May 2018
no.259 • £4.75 incorporating The Number One magazine for the care sector
New uniform is launched after staff consultation
Speakers are revealed for conferences By Dominic Musgrave THE line-up of speakers has been revealed for Caring UK’s second round of conferences in Keele and Blackpool in May. The Exceeding the Boundaries of Care events take place at Keele University and Herons Reach Hotel, Blackpool on May 22 and 23 respectively. Nadra Ahmed OBE, chairman of the National Care Association, will begin the event at Keele, followed by Jon Ibbitson from the CQC, who will give an update from the inspectorate. Prior to the mid-morning break a representative from Skills for Care will discuss ‘Quality leaders, quality care’. Gill Hooper, a registered nutritionist and researcher from Bournemouth University, will begin the second session, which will be followed by a presentation by Jessica Hiscock from event sponsor CURA Ssytems. The final speaker will be Alys Griffiths from Leeds Beckett University. Her talk is entitled ‘Improving care for people with dementia – what can research tell us?’. The following day at Blackpool
will again be started by Nadra. She will be followed by Ginny Ryder, inspection manager for the CQC, with a Skills for Care representative concluding the sessions. After the break Gill Hooper will be followed by Ben Atkinson-Willes from Active Minds, who will discuss ‘Delivering quality of life in care’. Dr Rachael Kelley from Leeds Beckett University will bring the session to a close. Caring UK editor Dominic Musgrave said: “Our first conference of the year at Bournemouth Football Club was a huge success. “As you can see we have once again put together a stellar line-up of speakers, who will talk about a range of topics throughout the day. “With the exhibition running alongside and the opportunity to network, these conferences are truly not to be missed, and I would urge all care home and domiciliary care operators and managers in the area to attend these events. Further events are planned to take place later in the year at The Bridge Hotel and Spa in Wetherby on July 4, Ascot Racecourse on July 11, Riviera International Centre, Torquay and Cheltenham Racecourse on September 12 and 13 respectively and Colchester United Football Club on October 11.
Levi Roots, star of Dragons’ Den and creator of Reggae Reggae sauce, visited Mission Cafe in Bromleyto share an afternoon of conversation and music in celebration of the important work Mission Café does to support vulnerable adults and those living with dementia. Levi spent the afternoon chatting with residents of two of Mission Care’s homes, Love Walk and Greenhill, as well as sharing his stories with local members of the community. Levi also treated all at Mission Cafe to a number of songs, including his famous jingle for Reggae Reggae Sauce and Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.
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SPRINGHILL Care Group has unveiled a new uniform following consultation with staff and stakeholders. Feedback received through an online survey led to the recent introduction of new uniforms and name badges, plus a new uniform policy, to ensure standardised practice across the group. The uniform consultation resulted in a number of key findings – including that more than two thirds felt staff should wear uniforms but would welcome a review to the existing policy to help better identify staff and their roles. Other results showed that 84.6 per cent of respondents felt uniforms were necessary to create a professional identity, and 70.2 per cent were keen to see each job role reflected in a different uniform and colour. Birch Green Care Home in Skelmersdale will be the first to adopt the new style, which will be rolled out across the group shortly, with Springhill Care Home in Accrington the next in line. New name badges have already been introduced. Virginia Perkins, associate director for people and organisational development at Springhill Care Group, said: “We pride ourselves on our employee engagement by making sure we listen and respond to our workforce.”