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Issue 46 03.03.21

FOR ALL YOUR INTERIOR NEEDS For further details contact Sarah Thompson: sarah@sommer-rose.com 07495 471038 • www.sommer-rose.com

The weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Staff receive care group’s hampers HOSPITAL staff on the frontline of Covid have been receiving hampers and messages of support from residents and staff at a care home provider. Colten Care has made a series of donations to intensive treatment units in hospitals serving the same communities as its homes in the South. They include the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The idea of donating hampers to ITUs came from Helen Smith, home manager at the operator’s Wellington Grange home in Chichester. Helen has worked previously as an accident and emergency sister and her partner, Dr Matthew Williams, is an ITU consultant at Queen Alexandra. She said: “Many hospital staff have been experiencing added pressure, anxiety and fatigue during the pandemic. ITU is such a highly skilled area of a hospital and you can’t just replace colleagues who go off sick. “Some people have been at breaking point, on their knees about the situation, and there has been a feeling of a lack of

recognition. Most of the public don’t know what it’s like. “We had a think about what we could do to make ITU staff feel a bit more supported and we thought some hampers and messages from our residents and team members, showing their heartfelt appreciation, was something that would go down well. “We have seen the extent of PPE that hospital ITU teams have to wear at the moment and we know ourselves how difficult and uncomfortable it is to work in heavy PPE, especially on long shifts.” Colten residents and staff have gifted two different types of hamper to each hospital. One is a ‘pamper’ hamper, containing unopened toiletries such as moisturisers, hand cream, body lotion, luxury soap and shower gel. This is to help ITU staff when they are moisturising hands and faces or having a shower after a shift. The second is a ‘munchies’ hamper, with goodies to eat such as unopened energy boosting snacks, granola bars and bags of nuts. Each kind of hamper includes heart-shaped notes from residents and staff, dubbed ‘Hearts of Kindness’.

Cleaner is given top accolade

Staff had a licence to thrill when Royal Star & Garter put on a James Bond Day for residents at its Surbiton home. Hosted by staff in black tie, the residents sipped Martini cocktails (shaken, not stirred naturally), enjoyed the glamour of the casino, took part in a 007 quiz and danced as healthcare assistant Jodie Halls sung a string of Bond classics. The home has hosted a series of popular special events and activities since the pandemic outbreak, including an American Party and Caribbean Day. These fun events create a lively, stimulating atmosphere and support residents’ sense of purpose. WWII veteran Flo is pictured trying her luck at the casino table.

A CLEANER at Anchor Hanover’s Lowlands Court praised for going above and beyond in her role has been honoured with a colleague award. Karen Elcock, who has worked at the retirement housing scheme in Wolverhampton, West Midlands for two years, was given the colleague award for her contribution and commitment to maintaining the wellbeing of residents during the pandemic. She said: “What can I say except I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw I had been nominated for a colleague award, let alone to have won. There were so many of my colleagues doing lots of amazing things. All I can say is thank you to everyone.” Karen was nominated as librarian by resident Barbara Jones, making sure there was a rotating stock of books for her to enjoy. She also took on extra cleaning duties to maintain high standards at the scheme. Thanks to her efforts in providing fresh reading materials, Karen has kept Barbara, an avid reader, occupied. She has also arranged for her daughter, who works at a chip shop, to deliver weekly orders of fish and chips for residents. Scheme manager Karen Booker added: “Karen truly has a heart of gold and will always put herself out if it means she can help anyone. She is one in a million and I am so lucky that she works here.”

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Re-engage and Anchor Hanover join forces to tackle loneliness NATIONAL older people’s charity Re-engage and Anchor Hanover, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life, have come together to tackle the rise in loneliness intensified by the pandemic. The new partnership between the two organisations will find ways to alleviate loneliness amongst Anchor Hanover residents, kicking off with the promotion of Re-engage’s telephone befriending service, Call Companions, to those who would benefit from a regular phone call. The collaboration came about as the housing and care provider was seeking a long-term, sustainable solution, to provide support for residents to ensure a voluntary telephone response service set up at the start of the pandemic could continue. Anchor Hanover director of service development, Nick Sedgwick, said: “We are delighted to have formed this partnership with Re-engage. “They have been operating, like Anchor Hanover, for more than 50 years and we have similar aims and common thinking about how we want to reduce loneliness for those in later life. “We are determined to ensure that residents can still access a telephone

support service. It proved to be rewarding for both residents and the volunteers during such a difficult time. “We are very excited about the opportunities to expand our joint working with Re-engage to tackle loneliness during the pandemic but also at a time when restrictions gradually reduce in the future. “The combination of a specialist charity and a large housing provider opens new potential solutions to maximise the benefits of a large volunteer base to improve the quality of life of many and contribute to more resilient communities.” Anchor Hanover has more than

50,000 housing residents across England, ranging in age from 55 to 105. During the country’s first national lockdown, the organisation found that more than 13 per cent of these did not have the support of family or friends. The provider’s in-house telephone support service, BeSupportive, was set up by the organisation at the start of the crisis and delivered solely by its staff to identify those who may be most lonely and in need of extra support. Staff volunteered to ring residents once a week providing an opportunity for residents who felt lonely or

isolated to talk about their family, hobbies, or their favourite soap. BeSupportive also proved invaluable to those who did not have the support from family or friends for a variety of reasons. The service enabled staff to identify any extra support they needed, putting them in touch with local volunteers and community groups who could help with shopping and providing other essential provisions. Re-engage has been providing social connections for older people for 50 years. With the help of its UK-wide network of 15,000 volunteers, the charity suspended its popular face-to-face gatherings as the crisis hit in March and launched Call Companions, supporting nearly 8,000 older people who live alone with regular friendly phone calls. With a team of dedicated volunteers and similar aims and ambitions to reduce loneliness for those in later life, Anchor Hanover’s telephone support service has been incorporated into Call Companions. All Anchor Hanover residents who need a BeSupportive support call are now able to receive a call from a Re-engage call companion. In recent weeks, as a way of trialling the partnership, Re-engage has provided call companions for more than 100 Anchor Hanover tenants.

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Advertiser’s announcement

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From bedrooms, bathrooms, wards, treatment and sluice rooms to kitchens, lounges and corridors, we can supply a solution to most cleaning needs. In care and nursing homes the Duplex is particularly effective on carpets where soiling and odours may be a problem! We also supply a wide range of steam cleaning equipment to address multi surface cleaning and sanitising issues. These machines tackle many cleaning tasks without the need to use chemicals making for a healthier, greener environment. To demonstrate the efficacy of our products we have commissioned independent tests by the Hospital Infection Research Laboratory in Birmingham. We have certified data that proves our machines kill the bacterium most common in the environment including Clostridium Difficile. As a national company we are able to offer a comprehensive range of cleaning equipment throughout the country backed up by on-site Covid-secure demonstrations and certificated installation and training sessions plus a friendly, efficient and knowledgeable after sales service. We also offer a variety of cost effective servicing solutions to suit customers’ requirements with engineer call outs to site and planned maintenance agreements to help keep your machine in perfect working order. We would welcome the opportunity to present our range to you and show you just how effective Duplex machines are at solving the cleaning issues most commonly encountered in the healthcare and nursing home environments. Contact us on 01227 771276 or sales@duplex-cleaning.com to book your demonstration.

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Julie retires after almost 30 £1,000 prize up for grabs years in health and care A KENDAL woman has retired after nearly 30 years of dedicated care to help people in the community. Julie Eldem, 64, was a client co-ordinator at Westmorland Homecare, which provides hundreds of hours of care each week that enable elderly and often frail people to live independently in their own home. “Julie worked full-time in our reactive scheduling team, co-ordinating our home care assistants’ rotas from Grasmere to Grange-over-Sands and helping to look after people in the community 24 hours a day,” said director Dr Chris Moss. Julie had to be ready to react at a moment’s notice. If a homecare assistant rang in sick, or their car broke down, she had to organise cover so a client was visited as normal. “Each of our clients is looked after by their own group of carers so if, for example, one of them rang in sick, Julie would do her best to ensure whoever went instead was from that group, rather than sending someone the client did not know,” added Dr Moss. If a client had to go to hospital at short notice, Julie would contact their relatives and the relevant carers so they were aware and would arrange cover when the client returned home.

Julie Eldem and her new puppy Teddy. “Julie would go beyond the call of duty,” said Dr Moss. “Once a client rang in the middle of the night. Julie was worried about her and drove 15 miles to go to support the client.” “And she was still at work again at 8am the following day,” added Amy Cooper, WHC’s head of scheduling. Julie started work as a receptionist at a GPs in Barrow in 1993 and then worked evening and night shifts for 10 years for the Furness Emergency Doctor Service, a co-operative which

provided out of hours cover to give GPs and their families some relief. Later she worked for Bay Call, another out of hours GP service provider, where she played a major part in the development of its rota system for GPs, despatchers, nurses, drivers and receptionists. She then worked for Cumbria Health On Call in a rota administration role. She joined Westmorland Homecare three years ago. “It is about helping people,” said Julie. “You always want to treat people the same way that you would want people to treat your family.” Dr Moss said Julie had a great work ethic and took huge pride in what she did. “Julie always showed a caring attitude towards staff, supporting anyone who was ill and looking after them,” he added. “She is a compassionate and wonderful lady – a real inspiration.” Julie said she was looking forward to doing more gardening and looking after her new puppy Teddy during her retirement. She also had plans to buy a campervan and do some travelling. Dr Moss added: “We are sad she is going but thrilled for her at the same time. Our whole motto is ‘living life to the full’ and Julie is going to do that and enjoy her retirement.”

BAKER Street has launched a new competition to encourage staff to get creative in the kitchen with residents, with a £1,000 top prize available for the winning care home. Second place will win £500 cash for your care home plus a hamper and third place will win a hamper. Using Baker Street sponge cake layers, entrants are being asked to create a tiered sponge, challenging chefs, residents and staff nationwide to create a quick and easy showstopper. Baker Street is offering samples in order to encourage entries via www. bakerstreetcompetition.co.uk until March 31. Scott Oakes, commercial manager for Baker Street, said: “It’s a really nice way to bring staff and residents together, and because the layers are already baked, it’s not asking too much of time-pressed care home staff. “We’re hoping that by making the competition all about the appearance of the end product, we’ll get some really creative entries. “We have food experts in our product development team who will be thinking about flavour combinations, but since we can’t taste every entry, they’ll be judging on appearance only.” This is the first time the brand has run a nationwide competition of this kind, after its fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth.

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CARINGWEEKLY

Carers continue their training despite Covid Colten Care team members help Joyce Male, a resident at Abbotts Barton in Winchester, celebrate her 100th birthday.

Team’s expansion helps residents’ quality of life A SOUTH coast care home provider has expanded its companionship team to help maintain residents’ wellbeing and quality of life during lockdown. Colten Care has appointed 18 new recruits to lead group activities such as arts and music sessions and deliver meaningful and inspiring one-to-one time. The new hires include singers, musicians and teachers. Together they will provide up to 1,000 residents at the operator’s 21 homes with an extra 469 hours of companionship opportunities each week. The expansion is intended to support residents and families faced with renewed restrictions on care home visiting under the latest government lockdown measures. Operations director Elaine Farrer said: “We already put great store on enabling residents to enjoy companionship and lovely experiences with others. We know how powerful and valuable this is for people’s daily living. “During the pandemic, the

constraints on family visiting have heightened the need for companionship because of the lack of opportunity for face-to-face contact with loved ones. “That’s why we have ‘upped our game’ and invested in the expansion of our dedicated team. “The resident is at the very heart of everything we do, with clinical, companionship and other team members all supporting their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.” The extra team members will supplement the work of colleagues who have continued to provide companionship, activities and experiences during the pandemic. Examples include birthday and anniversary celebrations, community occasions and an across-the-group garden produce show in which residents grew and showcased flowers, fruit and vegetables. In addition, all 21 homes have continued to fundraise for charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Children in Need, local food banks and other community causes.

FIFTEEN care workers from Czajka Care Group have achieved new industry qualifications while working at care and nursing homes throughout West Yorkshire. The caring team look after older people at Fairmount Nursing Home, Brookfield Care Home, Currergate Nursing Home and Beanlands Nursing Home, as well as younger people with physical disabilities at Staveley Birkleas. Tracey Hinchliffe achieved an NVQ Level 5 in leadership and management for health and social care and Sarah Chilton gained an NVQ Level 4 in health and social care. Kelly Oldcorn, Rebecca Smith, Gavin Archibald, Saiqa Ajaib and Amjid Ali Shah achieved a Level 2 in adult care support. Sarah Stott, Asad Ali Shah, Susan Smith, Pauline Rushworth, Zoe Lane, Yasmin Smith, Helen Larkin and Adelaja Przykaza achieved Level 3 in adult care support. The health and social care qualification is run by City & Guilds, and is the recognised qualification for care workers and senior workers in health and social care with three levels – two, three and four. The NVQ Level 5 in leadership and management for health and social care, gives people the opportunity to build both managerial and care skills. The City & Guilds adult care support qualification is a competencebased qualification which has been developed with Skills for Care, Skills for Health and in consultation with employers who provide adult care and health services. There are two levels – two and three. Konrad Czajka, managing director of Czajka Care Group, said: “These qualifications involve hundreds of hours of guided leaning and qualification time. Learners have to evidence and achieve credits to earn their diplomas, all whilst doing their day job. “Working in the care industry has its challenges, especially due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s also a very rewarding job where people can learn, progress and achieve new goals. We encourage

Gavin Archibald achieved a Level 2 in adult care support at Czajka Care Group. our team to constantly further their skills and attain new qualifications and we are very proud of these recent achievements.” Czajka Care Group invests heavily in training and runs a state-of-the-art training centre in Nab Wood, Shipley. Konrad added: “We have been providing specialised training for the last 10 years from our training centre to all new and existing staff at Czajka Care Group, as well as offering courses and training contracts to a number of other care and nursing homes across Bradford and Keighley. “We have courses on everything from manual handling to new care standards and adult protection safeguarding. We also run a fourday training course in induction standards, which covers subjects including first aid, health and safety, infection control, communications, client confidentiality, palliative care and food hygiene. “Great training is the key to maintaining great standards and the very best level of care for our residents – which is ultimately why we place such a strong emphasis on it.”

Operator is highly commended

Residents have been making a scrapbook to log what they did during 2020 at HC-One’s Woodlands View care home in Stevenage. Despite being in lockdown for most of the year, the residents managed to keep busy and have a lot of wonderful memories to look back on. Residents looked back at themselves playing games, taking part in pamper sessions and, of course, the annual Halloween and Christmas parties. Making a scrapbook was a lovely way to document the good memories that happened in a year that was difficult for everyone, and was also an opportunity to let colleagues know about any activities they would like to take part in this year.

HALLMARK Care Homes was highly commended at the prestigious 2020 Learning at Work Week Impact Awards. The care provider, which supports more than 2,100 employees, impressed judges for the Promoting Digital Learning Journeys category by promoting a digital platform in partnership with RCNi which allowed nurses to access more than 180 accredited online modules and create a portfolio to store their revalidation evidence. During Learning at Work Week, which runs in May, Hallmark nurses were also able to access virtual dropin sessions with RCNi representatives.

People and performance director at Hallmark Care Homes, Elizabeth Fairchild, said: “I am proud of the team who worked together from all different parts of our business to put together an offer to further develop our highly valued nurses. “A real credit to our business and an example of how to make a real difference to our teams. Well done everyone on this achievement.” The awards, first established in 2010, invite entrants to show how they promoted a lifelong learning culture,inspired learning journeys and digital learning, innovated in learning and development and supported business and organisational goals.

CARINGWEEKLY

Campaign encourages job-seekers to ‘Change Careers, Change Lives’ BRUNELCARE, a Bristol-based charity that has been providing care, support and housing to older people in the Southwest for 80 years, has launched a new campaign to encourage those whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic to consider a career in care. The campaign features staff members who previously worked in hard-hit sectors such a s hospitality, retail and travel, but have now found rewarding new careers. Ellie joined Brunelcare’s Little Heath Reablement Centre last August after her dream job as cabin crew was put on hold due to Covid-19. “I had just finished my training with British Airways when my role was postponed. I considered being a paramedic and looked for experience in care first. “However, since I’ve been working at Little Heath as a care assistant I’ve already decided that I don ’t want to leave.” Claudia was a retail manager for 17 years before joining Brunelcare’s Deerhurst Care Home. She joined last May as part of the wellbeing team and hasn’t looked back. “I really love it here,” she added. “At first I was scared about losing my previous job and facing the unknown, but since joining Brunelcare I’m a lot happier than in my previous role. “Being able to put a smile on

The Sunrise of Purley team practice their running for later this year.

Home aims to raise £3,000 in fundraising partnership Brian Whittaker someone’s face is amazing. When you know you’re making a difference it’s really important, it’s so much more rewarding.” Brian Whittaker, director of HR at Brunelcare, said: “If you’re a kind, committed people-person there are a wide variety of roles available within care. “We provide comprehensive training to all new team members, so if you’re ready to make a difference to people’s lives, we’re ready to support you.”

Advertiser’s announcement

How safe are your ratings? WHEN a less-than-brilliant junior government minister blathers on about care homes allowing more visitors in the middle of the third wave of Covid19, you reassure yourself that you are already following government guidance, and that you give high priority to preventing or at least minimising any outbreak in your home. When the CQC engages in a hissy fit at providers for falling short on allowing visits, arguably it’s a different matter. The Government announced on February 25 that they propose to issue new guidance to care homes, permitting visits by a single named individual from March 8, to hold hands but not to have more close contact, and subject to prior testing. The same March 8 that sees schools re-open, at a stroke bringing ten million people back into crowded buildings with no social distancing, predicted to increase R from 1.1 to 1.5. Especially hazardous for the multigenerational (and often vaccine-sceptic) households of the BAME community. And for their loved ones in care homes. And for all the other residents of said homes. When you try to match the notice of this cautious (sic) change with the subsequent missive on the CQC website you would think that the guidance was in place in March of last year not this one. Warnings that “blanket bans” are unacceptable, follow the guidance, we will take swift regulatory action where we have concerns triggered by whistleblowing about closed cultures. (That alright, Helen?) Er, spell “risk assessment”, Kate. The feasibility of low-risk visiting in the ongoing pandemic could hardly be more individual to a given care home.

A visiting system needs careful design and management to keep control and offer alternatives e.g. when notified of a positive test. For all sorts of reasons, renewing contacts necessarily suspended for months must be managed with great empathy. Pods or rooms need sanitising after a visit, from the CQC posture you would think that care homes should just open the front door at 2pm. Staff do still have other duties. Medicines must still be administered. Bathrooms must still be maintained. Dinners must still be served and supported. Care plans must still be kept up to date. Presumably audits are still required. CQC reminds providers that the “rights of individual(s) must be paramount when deciding visiting plans”. Agreed. Last time I checked, those rights included effective infection control systems, resilient to staff shortages as may be from time to time; or to new, more challenging, variants of the virus, preventing deaths from this still unpredictable disease. The word ‘death’ does not come up on a word search of the recent politicking missive from the Commission. The chief inspector claims that CQC does “recognise the complex and difficult situation facing social care”. Not everyone would agree, methinks. HSC Professional (Consultancy) now offers consultations on Zoom. Email me at mail@hsc-prof.com to sign on for regular alerts and updates on coronavirus and the rest. Visit my Facebook page or Twitter page at @hsc_prof to view my videos on notifications, Riddor and more. facebook.com/HSC-ProfessionalConsultancy-1715456902020143/

SUNRISE of Purley has formed an official fundraising partnership with Age UK Croydon. The care home will aim to raise £3,000 across the year through various fundraising activities involving residents and staff members. Rebecca Peters, director of community relations at Sunrise of Purley, added: “We are delighted to be official fundraising partners of Age UK Croydon. It is a wonderful charity that really benefits older people in our local community. “The Sunrise of Purley team and all the residents are very excited to get involved in some fun activities and raise as much money as possible for this great cause.” The partnership has been formed to help raise vital funds for the charity that will allow them to lead the way in empowering, enabling, supporting

and connecting older people in the London Borough of Croydon to live well, healthily and independently. From this partnership, Sunrise of Purley residents will also benefit from access to additional Age UK services, including healthier lifestyle classes, information and advice, and the Memory Tree Café. As part of their fundraising endeavours, Sunrise of Purley and Age UK Croydon have been meticulously planning activities that can go ahead in the coming months despite on-going Covid-19 restrictions. One event will involve residents collectively completing a virtual walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats. By May, the Sunrise of Purley team is hoping they will be able to participate in a 5k or 10k run around Olympic Park, with a fundraising target of £200 per person.

Operator gets go ahead for luxury care home PLANS to build a new luxury care home in Enfield have finally been given the go ahead. The new 82-bedroom Covid-secure care home will be built at the heart of the North London Borough. Work on the site is due to begin next month with the home welcoming its first residents in the spring of 2023. John Austin, development director at Hamberley Development, said the home would bring truly safe and luxurious care to the people of Enfield. He added: “This marks our first luxury care home development in Greater London and we are thrilled to have finally secured planning permission. “The capital is significantly underserved in terms of quality, highend luxury care home beds and so we are proud to play our part in bringing a Hamberley home to North London where we will help meet the care needs of the local community. “The building will be of the very

An artist’s impression of the new care home in Enfield.

highest standard, from a safety and wellbeing perspective and also in terms of luxury, comfort and environmental standards. We look forward to welcoming our first residents in 2023.” The leading-edge care home will include 82 en-suite bedrooms, a spacious café bistro, a private dining room, a hair salon and nail bar,

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activity room/bar, a cinema, spacious resident lounges, dining rooms and quiet lounges. Outside, the home will feature landscaped patios and terraces. The home will also be designed with the highest safety standards in mind, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additional features include a bespoke Covid-secure visitation

suite (The Family and Friends Lounge), in-built thermal imaging technology in the entrance lobby and a ventilation system which ensures air in resident day spaces is fully changed every 15 minutes. The home will also have hand washing and hand sanitising stations throughout for staff, residents and visitors. The home will also boast exemplary environmental credentials with the central heating and hot water provided by Enfield’s District Energy Network. The groundbreaking system relies on underground pipes carrying hot water energy from a Community Energy Centre two miles away. The home is being built by Hamberley Development – the sister development company of Hamberley Care Homes, the former HealthInvestor Magazine Residential Care Provider of The Year. The build will be project managed by Fed3 Projects.

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CARINGCOMMERCE

Providers look to make vaccination a condition of employment, claim ALMOST three-quarters (73 per cent) of social care providers would like to make a Covid vaccination a condition of employment for new members of staff, a poll has revealed. That condition would include exceptions for those who can’t have the vaccine on medical or other protected grounds. James Sage, employment partner and head of social care at Royds Withy King, said: “Many providers have made good progress getting staff vaccinated through encouragement rather than enforcement. However, some providers reported very low staff uptake rates. “The current figures, and the legal risks of forcing existing staff to have the vaccine, explain why increasing numbers of providers are considering making vaccinations mandatory for new staff. “Of those polled, 73 per cent said they would want to adopt this approach while making exceptions for those who can’t have the vaccine for protected reasons under the Equality Act, such as pregnancy, disability or religion. “These figures indicate how keen care providers are to protect the health and safety of their clients and workforce by ensuring that as many people as possible get vaccinated. “In practice, fewer numbers are

James Sage

likely to move ahead with it now because of the risk it might hinder recruitment which is already incredibly challenging – 59 per cent of providers reported that they do not have enough staff with a further 11 per cent saying they have significant staffing gaps.” The survey of 194 care providers was held at social care lawyers Royds Withy King’s annual employment law webinar. It found that while the majority (53 per cent) of care providers had more than 80 per cent of staff vaccinated, 20 per cent of care providers are operating with more than 40 per cent of their workforce unvaccinated. In the vast majority of cases this was due to workers being unwilling or unable to have the vaccine, although most providers (78 per cent) said that up to 10 per cent of unvaccinated staff wanted the vaccine but had not been able to access it.

An artist’s impression of the new home in Newtownards.

£8m home to create 100 jobs DUNLUCE Healthcare has unveiled plans to build an £8million nursing home in Newtownards which will accommodate 80 residents and create 100 permanent jobs. It is the latest development by the Bangor-based firm which last year opened a new dementia wing at Oakmont Lodge in Bangor West following a £2m investment. Ryan Smith, chief executive of Dunluce Healthcare, said: “We are very pleased to have secured planning permission for this development which has significance not just for Newtownards, but for the wider nursing home sector. “Placing our residents and their families at the heart of everything we do, it is our mission to provide the highest quality care in the

most comfortable and modern surroundings in Northern Ireland. “Every care has therefore been made in the design of this facility, from the standard of finish in the rooms and communal areas to the landscaping of the outdoor space, so that residents can expect luxurious living, closer to that of a hotel than a traditional nursing home.” The new home will be built on the site of the former Ards FC football ground. It will cater for a range of nursing, residential, respite and convalescent care needs when it opens next year, with specialist services designed for those with dementia. Building work is due to commence in June this year and will take around 18 months to complete.

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CARINGWEEKLY Advertiser’s announcement

‘Waste Not, Want Not’ – apetito pledges support to reduce waste AS FIGURES show that the UK wastes more than 9.5 million tonnes of food each year, (with a value of over £19billion)1, which would be associated with more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, leading meals provider to the care home sector, apetito, has pledged its support to WRAP’s Food Waste Action Week (#FoodWasteActionWeek), which runs until Sunday. Adding its weight to other brands who are joining forces to drive awareness of this increasingly big issue – and the associated impact that food waste has on climate change – apetito has reinforced its commitment to wasting less food and in turn reducing the impact on our global environment. The company currently sends all its food waste to anaerobic digestion (which produces renewable energy and reduces greenhouse gases). In addition – and as part of its commitment to the Courtauld 2025 initiative – apetito has pledged to halve food waste from its manufacturing operations. All its business units embrace the same principles of supporting waste reduction from top to bottom across its business. Every step of the production process is continually under review to ensure as a business, apetito ‘leads the way’

Lee Sheppard

in responsible trading. Lee Sheppard, director of corporate affairs and policy, said: “Food waste is a subject of environmental and socioeconomic concern in its own right – however, the associated impact on climate change is not widely known. “Food waste actively feeds climate change, which is of increasing concern and relevance to us all. “It’s a worrying fact that food waste produces six-times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions as global aviation, and WRAP’s own research shows that while 81 per cent of people in the UK are concerned about

THE 2021

CARING

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climate change, fewer than 30 per cent can see a clear link with wasting food. “Right now, 70 per cent of all food wasted post-farm gate in the UK is wasted by consumers in their own homes. “As a country, households throw away more than 6.6 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten, and that’s before we consider any food waste across hospitality, foodservice and manufacturing establishments. “We fully support and applaud WRAP’s campaign and believe that with businesses and households working together and all ‘doing their bit’ – that collectively, we can make a real difference….” WRAP is looking to drive awareness that wasting food is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. When we throw away food that could have been eaten, we are not just wasting food but the valuable resources that went into making it, including water, land, and greenhouse gases. Check out ‘Love Food – Hate Waste’ @LFHW_UK for further details on how we can all tackle food waste and the associated impact this has on climate change. Reference 1. WRAP-Food-surplus-and-wastein-the-UK-key-facts-Jan-2020.pdf

CEO receives recognition MARTIN Jones, CEO of Home Instead, received special recognition at the Best Franchise Awards when he was named a WorkBuzz Hero. He is only the second person to receive this honour. The WorkBuzz Hero award was developed to recognise individuals who have had a lasting impact on their franchisees and their sector. Martin said: “In a year when it was far from business as usual, the Home Instead family has pulled together like at no time before. In doing so we have been able to continue to deliver our personcentred, high quality care at scale; despite everything that the pandemic has thrown at us.” Home Instead has undertaken WorkBuzz Franchisee and Customer engagement and satisfaction surveys since 2013. In that time the homecare business has achieved consistently high scores. Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic when the care sector faced huge pressure, Home Instead achieved their best ever client satisfaction scores and world class employee engagement scores in 2020. Early last year, before the pandemic had even been declared, Martin formed a Covid Taskforce that would go on to navigate the company’s then 215 franchise offices, their 17,000 clients and more than 10,000 CAREGivers.

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No risk and loads of rewards: adopting Log my Care’s digital care software AISHA is the care manager at Broadlands, a 16-bed residential care home in Nottinghamshire. Like many care services, Broadlands still had a paper-based care management system during the early days of the pandemic. Aisha’s team was very busy and managing care on paper took up too much time. She knew they were due for an upgrade. “We were on paper entirely,” Aisha added. “It was a bit disorganised and it took a lot of time to write everything down. But like most care homes, it’s just the way it’s always been done.” After assessing a variety of care software, Aisha turned to Facebook and asked her peers what they recommended. Log my Care popped up several times and she decided to create a free account. “I gave the free version a go myself

but decided to start paying for it because even the paid modules were so cheap,” she added. “The care plans are very easy to use. The fact that it was written by people who know care also made me feel more comfortable.” Aisha created a fake resident (Kenny the koala) and had two of her senior carers create spoof logs and write care notes via the accompanying Carer App for Kenny. In a few weeks, Log my Care’s electronic care plans, easy-to-use charts, graphs and coronavirus monitoring tools had her team sold. “Literally within the first day my team were doing what they needed to

do and I was already seeing massive improvements in observations,” she said. They saved time on writing everything down, freeing them up for other tasks, including spending more time with residents, which helped create a more friendly and approachable atmosphere despite Covid restrictions. “My staff were less stressed and they could refer back to logs more easily. “They could casually log care on their phones and sit with the residents while they’re doing it, rather than have papers and folders strewn around a table which looks more official and intimidating,” she said.

The Log my Care software made staff feel more independent. It also made pinging out information to a social worker asking after a resident a lot easier. For other managers who’re thinking about trying electronic care planning, Aisha has some advice: 1. Lead from the front. Reassure your staff that everyone is learning and mistakes will happen. 2. Create a pretend resident (like I did with Kenny) to practice getting better at using the software and trying out the different features. 3. Try it, you’ve got nothing to lose (especially as Log my Care software is free). So, what are you waiting for? If you’re considering electronic care planning, give Log my Care a go for free by clicking here and creating a free account. Simply pop in some details and we’ll sort all the other bits out.

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CARINGWEEKLY

Desmond Holder, a resident at The Lawn – the Alton-based care home run by charity Friends of the Elderly – had a brilliant time celebrating his milestone 101st birthday. His day began with a surprise visit from his daughter Patricia and son-in-law Derek. The visit took place in the home’s Covid-safe visiting room which was decorated with birthday balloons and banners. The care home team laid on a 101st birthday lunch followed by tasty birthday cakes, which Desmond enjoyed with his friends. He was thoroughly delighted listening to everyone singing happy birthday and cutting his blue, white and red celebration cake that care home manager Alina Gutu presented to him. Desmond then tinkled the ivories and entertained everyone with a wonderful piano performance.

A resident at Magnolia House care home in Cottingham was showered with her favourite yellow flowers to celebrate her 102nd birthday. Ivy Thompson was born in Hull, just a 10-minute drive from the care home. Her husband died when their daughter Linda was only 12, and Linda took on the role of caring for her brother and sister while Ivy supported the family. Ivy has devoted her life to her family as a grandmother and great grandmother to many adoring great grandchildren. She prided herself on her work. During her early 20s, Ivy helped the World War II effort by moving to London to help clean the rust off the rifles used by the British army. Ivy remembers her milk round most fondly. Sunrise of Tettenhall resident Beryl Hamilton recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Beryl was born in Coseley and attended Bilston Girls High School. She went on to work at a drawing office to assist with planning and designing local construction projects. Beryl met her late-husband Eric at Tipton swimming baths, and they married when she was 20. They had two children, a granddaughter and three great-grandchildren. Throughout her life Beryl’s hobbies have included being part of Townswomen’s Guild which is now the second largest British women’s organisation, and being a part of the West Midlands Federation. Beryl was also bench for the West Bromwich Magistrates. Jazz Lalli, director of community relations, said: “All the team made sure she felt very special, she had balloons, lots of cards and a very big cake to mark the occasion. Beryl is a fabulous woman and she inspires us all.” Walstead Place Care Home resident Peggy Chinnock celebrated her 100th birthday with a piper and a family visit, as well as balloons, a cake and a card from the Queen. Home manager Jacquie Ferguson said that Peggy, who has been a resident at the West Sussex home for 12 years, woke up on her birthday to an array of cards and flowers. The team made a special place for Peggy near the bay window decorated with balloons so she would be able to see her birthday surprise – which was her family of daughters Angela and Shelia, her son John and daughter-inlaw Teresa. Lillian Greenway, a resident at Heartlands Care and Nursing Home in Yardley, celebrated her 100th birthday in style. She enjoyed a wonderful surprise party and received more than 10,050 cards and 500 presents from all over the world after customer relations manager Stacey Debney decided to step in when she realised that Lillian had no close family to help her celebrate her milestone birthday. Stacey put an appeal on the Shirley and Solihull Community Facebook page asking people to send in birthday cards and explaining her favourite colour is purple and that she loves anything royal. Stacey appeared on various TV and radio stations and, as a result, postman Gary delivered more than 14 sacks of cards with daily deliveries of parcels and gifts.

George Almond, a resident at Sunrise of Bagshot, celebrated turning 100 recently. George has been a resident at Sunrise of Bagshot since 2017, and he enjoys the exercise groups at the care home, as well as a daily walk around the landscaped gardens. When Sunrise of Bagshot’s in-house dining team made George’s birthday cake, the icing depicted his favourite spot in the garden. George was born in Northwood, Middlesex and he lived in Chester for most of his life. In 1952 he married Nona and they had three children – Diane, Pauline and Neil. George was an engineer in the electrical supply industry. George’s fondest memory is his friendship with his late wife, and his top tip for living a healthy life is always looking on the bright side of life and keeping active. A resident at Baycroft Flitwick care home enjoyed a funfair themed birthday surprise. Vera Thurston, who turned 94, used to own the local fun fair with her late husband so the home’s activity coordinators organised the fair themed party complete with coconut shy, tin can alley, hoopla and traditional treats such as candy floss, toffee apples, mini doughnuts and popcorn. They had also collected several old family pictures of when Vera was growing up which she spent a lot of time looking at and reminiscing about the good old days. Paul Buckle, interim general manager, said: “It was such a lovely afternoon and a great excuse to get all the residents together for a celebration, adhering to all the necessary Covid-19 precautions of course.”

A Perthshire care home resident who participates in weekly exercise classes has celebrated her 100th birthday. Margaret Burns, a resident at Balhousie Pitlochry, marked the milestone birthday with music, flowers and a cake baked by the care home’s chef, Lionel Ballard. Margaret also spent time with one of her oldest friends who is also a resident in the care home. Born in Pitlochry in 1921, Margaret lived in Blair Atholl and worked in the local Post Office with fellow resident and life-long friend Janet (Jenny) Macmillan. Staff at the home also organised for Songbook Melodies, a husband and wife singing duo who have been posting online virtual concerts for care home residents, to record a special message and rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for Margaret.

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