Issue 2 08.04.20 We are committed to supporting customers in these unprecedented times, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me or a member of my team to talk about how we can help Derek Breingan, Head of Health and Social Care 07818 454674
The new weekly online newsletter for the care sector
In uncertain times, we’re here to help “Businesses are facing a situation which we have never experienced before. And with such a daunting and uncertain road ahead, our specialist Health and Social Care team are committed to working with the care sector to offer our support and expertise in business banking.” Derek Breingan, head of health and social care sector DURING the Covid-19 outbreak, it’s vital that businesses in the care sector have access to the right information and support. At Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, we are participating in the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and our specialist Health and Social Care team is working diligently with our customers to help them continue to access finance. We are in regular contact with care associations, gaining insight into the everchanging situation and offering our assistance where possible. The industry is showing massive resilience and is benefiting from the sharing of experiences, findings and learnings as well as valued communication. For example, one customer has asked a neighbouring business, which prepares food for weddings and events, and which was facing closure, to produce ready meals for its care homes, staff and local community. However, alongside the ability to innovate and adapt, the sector is also experiencing two significant challenges – the stability of staff numbers and the lack of availability of Personal Protective Equipment. We have heard of some customers who are reverting to making their own PPE, while others are having to purchase these, which unfortunately can be at inflated prices at the moment. Other supply issues include the availability of food supplies, with some turning to local communities for support. This is why the measures banks have put in
Derek Breingan
Golden couple mark big day with party place to support businesses is vital, such as our capital repayment holiday option. We recognise it’s important to get financial support to businesses as quickly as possible and in the best ways to meet their needs. We are pleased to support this new government sponsored scheme, as well as introduce additional measures that our relationship managers can tailor to suit our customers to help them navigate the current economic disruption. We are able to offer the CBILS 12-month interest free loans and additionally our customers won’t be required to make any payments within the first six months. Our specialist Health and Social Care relationship managers have also been given additional authority to agree an extension of any expiring overdrafts or loans by six months without charge. We are committed to supporting customers in these unprecedented times and be reassured that we remain on hand to discuss these initiatives and the variety of options available. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me or a member of my team to chat about how we can help. Derek Breingan, head of Health and Social Care Sector 07818 454674
A BIG THANK YOU
FROM ALL OF US TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING TO KEEP OUR MOST VULNERABLE SAFE AND HAPPY …
WE’RE IN AWE OF YOUR SELFLESS HARD WORK AND DEDICATION.
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A COUPLE celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at Gracewell of Camberley care home recently. Paul and Rosie Rowan were originally going to go home to their family and friends for a weekend to celebrate with a gathering. However, given the circumstances, the couple are staying put together at Gracewell of Camberley. The team at the home worked alongside the couple’s family to organise a virtual celebration. They enjoyed Prosecco and an afternoon tea together in the bistro. The in-house dining team also prepared a decorated cake for them, while both their daughters, granddaughters and other family members were on FaceTime to help them celebrate. Staff ensured they were set up with a large TV and decorated the room with balloons so their special day could still be celebrated properly. Paul and Rosie’s family also made a montage of memories and organised for the couple’s friends to pre-record video messages that were played to them. Jeorgia Jones, home admissions advisor, said: “Paul and Rosie are a wonderful couple; they were delighted with their celebration. “The huge smiles on their faces said it all. Their family were also so grateful to be able to join them – virtually – in celebrating this wonderful occasion. Thank you to all the Gracewell of Camberley team who ensured this was able to go ahead.” The couple would usually be regularly visited by their children and grandchildren. However, thanks to technology they have been able to maintain their regular catch ups with their family through video calls.
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CARINGWEEKLY
Care home’s residents get virtual adventure ELDERLY residents at Oake Meadows Care Home have been treated to a virtual reality extravaganza, taking turns to experience the latest hightech gadgets. Residents Michael Rourke, 87, and Agnes Carter, 94, were particularly enthralled by the spectacle provided by the fully immersive headsets. Katrina Ball, manager of Oake Meadows, said: “While our home is temporarily closed to all visitors, we’re pulling out all the stops to ensure our residents continue to experience new things, make new memories and live their lives to the full. “We thought a taste of virtual reality, keeping them in touch with the latest gadgets, would be a wonderful experience, allowing them to see and feel things they never imagined they would be able to.” Residents have also enjoyed receiving pictures and messages from local school children who have been sending them in to the home since local schools were closed. Katrina added: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is our number one priority and we’re so grateful to the local community, and
Joan Blacker FaceTiming grandchildren.
An Oake Meadows resident enjoys the new VR experience. how people of all ages, have rallied round to ensure that, despite our home being temporarily closed to visitors, our residents feel connected and in touch.” Oake Meadows forms part of Larchwood Care and is currently managed by Healthcare Management Solutions.
Country Court finance director Al-Karim Kachra, chairman Abdul Kachra and CEO Alykhan Kachra.
Operator delivering care packages to thank staff STAFF at Country Court’s 32 care homes will receive a care package consisting of more than 20 items including food, drink and basic provisions to help with day-to-day life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company has more than 2,000 staff, all of whom will receive the packages as a thanks for their work caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society. The packages, which include items such as toilet roll, dried and tinned goods and hand sanitiser, have been arranged courtesy of the Kachra family, owners of the care provider, after seeing their staff struggle to get the provisions they needed. With homes situated as far south as Brighton and as far north as York, it has proved a big operation to ensure all staff are looked after. A team of volunteers from the group’s head office, together with the owners of Elevate fitness studio based close by, are spending several days sorting and packing the boxes which
will be delivered directly to each care home for staff to share with their families. CEO Alykhan Kachra said: “These are very challenging times for everyone in our homes. “Coping with the unprecedented changes to everyday life is difficult enough and we have been humbled by the great strength people have shown turning up to the workplace and taking on the additional responsibility of keeping our residents safe every single day. “As the pressure on buying everyday goods has increased, we see our teams across the company struggling to strike a balance between delivering their part in the overall care service and adapting at home. “We hope that this will go some way to making life a little bit easier for them.” The first boxes have arrived at care homes in London and are continuing to be delivered throughout the next two weeks.
Resident celebrates 100th via video call A SURREY care home resident was able to celebrate her 100th birthday with her family thanks to the wonders of modern technology. Joan Blacker, who lives at Huntington & Langham Estate in Hindhead, still managed to enjoy herself despite the restrictions, with calls from her family – themselves currently in lockdown – serving to bring her much-needed cheer, with her grandchildren and great grandchildren wishing her well via FaceTime calls. Joan has an extensive family that includes three sons, 12 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, which meant family were calling throughout the day, including a call from a great grandchild who lives in Switzerland. Alongside her family’s well wishes she received dozens of cards, gifts and flowers with all of the home’s carers also signing a card for her – helping to ensure she felt suitably spoilt on such a landmark occasion. Charlie Hoare, director of the Huntington & Langham Estate, said: “On the one hand it’s a great shame that Mrs Blacker happened to turn 100 during an unprecedented health crisis. “However, thanks to technology, all was by no means lost. Using FaceTime we were able to connect
Mrs Blacker with her family throughout the day, helping her to feel suitably special despite the current restrictions in place. “Mrs Blacker was thrilled with the experience and so were we. It’s not every day you celebrate a birthday via FaceTime, let alone a 100th one. With people across the world currently undertaking social distancing it was wonderful to be able to spread a little happiness, especially given it was such a milestone occasion.” As part of coronavirus precautions, relatives’ visits to the home are restricted – including from grandchildren and great grandchildren – meaning interaction with the outside world for residents is greatly reduced. Despite this the staff are doing what they can to keep residents connected, with a recent request for children to send in creative artwork to raise residents’ spirits seeing dozens of pieces sent to the home. Charlie added: “Our residents are holding up immensely well given the circumstances, with our staff doing a tremendous job to help ensure this. “Alongside staff efforts we’re also seeing heart-warming and generous gestures from the wider community, which is really helping residents to continue to feel a part of things.”
A care home operator has lifted the spirits of its residents and staff after hosting a virtual choir. Shaw healthcare, which operates 75 homes across the UK, organised the online sing-along to put a smile on the faces of residents amid the current COVID-19 pandemic. Singing ‘We’ll Meet Again’ residents and staff at Shaw-operated homes across England, Scotland and Wales joined together to deliver a message of hope and positivity. See the uplifting video at https://youtu.be/AsFEUhtavwY
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Homecare provider in appeal for new staff
Charity launches volunteering opportunities A CHARITY providing housing, care and support for older people in the South West for nearly 80 years has launched several ongoing volunteering opportunities to help its tenants, residents and guests. The Brunelcare’s Community Behind Closed initiative has six different community volunteering initiatives that people can sign up to, each with a different focus on core areas across the charity. One opportunity; Friends on the Phone, will see a telephone befriending service launch between the community and sheltered housing sites, community clients and extra care housing sites. This allows residents to talk on the phone to volunteers to prevent people feeling isolated at this difficult time. Drive to Care is another volunteering opportunity that will see Brunelcare employees and the wider community come together to offer lifts to and from work for carers, nurses and support workers across the organisation to prevent the use of public transport. The opportunity is also asking for wider community volunteers to transport much-needed supplies between sites across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Somerset. Emma Gwynne, volunteering development manager at Brunelcare,
said: “We already have so many amazing activities going on within each of our Brunelcare sites, however we realise that our clients may be feeling more isolated than ever at this time. “We decided to launch an ongoing volunteering initiative to help the charity during this difficult time and to support the people we care for across the organisation. This will continue for as long as it’s needed.” Another opportunity is to Help your Neighbour. This will see people from the community of each of the group’s care homes, extra care housing or sheltered housing site, deliver vital supplies such as food, medicine or other items to residents and tenants. Brunelcare also has a volunteering initiative called Become a PenPal which will see a call to action for the community to come together to write letters and start penpal relationships with tenants and residents. The initiative enables a variety of different age groups to get involved and volunteer their time. The final opportunities, Volunteer to Care and Calling all Professionals, will give the opportunity for volunteer carers to help colleagues, residents and tenants across sites and also allow professionals from a variety of different backgrounds such as Admin, IT and HR join the charity. The man pictured here on Facebook showed his appreciation for a frontline care and support worker by paying for her fuel in his recognition of the great work being carried out by care and support workers up and down the country. This was after the entire petrol station cheered her. Caremark has thousands of care and support workers up and down the country helping the elderly, people with special needs, those needing respite or simply companionship in these days of social isolation. The care provider currently has job opportunities all over the country.
A WEST Sussex homecare provider is appealing for new staff to help care for those in need in the area. With a substantial increase in the number of people needing to be cared for in their own homes, the Care2Connect team is hoping to hear from local people, especially those who may have found themselves out of work, on restricted hours or enforced unpaid leave in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It can offer care worker vacancies in a number of locations including Shoreham, Worthing, Littlehampton, Arundel and East Grinstead. The roles would support the existing dedicated staff teams who are working hard to ensure people continue to receive the help they need. The appeal may be particularly relevant to staff in the retail, travel or hospitality sectors, but Care2Connect is keen to hear from anyone who has time available and is able to help other members of their community by providing a range of homecare services, including personal, social and domestic care. Chairman Colin Young said: “Given
Colin Young the nature of the coronavirus crisis we are looking to employ a range of people on short term, temporary and permanent contracts to deliver muchneeded home support to our clients. “No experience is necessary – all you need is the human touch, a willingness to learn and an ability to bring a smile to someone’s face.” Care2Connect is able to offer an immediate start, subject to references and CRB clearance, with full training provided.
Letters and drawings bring joy to residents RESIDENTS of Edward Moore House in Gravesend were delighted to receive so many letters and drawings from the community. With visits currently on hold due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, residents of the care home were over the moon to receive some post from local children. It’s been quite some time since our residents would have received a handwritten letter, so there was quite a buzz in the home when an abundance of them dropped on the door mat. The local school children wrote to the residents, telling them about
themselves and sending well wishes for the future. In addition to the letters, residents have been busy crafting some rainbows, which they displayed in the home’s windows, to brighten the day of those walking past. General manager Christine Hutchinson said: “We’re very grateful that local school children have thought of us and want to support us during this difficult time. “The letters are a great way for us to keep in touch with the community at a time when we unfortunately, can’t have visitors coming in, they really brightened up the residents’ day.”
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CARINGWEEKLY
New campaign to shine a light on carers launched
Fiona Radford from Encore with Hilton Bournemouth executive chef Matt Budden and director of sales Jon Fisher.
Hotel donates fresh food to care home provider RESIDENTS at Encore care homes were delighted to receive food donated by Hilton Bournemouth. The hotel was one of the many that had to close due to the coronavirus lockdown directive from the Government. Instead of throwing away the fresh food they chose to donate it to the Encore care homes in Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole so residents could enjoy it. Delivery drivers from the care homes collected the food supplies, with the remaining items, where possible, going to the local foodbank. Fiona Radford, sales and marketing director at Encore care homes, said: “It’s been wonderful to receive this kind gesture of fresh food. “Our own suppliers are working hard to keep us well-stocked and this will give our residents more to enjoy during this challenging time. We can’t wait to see what our talented chefs and catering teams will create in the kitchen. “Having worked previously in the
hospitality and tourism sector, it’s become apparent that we share the same people-focused skills and behaviours. We are now looking for new team members in our care homes from this background, as they are so transferable and relevant.” Jon Fisher, director of sales of Hilton Bournemouth, added: “With the current situation, it wouldn’t be responsible to let our food go to waste. “We’ve provided food for our staff and recognised the needs of the wider community. Hilton Hotels have many ongoing actions in the community and volunteer groups in each region, where we’re working hard to give something back during these unprecedented times.” Encore care homes have purposebuilt facilities supporting residents with residential, nursing and dementia care. The family includes Fairmile Grange in Christchurch, Oakdale in Poole, Great Oaks in Bournemouth and Hamble Heights in Southampton.
SCOTS are being urged to show their appreciation for the work of the country’s vast army of social care workers who are continuing to provide vital services to older and vulnerable people during the Coronavirus crisis. Housing and care provider Blackwood is promoting a campaign to shine a light on the important front-line role care employees are playing – and to encourage businesses and individuals to look at ways they can show their gratitude. Across Scotland it is estimated that up to 150,000 staff work in the social care sector, providing care to people in care homes and retirement developments, as well as care-athome services. Blackwood chief executive Fanchea Kelly said: “Many older and vulnerable people could require hospital care without the help of our wonderful care staff. This vital support is happening in our communities in an almost invisible way during the COVID-19 crisis. “We believe it is essential to recognise this important work publicly. We’d like to let care staff know that they are appreciated, keeping morale high at a time where many people are going way beyond their normal duties. “If you can do anything to show your support, we’d love to hear from you. “The first thing you can do is to join our campaign #ImInAwe so please tweet, retweet and share far and wide to get behind our carers and show how much they are valued. “And I want to say thanks to members of Edinburgh Sports Club for volunteering to help drive our carers to their shifts as public
Blackwood chief executive Fanchea Kelly transport services decrease. “If you or your business can help in your own way, get in touch, we would love to hear from you to put a collective show of support across Scotland. “But most importantly use #ImInAwe to show you care.” Blackwood aims to help people live their life to the full by providing services which support individuals to live independently. It specialises in technology and design innovation to support the role of its housing and care staff across Scotland.
“Don’t forget about social care in the fight against coronavirus” THE Lincolnshire Care Association is calling for more government support for the social care sector amid the coronavirus outbreak. The cry comes in response to the increasing government funding pledged to help businesses and the NHS to weather the storm. In comparison, little has been promised to assist care organisations, who are on the frontline of the fight against COVID19 and are crucial in protecting vulnerable people during this challenging time. Melanie Weatherley MBE, chair of LinCA, said: “Although we’re pleased that support is being provided for the NHS and for businesses, we urge the government not to forget about the social care sector. “There are 1.4 million staff working
Melanie Weatherley MBE in care homes and for home care organisations who are vital in caring for the most vulnerable people in society, who need their carers now
more than ever.” Care organisations in Lincolnshire and the UK as a whole are feeling the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. Homecare providers across the country are struggling to reach service users for a multitude of reasons, such as staff having to self-isolate, needing to care for dependents, or becoming ill themselves. Organisations are having to think about restricting the range and number of calls they conduct, with cases needing to be prioritised in order of urgency – a call no home care provider wants to make – while care homes have been forced to ban visitors to stop the virus from spreading. Despite these issues, Lincolnshire
care providers and their staff have been doing everything they can to ensure the health and wellbeing of their service users. Melanie added: “The NHS is full of amazing people doing amazing work, but so is social care. “Integration between social care and the NHS is the best way to ensure the health and well-being of our most vulnerable – not just during times like these, but all-year-round. “We’d like to see a more coherent approach to the issue of COVID-19, with a similar commitment made to social care that has been made to the NHS. “Local government and care providers need the same immediate financial support to maintain their services, which in-turn will reduce pressure on the NHS.”
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CARINGWEEKLY
Campaign aims to combat isolation ROWANS care home in Macclesfield has launched a campaign to help to combat social isolation amongst residents during the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a temporary closure to all visitors, the home decided to launch the campaign and has asked the public to send in postcards, letters or even drawings to its residents to help them keep in touch with the local community. The home regularly engages with the community through a variety of activities including seasonal fetes. Ann Lee, a resident at Rowans care home, said: “I’ve always enjoyed the activities with local youngsters, and it’s a shame that we have had to put them on hold for now but we understand the impact visits could have on our health. “I’m enjoying doing lots of word puzzles given to me by the staff here and I’m learning a new skill, completing sudoku. “My husband Reg lives here too, which is lovely. “The postcard campaign is a wonderful idea and I’m looking forward to reading the lovely messages we receive from our local community.” Home manager Katherine Turner added: “Because our residents are amongst the most vulnerable in society and we want to ensure their safety and wellbeing during this
Resident Christine Heybourn with Benjy.
Windsor village residents follow the Queen’s lead Rowans resident Ann Lee. difficult time, our home is closed to all visitors at this time. “Postcards have always been a wonderful way to keep in touch with people so we would like to encourage our local community to send postcards, letters and even drawings to keep our residents engaged.” If you would like to send something to the residents you can do so by posting to Rowans Care Centre, Merriden Road, Macclesfield, SK10 3AN.
RESIDENTS of the new Castle View retirement village in Windsor had already agreed to socially distance themselves as a whole community ahead of the Coronavirus lockdown. “It was a unanimous decision,” said village manager Lisa Fisher. “We could see what was about to happen ahead of the Government’s decision to isolate at home, and all the residents agreed that we should lockdown the village.” To support the residents Lisa quickly moved into one of the apartments with her dog Benjy so she could live on-site, as did restaurant manager Caz Hughes, while there’s also
additional support from staff member Colin Morton – who is himself 75 – and two night managers. “No visitors are coming into the village and no one is leaving, while obviously residents are free to walk around the grounds and the Sky Deck,” added Lisa. “The community is deciding on its own activities which includes having an exercise bike on the roof terrace. “Meals are continuing to be prepared here and served in the restaurant, while the café and two bars also remain open. And with residents volunteering to walk my dog he has never had so much exercise.”
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CARINGWEEKLY
Youngster to create cards and crafts for residents
Homecare provider to recruit more than 250 care workers ONE of the UK’s leading providers of domiciliary care has revealed its plans to recruit more than 250 new care workers in a bid to meet the growing demand for its services. CRG Homecare, which provides support to individuals living within the comfort and security of their own homes, has seen a marked increase in the need for its services amid the emerging COVID-19 crisis. Its service users, many of whom are elderly and classed as high-risk individuals, rely on care workers to assist them in their day-to-day lives. Much like the NHS, which is facing the crisis head-on and calling on support from former doctors and nurses to aid those on the front lines, the care sector is also coming under increasing pressure to provide support for individuals who have been in self-isolation for some time, following the Government’s advice regarding those at risk. John Townley, director of mobilisation and resourcing, said: “The role played by care workers is vitally important, particularly at this moment in time when the country is facing such a crisis and the need for additional staff is rising day by day. “Our care workers provide essential support for people in their homes, caring for those deemed high risk within our communities. “And we’re currently working with local authorities to rate risk so we can identify communities that are most vulnerable, while at the same time
adhering to the advice and guidelines set out by both Public Health England and the Government.” CRG Homecare now aims to recruit more than 250 care workers over the next three months and is appealing to the general public to come forward – including those who may have lost jobs due to the current crisis. The operator is on the lookout for people to join teams across its 20 branches nationwide to help a variety of people with personal care, domestic support, respite care at home and general companionship. The company has launched a new telephone screening service that runs seven days a week between 9am and 9pm. This allows people to speak to a member of its dedicated resourcing team during evenings and weekends. In addition to this, CRG Homecare has also implemented video interviewing into its recruitment process, in line with the Government’s social distancing advice. John added: “Over the next three months we hope to grow our team and find new care workers to support us in our efforts to deliver high-quality care to people in their homes and would encourage anyone interested to apply. “Applicants don’t necessarily need to have any prior experience, although that’s a bonus, as full training is provided by our highly professional and experienced team.”
A FIVE-year-old girl is creating personalised cards and crafts for residents at a Bristol care home. Poppy Clarke will be spending her evenings and weekends creating the gifts for the residents at Brunelcare’s Saffron Gardens. Realising that elderly people may feel more isolated today than ever, Poppy has volunteered her time to create letters and drawings for every resident. She said: “I wanted to do something nice for the older people. My mummy told me that their friends and families may not be able to visit them as much, so I wanted to do something to make them smile. “I love playing arts and crafts so I asked mummy if I could write letters and draw pictures to send them, and she said yes.” Poppy has a list of names of every resident at Saffron Gardens who are living on wings; Palm, Aster, Birch and Hazel, and will be spending the next few weeks creating letters and drawings for each and every resident at the home. She’ll then post her letters and cards to Brunelcare, where unit care leaders on the wings will distribute Poppy’s personalised crafts. Francis De Villa, care home
Poppy Clarke manager at Saffron Gardens, added: “Our residents are looking forward to receiving their cards and drawings. It’ll really put a smile on their faces. “We have more than 48 residents on the wings at Saffron Gardens so Poppy is going to be hard at work. We wanted to say thank you to Poppy – this will mean so much to the residents.” Poppy aims to create six cards and drawings per evening with help from her parents.
Home protects residents with staff lock-in plan A WHITBY care home is one of the first in the country to implement a plan to enable its vulnerable residents and staff to be provided increased protection against the danger of exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Peregrine House owner Dr Kevin O’Sullivan, registered manager Alison Bedford and deputy manager Megan Collis spearheaded the ‘lock-in’ initiative which means staff will isolate themselves from all but colleagues and residents. The stringent precautions have been made possible with the co-operation of a local hotel proprietor, Richard Newton of The Saxonville. As the hotel is currently closed to the public, along with all other hospitality businesses, Richard has contracted rooms to Peregrine House at a concessionary rate during the crisis in order to safely accommodate staff from the care home, removing
the need for them to travel to and from their own homes and families each day. Alison will lead the team of 30 staff who have agreed to work alternating 12-hour day and night shifts, week on and week off, to care for the 35 elderly and convalescing residents at the home. She said: “The arrangement will cut down by 90 per cent the comings and goings at Peregrine House which carry risk of exposure. “ It shows enormous commitment as these staff members will not be able to see their own family and friends during the time they are working the lock-in.” Alison and Megan will oversee the initial 14-day stretch. Peregrine House has also made available four places for patients from the local hospital in order to free up NHS beds.
Group calls for urgent legislation change for more staff AN independent group representing the nation’s care providers, who care and support over 1.2 million vulnerable people across all forms of social care in the UK, have issued an urgent letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnston. The group, alongside the support of the Independent Health and Care Providers, Care England, Scottish Care and Fforwm Gofal Cymru, has outlined the urgent need for more staff to cover the increased demand on their services and cover staff shortages caused by sickness and self-isolation during the current
coronavirus outbreak. They request that a clarification is made in legislation that anyone wishing to work in the provision of care including the NHS or any form of social care will be permitted to take up paid employment, even if they are currently furloughed in other industries and receiving 80 per cent of their wage. They have asked that furloughed workers receive their 80 per cent payment and to work in care and get paid for this at no penalty. This would allow the NHS and social care providers to employ such
people with no penalty. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “The next few weeks will be absolutely critical and if we are to support some of the most vulnerable people in our society then we need to ensure that we have enough staff to be able to deliver the care and support which is so vitally needed. “What we need is for Government to urgently change legislation so that people who have been furloughed from other sectors can move seamlessly into social care roles to help us in meeting the challenges of
the Coronavirus pandemic. “Right across England, thousands of women and men are leaving their homes every day to go to hospitals, care homes and communities to care for some of our most vulnerable, older and disabled citizens. “We need to do everything we can to support them. “I, alongside my counterparts in the rest of the UK call for an immediate amendment to the legislation to allow us to get on with the important job of staff recruitment to allow the elderly and vulnerable in our society to get the care they deserve.”
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CARINGWEEKLY
Group says ‘let’s pull together’ during coronavirus outbreak
A CARE provider is offering flexible paid work to those who have been financially affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. During such unprecedented times, Ideal Carehomes aims to recruit people to lend a helping hand and assist their ‘heroic’ staff to continue to deliver the highest standards of care to residents. Offering £9 per hour, flexible workers will help to perform key tasks throughout the care home environment including; kitchen work, cleaning, laundry, serving meals, even down to the simplest, but still very important, tasks such as making the perfect cup of tea. Workers will not be required to perform any personal care or assist residents without the supervision of the trained care staff, and it will be mandatory for new workers to complete essential DBS and health checks prior to their first shift. Sarah Colling, head of development and engagement , who is the driving force behind the ‘Ideal Academy’ and flexible workers’ initiative, said: “As communities throughout the UK continue to suffer the effects of the Coronavirus, it is important that we are continuing the daily running of our care homes as normal and maintaining residents current lives with as little disruption to them as possible.
“In the event that some of our current staff teams are unwell and unable to work, these key members of the community can utilise their cooking, cleaning and domestic skills to enable our dedicated care staff to continue what they do best – caring for our residents.” New flexible workers employed by Ideal Carehomes will be given access to key E-learning portals via the newly launched Ideal Academy, providing important training
including dementia awareness, person-centred care, safeguarding and first aid. Stacey Linn, director at Ideal Carehomes added: “We hope our contingencies in place are able to bring peace of mind to both local people, who may have reduced income, and to our residents and their relatives. “It is very heart-warming to see communities joining together and working as a team.”
Residents of Rogers House in Wigmore have been using the ongoing pandemic as an opportunity to go back to basics and write to their loved ones. With visits on hold at the residential care home, residents decided to write to their loved ones, in addition to Skype and phone calls. As well as writing to their families to update them on their wellbeing, residents were also grateful to have received some letters and drawings from pupils of Park Wood Schools Federation in Gillingham and have been busy making their replies. General manager Jackie Miles said: “We have used Skype and the phone, but we thought it’d be nice to send some old-fashioned letters. The residents really enjoyed writing them, and particularly enjoyed reading the letters from the school children.”
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CARINGWEEKLY
Care groups offer Technology helps residents job opportunities stay connected with family
CARE home providers Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare want to help people secure full time, part time or bank employment. They are looking for motivated, caring and dedicated individuals with transferable skills from all affected sectors – whether it is travel, childcare and education, hospitality or retail – to consider a career in care. At Sunrise and Gracewell there are a range of opportunities available – full time, part time as well as bank hours. Jobs range from: n Chefs and sous chefs to maintain high food standards. n Catering and kitchen assistants. n Activity coordinators to make sure residents are engaged and stimulated. n Housekeeping and laundry assistants to maintain high levels of cleanliness and hygiene. n Carers to provide emotional and physical care support. n Nurses to ensure the best clinical services. Previous experience within the care sector is not essential as Sunrise and Gracewell provide full comprehensive training. Recruitment business partner Helen Shocker said: “I get to work with brilliant, friendly and talented colleagues at an organisation that believes in their employees. We recruit by embracing diversity and providing an excellent service to all. “Don’t worry about your previous experience, all is required is excellent customer service skills, hospitality and adaptability combined with a desire to make a difference. “We take pride in the training we provide and the career development opportunities are endless. The sector needs amazing people more than ever. Come and join us.”
TECH-savvy elderly residents at a Hertfordshire care home are now able to stay connected with friends and family during the coronavirus outbreak having got to grips with the latest video calling technology. With the majority of care homes across the UK being closed to all non-essential visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, Foxholes Care Home, near Hitchin, has introduced video calling technology to ensure its residents stay personally connected to their loved ones. By using Facebook Portal, a smart system that provides video chat via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, and augmented by a camera that can automatically zoom and track people’s movements, the home’s residents have been able to see, hear and respond to their friends and family in real-time, on a regular basis. Neil Gandecha, estate manager at Foxholes, said: “While a phone call to a resident from a family member is lovely, those who receive regular visitors have lost that personal, emotional contact with the outside world. “At an unsettling time where we’re told to stay indoors, it can be quite difficult for residents to adapt to sudden changes, such as no longer being able to see family and friends in person. “Such visits are often a highlight of the day for a lot of our residents and so we felt we had to do something to maintain that special connection.” Staff at Foxholes have been training and aiding residents, who range in age from 50 to over 100, to use the innovative technology, which also has Amazon Alexa built-in, at a time where normal dayto-day contact is prohibited. Neil added: “Facebook Portal has provided the answer and has been a revelation in these difficult times. “Residents can experience conversations with loved
Team communication App deployed free of charge to help care sector WITH cases of Covid-19 soaring in care homes and managers struggling with more than a third of their staff off work with the disease or in self isolation, OurPeople has developed a free version of its popular team communication platform, specifically for the NHS and wider care sector. Crucially, the App will enable dissemination of vital information to teams, without the chatter and noise prevalent through most other workplace engagement platforms and consumer-based Apps. OurPeople Now, which can be operational in under 48 hours, will enable managers of care homes to send vital comms, including images and files, to staff and support teams, alerting them to critical information and any changes to their working practices. Communication can be targeted, ensuring information is relevant, and will help to keep teams operational and informed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The move comes as Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents care home providers, told The Times that cases of the deadly virus in care homes are ‘really accelerating’. OurPeople Now is GDPR compliant and company controlled, and allows management and staff to: n Instantly communicate to teams in real time. n Share documents and video files. n View real-time reporting of when comms are delivered and when they have been read. OurPeople has seen a 350 per cent increase in messaging and broadcasts since the start of the pandemic, with existing clients taking advantage of a 95 per cent engagement and read rate by their teams, ensuring they are up to date with relevant information as the COVID-19 situation develops. In light of the pandemic, the team behind the platform has been working 24/7 to develop OurPeople Now, a basic version of the App, to enable businesses to communicate remotely with
care staff for free until the crisis passes. Founder and CEO of OurPeople, Ross McCaw, said: “In these unprecedented times it’s more important than ever that we pull together to do whatever we can to help each other. “As our specialism has always been communicating to deskless or remote workers, we understand what’s needed to keep these teams running, engaged and informed. “One crucial piece of feedback we had for the development of this free App, was to enable managers to communicate without the noise of non vital chatter. “For care sector organisations we are offering OurPeople Now for free, for the duration of the crisis, to help keep teams running.” OurPeople was founded in 2016 and is already used by well-known brands in the UK and the USA, including the NHS, Serco, Virgin Active and Paulton’s Park, who send hundreds of thousands of broadcasts to employees on a weekly basis. There is also the ability to communicate by SMS text message with people that don’t own a smartphone. Enquiries: Anyone interested should email hello@ourpeople.com
ones in real-time and actually being able to see and hear them is quite profound for them. “We’re not sure how long we’ll be in lockdown, but we all feel content that through the use of technology available at the home, residents can maintain their emotional connections with loved ones.”
Barnes Lodge resident Jack Angus turned 90 recently but, despite being on lockdown, his family and staff of the Tonbridge care home ensured it was special. It’s unlikely to be a birthday you’ll ever forget when celebrating during the Coronavirus pandemic, but Jack’s family and staff made sure it was unforgettable for all the right reasons. Jack’s daughter and son-in-law still visited the home, but they spoke through the window and left his cards and gifts by the main doors. He was able to unwrap his gifts, open his cards and have a chat with them at a safe distance. Staff also made a birthday cake for the occasion.
Diabetes and using the toilet THE rise in obesity is impacting on the nation’s health, with a 40 per cent increase in diabetes. Now, one in 10 people over 40 is living with diabetes (Diabetes UK). Using the toilet is one of the biggest associated – but rarely discussed – issues. Limb amputation is one of the hidden consequences of the condition: 24 people each day lose a limb as a result of their diabetes. Any positive outcome measurement is reinforced by PROM (patient reported outcome measures). Ulem Grant lost a leg and can no longer use his fingers as a result of diabetes; his Closomat Palma Vita wash and dry toilet was installed as part of Disabled Facilities Grant funding. “It is fantastic, I am over the moon,” he said. “It was so difficult to go the toilet, but not any more. I can go whenever I want, without my wife having to help me.” The Closomat Palma Vita is the UK’s top-selling wash and dry WC, the only one manufactured in Britain, and the only one from a family-owned company.
It is also the only one with a British-based, in-house full support service, from pre-sale advice and site survey, to post-installation service and maintenance. Enquiries: Call 0161 969 1199, visit www.closomat.co.uk or email marketing@closomat.co.uk
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CARINGWEEKLY
Team collaborates with pub to deliver care packages Free up your time with Electronic MAR ELECTRONIC MAR helps care home managers and their staff by automatically checking for MAR sheet gaps 24 hours a day – and alerting the right people as soon as they happen. This gives you the care home manager peace of mind to know recordings have been made and are compliant, and it saves you and your staff time – both on the meds round (no scruffy paperwork to triple check) and in audits and checking. Often managers using paper MAR will check these every day or even every round – our software does this automatically so you have more time to spend with your residents, not stuck in the office doing mundane paperwork. The system can be trained and installed remotely in a few hours, meaning no risk to you and your staff of cross-contamination as the country is currently on Covid-19 lockdown. We include training (including top-up training for new staff), setup, support, all staff user accounts and backups in our low cost monthly fee.
Please get in touch today to find out how we can help you. All the best at this challenging time, Chris Features: n Reduce / eliminate gaps in your MAR sheets. n Give you and your staff more time, and more peace of mind re meds. n You record approx. 11,000 medications each month if you have 30 beds. n Medication calculator will help keep track of stock, and you can run reports to see what is low. n Hosted accounts for all your staff, and daily backups. n Training is included, as is top up training. n Staff can do admin tasks remotely through our secure cloud web portal. Enquires Call 0117 911 3889, visit https://www.electronicmar.co.uk/pricing/ or email info@electronicmar.co.uk
THE Bluebird Care Leeds North team worked in collaboration with local pub The Myrtle to help vulnerable people who needed supplies. The Coronavirus outbreak had meant many shops were too busy or there was little stock. This was a problem for those who cannot easily travel from one shop to another. Bluebird Care Leeds North delivered care packages made by staff at The Myrtle and delivered them to customers and other local people. Sheree Jenman, director of Bluebird Care Leeds North, said: “Many of our care assistants were worried about vulnerable people and older people, so we decided to do what we could to help. “We delivered the care packages to those who needed them most and everybody was very grateful.
“Thank you to the wonderful Bluebird Care Leeds North team for always being so proactive in helping the local community. We would also like to thank The Myrtle for helping us with this initiative.” The care packages were made up of essentials including toilet roll, kitchen roll, hand soap, gloves and washing machine tablets. They also contained some lovely items such as a pot of jam, a bottle of Guinness, a teacake, as well as sugar, tea and coffee. The home care provider also managed to purchase toilet roll and hand wash when many supermarkets were out of stock. While care assistants were on their regular home care visits, they gifted these essentials to customers who were not able to find them in stores.
Advertiser’s announcement
Interiors company working to provide a ‘healthier solution’ SOMMER Rose Interiors is working with upholstery manufacturers to provide a ‘healthier solution’ to care home furniture. Sarah Thompson and her team would like to introduce Sileather™. Sileather™ silicone fabrics are highly durable and abrasion resistant, thanks to our unique silicone, and Sileather™ upholstery fabrics are all over 200,000+ Wyzenbeek double rubs, over 130,000 Martindale and 3000+ Taber cycles (rotating “cement discs”). We take a long term approach when considering our production of silicone leather and want to do our part to be environmentally friendly. With our non-solvent production technique and with the lack of PVC or PU elements, we are much safer and healthier than traditional fabrics. Unlike PVC fabrics, we do not need to use chlorine in any of the production process, and our fabrics do not leak VOC emissions
throughout its life. There’s no need to clog up landfills – silicone leather is recyclable! We have passed the most common environmental standards so you can breathe comfortably knowing that you are using a fabric that’s safe for you and the environment. We take pride that our fabrics are environmentally friendly and safe to use by anyone, Sileather™ silicone fabrics are made with the same material as baby bottle nipples, so they are gentle enough even for babies’ skin. Sileather™ fabrics have ultralow VOCs, so it is among the
healthiest fabrics, making it perfect for use around children, hospitals, ALL HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS, hotels, boat cabins, trains, and any number of enclosed spaces. Everything essential It’s our mission to bring you a healthy fabric that’s safe, hygienic and meets high standards that help to ensure your well-being. Thanks to the unique advantages of our proprietary silicone, Sileather™ fabrics are inherently: n Flame resistant. n Does not promote growth of
mildew or mould. n Superior in hydrolysis resistance compared to vinyl and polyurethane fabrics. n Superior in UV and colour fading resistance. n Stain resistant to many substances found in healthcare facilities, including biro, iodine, betadine, blood and urine. n Resistant to liquids and fluids. n Easy to clean – common stains need only water, including biro. n Medical grade skin friendly and allergen free. n Highly abrasion resistant and durable with recovery ability to reduce sagging and wrinkling. n Luxurious soft touch. Disinfecting and cleaning Thanks to the inherent advantages of Sileather™ fabrics, disinfecting and cleaning is simple. We have tested common healthcare cleaners with different bases, all of which can be applied to silicone leather thanks to its natural resistance to chemicals. For FREE samples of this upholstery please contact Sarah Thompson or Robert Walton 07831 477816 Email robert@lindhurstgroup.co.uk or sarah@sommer-rose.com
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