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CARINGNEWS
New owner serves new food policy By Dominic Musgrave
Author and MP Ann Widdecombe was the latest celebrity to visit the Nightingale Care Home in Clapham. She joined 40 residents at the facility for a lively debate about British life, with topics including knife crime, establishing a zero tolerance
policy within the police force, the Government’s management of the recession and the controversial issue of Holocaust denial. Ann is pictured chatting with one of the residents.
A BUSINESSMAN who has bought his first care home has introduced a new food policy to combat malnutrition. Raj Nahal says the first change he made at Admorre House in Seaton Sluice was a new purchasing plan to ensure all the food is locally sourced. He said: “Going to the wholesalers is all right for toilet rolls but not for food. I want to make sure the residents eat healthy, and one of the first things I did was get a butcher on board to deliver our meat, a grocer to bring our fruit and vegetables and to make sure the fish we serve here is of the finest quality.” Raj, who owns a petrol station and other property in the North East, has also employed a full-time maintenance person to ensure the home is up to scratch. He added: “If a door handle breaks and needs replacing I don’t want it to take days to get fixed so I have put our handyman on a full-time contract to make sure any problems get fixed straight away.” He spent 18 months considering more than a dozen sites in Yorkshire and the North East before settling on the 17-bed home by the coast. Now, he expects to purchase a second home to add to his portfolio
Admorre House in Seaton Sluice within the next six months. He said: “One of the selling points to me about this home was the location and whether people would want to be here. This was probably the sixth or seventh home I visited, and it kept coming back to me. “There is a homely feel that a lot of the homes I looked at which had better star ratings than here do not have. “That is the most important thing to me. I always work on the theory of whether I would be happy to put my parents in here, and I’m glad to say that I would. I can expand in future, but at the moment I just want to offer a more personal service.”
Venue set for NCA annual conference in November THE National Care Association’s annual conference and exhibition will be held at Alexandra House in Swindon in November. Chief executive Sheila Scott OBE said: “There are massive challenges confronting the care sector – so this year's conference is expected to again be lively and controversial.
“It will be a vital opportunity for NCA members and non-members to listen to and cross examine representatives of Government, civil service and national organisations, and meet with fellow care home professionals.” The event takes place on November 11 and 12.
Food hygiene success is great compliment to Joyce MAIDS Moreton Hall care home in Aylesbury has become the fourth Fremantle Trust facility to receive a five-star rating for its food hygiene as part of the Government’s Scores on the Doors scheme. Home manager Lynn Winkworth said: “We have worked very hard to ensure that our food hygiene
standards are tip top and that our residents receive well prepared, well balanced, appetising meals which they have had a choice in selecting. “This award is a great compliment to cook Joyce Neil and her support staff and it is highly pleasing for us to receive it.”