff the tools to empower

safe lifting reduces the time residents spend on the floor after a fall waiting for an ambulance and help to arrive. Organised and safe post fall care is better for the resident and more cost effective for the NHS.” The report goes on to discuss the importance of reducing the risk of spreading infectious diseases by eliminating avoidable contacts. There are clear benefits of using technologies that reduce the number of external contact such as those that would be required to pick up a resident following a fall. While difficult to quantify, the reduction of contacts with healthcare workers such as paramedics, GPs and district nurses with residents is seen as essential during a pandemic.

Mangar Health CEO Simon Claridge adds, “we have been working with NHS Ambulance Trusts for nearly 20 years and yet this report has been incredibly eye opening for us. We know lifting fallen care home residents is a daily challenge to prioritising ambulance calls, yet equipment and technology could easily lift the considerable pressures they are under and save the NHS millions annually.

“We would like to call on NHS England, NICE and CQC to review the dynamics involved in a resident fall detailed in this report and consider alternative care models in a post pandemic environment.”

Falls Prevention Programme Features in World Health Organization Report A trailblazing programme designed to reduce falls in older people has received international recognition after being highlighted in a World Health Organization report.

The Falls Management Exercise programme (FaME) targeted those at risk of falls in Leicestershire, Rutland and Derby, delivering specialist classes led by postural stability instructors over the course of 24 weeks.

The classes were shown to improve balance, walking speed and reduce fear of falling, all the while helping to increase physical activity and reduce falls. Those taking part were also provided with techniques for getting down and up from the floor, should they have a fall.

The success of the initiative, which saw the number of falls reduce over time, led to a blueprint being developed to allow health providers roll out the programme across the country.

Now the FaME project has been given a global platform after being featured in the World Health Organization’s Step Safely report, which is designed to support practitioners, policy-makers and researchers in the prevention of falls and fall-related injuries.

It identifies that each year in England, more than 200,000 emergency hospital admissions and four million bed days result from falls and

fractures among those aged 65 years and over, costing the health service approximately £2b.

With the NHS facing pressure as a result of falls, researchers from the University of Nottingham put together an Implementation Manual for Commissioners to allow the FaME programme to be rolled out across other areas. They estimate widespread adoption of FaME could save the NHS more than £700m.

The research was funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands.

Following publication in the WHO report, those behind the FaME programme are delighted the initiative could have a far-reaching, global impact.

Dr Liz Orton, Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham and Consultant in Public Health, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better platform to share the impact of the FaME classes, which have been several years in the making and have shown such positive, encouraging results.

“Exposure in the WHO report is hugely beneficial - the more people working in this field who hear about this preventative programme, the better.”

Professor Adam Gordon, Professor of the Care of Older People, University of Nottingham and Lead for the Building Community Resilience and Enabling Independence theme for ARC East Midlands, added: “We’re extremely proud to have been part of a project which is now receiving world-wide recognition and is being showcased to clinicians and researchers working at the forefront of this field.

“With the blueprint now in place for other areas to implement FaME, we look forward to seeing its impact on those vulnerable to the often debilitating effects of a fall.”

NIHR ARC East Midlands funds vital work to tackle the region’s health and care priorities by speeding up the adoption of research onto the frontline of health and social care. The organisation puts in place evidence-based innovations which seek to drive up standards of care and save time and money.

NIHR ARC East Midlands is hosted by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and works in collaboration with the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network. It has bases at University of Leicester and University of Nottingham.

PAGE 46 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

NURSE CALL AND FALLS MONITORING Silent Running Assistive Technology Tranquility in Care Homes Solutions from Medpage

Medpage t/a Easylink UK is a company who have designed, manufactured, and distributed Assistive Technology solutions to aid independent and assisted living for over 35 years. We introduced the first wireless bed and chair leaving detection alarms into the UK market more than 25 years ago.

During the Pandemic, against all odds, we

launched a new brand of fall prevention and detection products. TumbleCare. TumbleCare products are simplistic, but effective, people sensors. The sensors detect a person in or out of their bed or chair, or physically falling. A warning notification is transmitted by radio signal to radio pagers, nurse call station, or over the internet to alert designated carers. Our philosophy over the years has not changed. To deliver quality, reliability, and performance at realistic prices.

We are key suppliers to the majority of Local Authorities throughout the UK and the NHS of fall prevention products. Our systems operate as stand-alone solutions or can integrate with most commercial nurse call systems. We offer attractive sales discounts for trade and volume buyers and provide free advice and help in developing a falls prevention strategy.

Visit our website www.easylinkuk.co.uk and view our guide on wandering and falls or telephone our sales office on 01536 264869.

Edison Telecom - Specialist Solutions For Your Nurse Call Systems We here at Edison Telecom Ltd have been providing specialist solutions to your call system requirements tailor-made to each customers needs for over 25 years, says director Bob Johnson.

Is your current Nurse Call “legacy”, obsolete, so full of software bugs or commercially not viable for your current supplier/maintainer to maintain?

We may have just the part and expertise that you are looking for to give your nurse call a further extension to life, adds Bob, “Edison will treat your nurse call with the same compassion that you give to those in your care. There will come a time when your equipment is beyond repair but Edison are experts in extending the life of obsolete systems.” www.edisontelecom.co.uk

Quiet and calm care homes ensure that residents are able to live in a more relaxing and pleasant home environment. Similarly, carers and staff find that they too benefit from reduced stress when working in a home where noise levels are kept to a minimum. There are many environmental factors that can affect those sensitive to their surroundings, particularly those suffering from dementia, these can be fluctuations in ambient temperature, light, and of course noise. Repetitive and high levels of noise can originate from a number of internal and external sources, for example, telephones ringing, loud conversations in corridors, and call bells sounding, often one of the largest contributors to increasing the levels of stress and discomfort in residents.

A published study by the University of Stirling stated that unanswered Nurse Call (Call Bell) alarms can be one of the most common causes of stress in dementia sufferers. The University recommends “fitting call alarms which alert nurses but do not resonate throughout the whole building. Alarms can be particularly disconcerting as they may encourage the person with dementia to respond or investigate what the matter is. At the very least the loss of sleep will compromise a person’s ability to concentrate. It can affect their attention levels and capacity to

cope, as well as being detrimental to their overall state of wellbeing. Personal paging systems are preferable to bells and buzzers.” Modern Nurse Call systems can incorporate a number of methods to reduce their impact in a care home. These include zoning whereby there are separate alarm types used depending upon the location of the call. In these circumstances, dementia sufferers and those vulnerable to noise can be located in one “zone” whist less vulnerable residents live in an alternative “zone”.

Each “zone” can operate different call tones, warning lights or other methods to alert when help is required Reducing noise levels is essential to create a tranquil environment for residents. Pagers have been around for many years, are a relatively simple and cost-effective measure in reducing the levels of noise, and can be added to most Nurse Call systems.

Smart Mobile Devices are now becoming more commonplace for care home staff and hold a variety of apps for care planning, e-medication, etc. Many Courtney Thorne clients are now utilising the “Go” app with their Nurse Call system. With the “Go” app, nurse call alarms are delivered immediately and silently straight to the handsets, alerting the individual carers to all Nurse call alarms without creating any general alarm sound and rarely disturbing the rest of the residents in the home.

Calmer residents ultimately means that staff are less stressed also, this creates a happier workplace where morale is greatly improved, staff are retained and CQC ratings improve. Clearly, the positive ramifications of a quiet Care Home run deep. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your home become a quieter, calmer, and more tranquil environment.

For more information email us at: info@c-t.co.uk

www.nursecallsystems.co.uk

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 47

NURSE CALL AND FALLS MONITORING Fall Savers - Affordable Fall Monitoring Solutions Fall Savers®, are an experienced market leading healthcare provider of resident safety solutions for over 15 years.

FALL SAVERS ® WIRELESS MONITOR

Eliminate all cables with our new generation falls management solutions!

Upgrade your falls programme with the latest technology from Fall Savers®. The NEW Fall Savers® Wireless eliminates the cord between the monitor and sensor pad. This results in less work for nursing staff, improved safety for patients and reduced wear and tear on sensor pads. Wireless advantages include the ability to use one monitor with two sensor pads simultaneously and support for many new wireless devices.

Benefits include:

Safer for patients; less work for staff Bed and chair pads available One monitor works with two sensor pads Integrates with most nurse call systems A variety of options, including: Call button Pager

Floor sensor mat Wireless door/window exit alerts

TREADNOUGHT ®FLOOR SENSOR PAD The TreadNought® Floor Sensor Pad is built to last with a durable construction that far out lasts the competition. Our anti-bacterial floor sensor pad is compatible with most nurse call systems or can be used with a portable pager to sound an alert when a person steps on to the sensor pad. Caregivers typically place the sensor pad at the bedside, in a doorway or other locations to monitor persons at risk for falls or wandering. An optional anti-slip mesh reduces the potential for slippage on hard surface floors.

Features include:

Nurse Alert Mats Designed to combat the problem of residents who are inclined to walk undetected, the Nurse Alert Mat can help protect residents especially at night that are at risk of falls and accidents.

When connected to a Nurse Call system or the mobile Floor Sentry Monitor it will then alert staff, sounding the alarm with a small amount of pressure thus enabling staff to investigate.

• Nurse Call Systems • Fire Alarm Systems • Door Access • Staff Attack • CCTV • Infection Control • Dementia Care • Electrical Contracting

Connects directly to most nurse call systems High Quality anti-bacterial Floor Sensor Pad Large Size Pad: Measures (L) 91cm x (H) 61cm Options (sold separately): Anti-slip mesh for hard surface floors See the advert on this page for further details or visit www.fallsavers.co.uk.

Lotus Care Technology The NurseAlert pressure mat has been one of the most successful floor pressure mats due to it being non slip and carpeted which makes it feel very natural under a residents foot.

Lotus Care Technology Ltd have many other fall saving devices that can give you peace of mind whilst caring for this at risk of falls.

Having many years of experience in fitting and

maintaining Nurse Call Systems helps the guys at Lotus Care Technology understand that every home is different and has different needs. They can specify not only the best system for the environmental factors in the home but also take into consideration the best products that will make your carers and nurses jobs that little bit easier.

Visit www.lctuk.com for details.

In addition The Floor Pressure Mat has a heavy non slip backing, It comes professionally sealed so can easily be cleaned for liquid spills and is fully serviceable.

INCLUDES A 12 MONTH GUARANTEE

sales@lctuk.com 0800 8499 121 www.LCTUK.com

PAGE 48 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE

44% of Care Employees Are Considering a Job Change This Year Close to one in every two care sector employees are thinking about a role change this year, according to new research published by workforce software company Sona.

In a survey of 750 staff working in care in the UK, 30% said they are looking at a new role within care, and 14% could quit the sector entirely. Given the existing employment gap in care, these figures suggest that providers should be looking to ease the burden on their recruitment teams by prioritising programmes to increase employee satisfaction and retention.

Respondents were asked which aspects of their work they feel are very important in any decision to switch employers. Salary (62%) came third, after relationships with residents and patients (63%), and more flexible schedules (62%).

The research showed a clear correlation between working patterns and satisfaction at work. 54% of staff with more unpredictable hours are considering a job change this year, compared to 39% of those with predictable hours. Almost 20% of respondents who work unpredictable hours are considering leaving the sector.

The findings were revealed as part of Sona’s Rethinking Retention report, which also looked at the factors most likely to make staff feel happy about working for their current employer. More recognition from management (92%), better internal communication (91%), having more freedom to choose their working patterns (90%), and better mental health support for employees (90%) were top of the list.

Intelligent Care Software (ICS) If you are looking for a care management system which answers all of your quality, monitoring and compliance needs, then looks no further than Care is. Care is provides the intelligent software solution for care home and domiciliary care managers and owners looking to roll all of their care and management functions into one electronic platform. We know this to be true because unlike some other CMS’s Care is was conceived, designed, built and is managed by nurses, registered managers and care home owners.

Richard Upshall, Product Director for Health and Social Care at Sona, said: "The possibility of more staff leaving the sector is very concerning given that recruitment is already a big challenge. However, our research shows that the most important contributors to happiness at work are all things employers can control. The status quo is clearly not sustainable, so providers should give themselves permission to radically rethink how they support, engage and motivate their staff. That includes looking at the role technology can play in creating more flexible working patterns, enhancing team communication and recognition, and supporting staff wellbeing.”

For more information, please visit www.getsona.com/rethinking-retention

ABOUT SONA Sona’s mission is to put technology in the hands of frontline staff that transforms how they manage their work and engage with their employer. Designed for the specific needs of modern care organisations, Sona’s ‘people operating system’ combines powerful productivity tools with a sleek, simple and intuitive user experience. Features include live schedule view, absence management, instant messaging, and an innovative shift booking platform that matches shift vacancies with employees willing to take on more hours. Trailblazing providers are revolutionising the way they manage, engage and retain their staff with Sona. Customers include Advinia Healthcare, Creative Support, and Praxis Care. www.getsona.com The ‘CARE is’ suite includes care and support, care planning platform, our policy app with over 200 high quality policies which are updated regularly and which also includes our supervision, appraisals and training record apps and our audit app which templates all the essential audits and includes a record of inspection visits.

At Care is we can get you started on your journey from paper or another care management system with minimum fuss, plenty of support and all for what we believe to be good value for money.

With eMAR, mandatory training and a complementary care certificate coming in 2022, there has never been a better time to get on board. https://careis.net

PAGE 50 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE

Autonomy and Consent in Care Sam Hussain, Founder and CEO of the care management platform Log my Care, delves into the importance of consent in social care.

Too often in care settings we hear the question “Why did no one tell me?” No care provider wants their clients to feel unheard or uninformed, that’s why autonomy in care is so important.

In many care situations, service users may already feel like they’re losing control simply because of the circumstances that led them to seek support. Involving them in decision-making around their care can help them retain as much autonomy as possible.

REDUCE RISK Although there’s an element of risk with every activity in care, by giving consent, a client accepts those risks.

For care providers, a signed record of this consent can be invaluable, should those risks become reality.

Not getting consent right can lead to complaints, criminal liability and more. However, consent obtained correctly can protect those providing care.

IMPROVE CARE QUALITY AND BE PERSON-CENTRED

Consenting to care means that people are at the heart of the plans put in place to support them. This is an opportunity to initiate discussions with clients about the care that might benefit them, and help tailor care plans to suit them.

LEGAL REQUIREMENT Finally, having a record of consent is a legal requirement that regulatory bodies, like the Care Quality Commission or the Care Inspectorate, check diligently, and will affect how they evaluate a care service as a whole.

HOW LOG MY CARE CAN SUPPORT YOU TO MANAGE CONSENT Log my Care’s consent management feature allows care providers to easily manage their clients’ consent records. Service users can digitally sign consent and lack of capacity forms directly on the platform and reminders can be scheduled to review these records at a later date.

See the advert on this page for further details.

Bizimply Helps Care Homes To Spend More Time Caring For Residents As a healthcare professional, your goal is to deliver exceptional healthcare to your residents, but it can be hard to focus on them when you’re struggling to fill the soaring vacancy levels. It’s never been more important to have the right people, working in the right place, at the right time so you and your team can deliver quality care to residents.

Conor Shaw, CEO of workforce management specialists Bizimply, says: “Most care homes are currently running with 10% fewer employees than they’d like, so the challenge is to achieve 100% capacity from the staff team you have. It’s not about working harder, but smarter, with the support of helpful technology.”

Bizimply’s software allows managers to create staff rotas and complete payroll quickly, freeing them up to spend more time working with their

teams and caring for residents. The result is more motivated staff who provide higher quality care and are less likely to leave.

In addition, by creating rotas with Bizimply’s software, managers can give staff members their shift patterns further in advance, putting an end to the last-minute requests that cause stress for so many.

Shaw adds: “Nobody chooses a career in care to spend hours on administration. By automating routine tasks, care home managers and staff can concentrate on doing what they love - caring for residents.”

A growing number of care homes across the UK and Ireland are now using Bizimply’s software to create staff rotas, payroll and more. To find out more visit: https://www.bizimply.com/health-care/

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 51

CYBER SECURITY How To Prevent Phishing Cyberattacks In Your Care Facility are because of actions inadvertently taken by employees.

Cybercriminals have become more sophisticated than ever and email recipients are finding it increasingly difficult to spot imposter emails.

Whilst you have little control over what’s happening externally with BEC, there are some steps that you can take to help prevent this cyberattack impacting your business.

Implement the five tips below to help prevent Business Email Compromise in your care business:

1 MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Cyberattacks are on the increase and a favourite and growing approach is via email, which we call phishing. Cyber security company Nexor reported that there was a 31% increase in cyber related cases across May and June 2020, with the healthcare sector amongst one of the most targeted industries.

According to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 carried out

by Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, among the 38% of small to medium sized businesses identifying a breach or attack, 83% had phishing attacks, 27% were impersonated attacks and 16% had malware (including ransomware).

There are many forms of email phishing, but they all have one thing in common – to cause disruption to your business. One form of phishing attack known as ‘business email compromise’ uses compromised email credentials or imitates a legitimate email address in order to encourage the recipient to take action. It’s usually targeted at an individual or small group and relies upon the ability to look like someone in a senior position within a company or a trusted external provider. The aim of the attack could be to transfer funds, make a payment or share sensitive information – patient data for example. It’s exceptionally easy to fall prey to business email compromise or any phishing attack.

In fact a report by Beazley PLC, highlighted that a staggering 90% of data breaches occurring in the UK in 2019 were caused by human error! This means that most incidents that occur in a business setting

Introduce multi-factor authentication into your systems. This is an authentication method that requires a user to provide two or more verification factors in order to gain access to a resource such as an application or online account.

MFA will protect the user and therefore your business from an unknown person trying to access data, such as patient data, personal information or financial details.

In addition to this, you could also create a rule for all new emails that come into the business from external sources. With this in place all external emails would be clearly identified, acting as an additional prompt for the recipient to make sure it’s a legitimate email.

SET UP Take a close look at the procedures in place for the set-up of new accounts. How do you verify their details and address? Look at how you manage any changes they request, to ensure that they are genuine.

IS IT TIME TO REVIEW YOUR CYBER RISK?

2 STAFF TRAINING Carry out staff training on how to detect and avoid phishing emails.

The Barnes Risk Management Hub has online learning resources that can be utilised for this purpose, and is an easy way to educate staff in what to look out for.

3 REINFORCE FUND TRANSFER/PAYMENT PROCEDURES Review and reinforce your fund transfer and payment procedures to identify areas that may be vulnerable. This could involve an authentication requirement for people or businesses that are not within your network.

At Barnes Commercial, we can help with a comprehensive risk review, including your vulnerability to cyberattacks and create a programme of covers that are best suited to your needs. As an independent broker we provide completely impartial advice on the best solution for your specific needs.

Telephone 01480 272727 Email: enquiries@barnesinsurancebroker.co.uk www.barnesinsurancebroker.co.uk

4 LIMIT USERS Reduce or limit the number of people that can authorise financial transfers and payments. The fewer people with the ability to carry out these tasks, the lower your risk of compromise becomes.

5 REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR SUPPLIER/CUSTOMER ACCOUNT

Specialist care home insurance We arrange tailored insurance programmes for care and nursing homes, hospices and domiciliary care providers, for both staff and business owners.

Our extensive knowledge of the care market will help to ensure you have the right protection in place for now and, for the future.

Secure robust cover that’s right for your business.

CALL NOW FOR A QUOTE

01480 272727

Impartial advice from experienced advisers

Exceptional service from a dedicated account executive

Let us help you to protect your business with a no obligation risk review today!

Market-leading products from A rated insurers

Send us an email: Visit our website: Follow us:

Support with claims

Guidance on risk management solutions including H&S and HR

enquiries@barnesinsurancebroker.co.uk www.barnesinsurancebroker.co.uk/care /barnes-commercial

Barnes Commercial Insurance Broker is a trading style of Barnes Commercial Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN: 844370. Registered address: 3 Fenice Court, Phoenix Park, Eaton Socon, St Neots, Cambs, PE19 8EW. Registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 11909011.

PAGE 52 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES & TRAINING

THEMA Healthcare

"I have got 12 years experience in the care industry working in different settings as a nurse or nurse manager. During this time I have realized and understood what clients expect from a truly reliable healthcare professional.

"With this in mind, we aim to provide to our clients the people for the job. Our goal is to create long term business relationships with our clients based on trust and providing high efficiency services as we will take time to listen and understand what is important to our clients.

"Understanding the importance of flexibility, continuity and stability we will always have the best interest of both client and our staff at heart.

Claudiu Nicolae Burtica, Director, Thema Healthcare THEMA Healthcare Ltd. supplies Registered Nurses and Healthcare Assistants to Care Homes, Rehabilitation Centres, Hospitals, Private Clinics, GP

Surgeries and Domiciliary Care Providers.

At THEMA Healthcare we complete full checks on all our staff and we make sure their mandatory training is up to date.

We offer exclusive contracts which means you will get the same staff.

We cover short notice calls (without a contract with us) but we also offer the option for lock booking our staff for longer periods, days, weeks or even months in advance.

THEMA Healthcare covers for short notice sickness, summer holidays period, annual leave, long term sickness and we help care providers until they recruit their own staff.

07894070385 info@thema-healthcare.co.uk www.thema-healthcare.co.uk

Why Train Beyond the Care Certificate?

It can be tempting to think that once the Care Certificate has been achieved it’s the end of training. The Care Certificate can demonstrate that staff have the minimum level of required training.

Training to Level 2 and beyond will therefore improve abilities to cope with the challenges presented by working in a difficult sector. Obviously one of the most significant challenges was dealing with Covid but there will be new and different challenges ahead However, it is the clients who will benefit from the improvement that additional training will bring.

Whilst these may include advances in the treatment of dementia, or changes to the legislative framework, there will undoubtedly be any number of other issues that will create new and complex problems that need to be dealt with.

So, if you think the Care Certificate completes all the training, it might be time to think again.

Please Please mention mention THE THE CARER CARER when when responding responding to to advertising. advertising.

So why choose Step Up Training and Care?

We provide training services that will build implicit trust, leading to confidence by clients looking to use your services.

At Step Up Training and Care, we know people are busy, work long hours and that a set 9-5 timetable will not work for most care homes and providers. We can tailor our learning programmes to meet individual needs, time our training to meet business commitments, working shift patterns and around family life.

Zoom Boom is here to stay, and we can accommodate teaching and learning through blended learning such as classroom, remote, assessor based, one to one training sessions. Our trainers have personal experiences of working in the health and social care sector, hence our flexible approach.

We empower people to learn.

Training beyond the Care Certificate - Can you afford not to?

T : 0121 794 1532 or 07384 698553 W : www.stepuptrainingandcare.co.uk E : info@stepuptrainingandcare.co.uk

STEP UP Training and Care At Step Up Training and Care we offer: • Tailored learning journeys and programmes • A flexible blended approach of one to one, in-house, classroom, practical assignments and online assessment methods • Training that will lead to higher quality of care delivery • Training led by tutors and assessors who are specialists in health and social care • Level 3 diplomas that are accredited to Highfield Qualifications

T : 0121 794 1532 or 07384 698553 W : www.stepuptrainingandcare.co.uk E : info@stepuptrainingandcare.co.uk

THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 94 | PAGE 53

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES & TRAINING In Dire Need Of Experienced Health Care Assistant, Senior Carer Or A Nurse?

JJ Recruitment has the large database of well qualified applicants with experience in the health-care industry, such as health care assistants, senior carers, and nurses from overseas. We also have an expert team of solicitors for the necessary legal proceedings and advices.

Why JJ?

Solicitude Training Training packages are engaging and bespoke to individual organisations to ensure that they are relevant to that particular service and therefore optimise learning and include accredited as well as awareness courses. Solicitude Training is a registered centre with Qualsafe.

Training can be delivered virtually, face to face or via e-learning or through a combination. The benefit of using a blended approach is that it can reduce delivery time (and therefore cost), but knowledge can be checked during the face to face delivery, to ensure that not only have the staff gained the knowledge, but that they can apply it to practice.

E-learning courses are flexible, can be done from the comfort of the individual staff members own home and at a time that suits them. This enables all individuals to learn at their own pace, without any pressure, to keep up with other staff. The on-line courses are designed to be engaging, interactive and

• We have very minimal processing fees.

• We assist you to get a sponsorship license.

• Qualified and experienced candidates from overseas.

Tel: 01704 809756 www.jjcarerecruitment.co.uk admin@jjrecruitment.co.uk relevant to the individual to help staff learn and retain knowledge and so content is designed to enable staff to relate theory to practice.

A well-trained workforce is an essential requirement to enable outstanding care to be delivered and these e-learning courses are designed to support the whole employee life cycle from induction through to career development, which in turn empowers staff to feel valued and continue their personal and professional development.

E-learning enables services to ensure that all staff are compliant with their training in a cost effective and timely manner. With multi-buy discounts available, this enables services to reduce costs and budget for the years training. Packages can also be purchased that facilitate blended learning, enabling all learning styles and needs to be accommodated.

For further information you can contact Solicitude Training on: Tel: 01256 242272 Email: info@solicitudetraining.co.uk Website: www.solicitudetraining.co.uk

Care Home Finance from Global Business Finance

Global assists clients throughout the U.K. who specialise in the healthcare sector to achieve their objectives of purchase, development and refinance.

We have organised over £1.8bn for clients in the past 30 years, providing clients with competitively priced funding to refinance existing debt, ease cashflow and develop businesses further.

From helping clients make their first purchase through to allowing groups to grow significantly in size

we assist at every stage of your business expansion.

Every proposal is individual and deserves to be treated that way, so we hope you will allow us to be of assistance to you and call us to chat through your plans and requirements, I am sure we will be able to tailor a facility to your requirements.

Call us on 01242 227172 or e-mail us at enquiries@globalbusinessfinance.net