Corner Lodge Statement of Purpose (2023)

Statement of Purpose

Updated: March 2023

WELCOME TO CORNER LODGE!

This document is designed to give you information on our Philosophy of Care and the Services we provide.

A copy of our latest Inspection Report is displayed in our reception area. You may also read the report via the CQC website: www.CQC.org.uk

If you have any questions, queries, or concerns regarding Corner Lodge please do not hesitate to contact a member of the management team. We have a monthly newsletter which we use to keep you informed of latest news and activities at Corner Lodge.

We sincerely hope that you enjoy your stay at Corner Lodge.

Millie Simalova (Manager) & the staff at Corner Lodge

Statement of Purpose

3

Complaints Policy

Mission Statement

Statement of Purpose

We aim to provide the best possible person centred care in an environment where the residents feel safe, at home and respected as individuals.

Aims and Objectives Overview

Care of Residents

We believe that the care we offer is one of an extended family. Our goal is to care and support you in your new home, to enable you to enjoy this, and your new life to the fullest. We will achieve this by providing a high quality of care throughout the 24-hour period, paying particular attention to the individuality, freedom of choice, dignity, respect and privacy, irrespective of ethnic background, creed, and spiritual or cultural differences.

We aim to ensure that all residents have access to personal/medical records held within the home and that they are involved in all decisions concerning their health, welfare and day to day running of their home, whilst confidentiality is always protected.

We recognise and respond to the diversity of our residents, ensuring that choice is offered.

Residents’ Loved Ones

Our goal is to take the worries away from the next of kin by giving our residents the attention they deserve and focusing on the important requirements of the elderly: care, food, security, warmth, activities, and upkeep of Home.

We maintain the resident’s individuality and encourage maintaining contact with family, friends and the wider community, and personalising their bedrooms with familiar objects and photos. We recommend families to be proactive in being involved in reviews and care plans.

We recognise that our staff are our most important asset. We aim to have a happy and well-trained staff team which will reflect on the care provided.

Our Specialist Dementia Care

Dementia care is a condition, which can be distressing and demanding for all involved, not least of all, the resident. We promote an understanding of the uniqueness of each resident. We provide an emphatic response to the wide range of behaviour and symptoms associated with the condition.

This includes providing the opportunity to negotiate a shared approach to care, with the resident and family members in the form of care reviews and meetings.

Person Centred Care

We use a person centred approach where we collect knowledge of the residents including their lifestyle, individual needs, and preferences. This approach is used to provide details of activities that meet the resident’s individual needs. We feel that this approach to care will empower the resident and maintain control over his or her own lives as much as possible.

We feel that the person centred approach is crucial and both effective key working and care planning are promoted to provide a positive form of care for people with Dementia.

Every resident has the right to take risks, but these should be informed risks. Whist promoting the individual rights to independence, choice, and fulfillment risk assessments are undertaken and reviewed regularly.

As part of this approach, we devise care plans which reflect the resident as an individual. Incorporated within the care plan, we have a life history, which provides important information giving the strengths and positive aspects of our resident’s life. We want our carers to have a positive image of our resident in the same way the resident would like to perceive him/herself.

We try to set 2/3 goals for which the resident would like to achieve. This will be based around activities they would like to do more of and improve in.

Bedroom doors have a laminated photo name card to help our residents identify their room.

Person centered care is:

 Acknowledgement of the uniqueness of everyone’s identity.

 Acknowledgement of the rightness of everyone’s life history

 Promotes physical health.

 Appropriates the need of the whole person.

 Understands the individualities of each person’s interests, values, tastes, and abilities.

 Empower the individuals in the expression of their own choice and decisions, dignity and independence.

 Promotes enduring relationships.

 Recognizes a person’s unique occupation training and makes provision for occupation need.

 Understands problem behaviour as attempts to communication, which is related to need

 Attempts to remain in touch with its own feelings and vulnerabilities and transform them into positive resources for care.

Further information about dementia care can be found by visiting the Alzheimer’s website: www.alzheimers.co.uk

Residents Daily Life at Corner Lodge

Corner Lodge intends to meet the needs of the elderly who are deemed to require residential care and Dementia care. We also provide respite care to support the wider community. The Homes’ goal is to take away some of the worries from the resident and the next of kin when performing daily routine. The home shall do its own assessment to ensure the potential resident’s needs can be met.

The Home will provide accommodation, living areas, wholesome food, opportunity for activities, do the laundry, 24-hour care, and where necessary assistance in eating, dressing, sanitary needs, washing, administer medication and other general residential care support. The home will also organise doctor visits, chiropodist, and district nurse visits where necessary. Please speak to the manager if further information is required.

Choice of Home, Admission and Trial Period

We recognise that every prospective resident should have the opportunity to choose a home, which suits his or her needs and abilities. To facilitate that choice and to ensure that our residents know precisely what services we offer, we will do the following.

Each resident will be given a contract specifying terms and conditions and the details of the relationship.

A comprehensive pre-assessment will be carried out by a suitably qualified member of staff. We will ensure that we will only take in residents who we are able to meet their needs.

All new residents even if emergency admissions must be assessed using the Corner Lodge assessment forms to ensure the resident will be suitable for the home. If there are changes in the needs of the resident or the complete information was not attained in the assessment, the home reserves the right to do a full assessment of suitability.

All residents are offered a trial period of one month. However, we can also offer trial days and visits for lunch.

Key worker for each Resident

During your initial admission to Corner Lodge, you will be allocated a keyworker.

Your keyworker is available to support you during your placement at Corner Lodge to answer any relevant questions for you and to help you resolve any problems or difficulties that may develop.

Your keyworker will provide you with a basic introduction to the policies, procedures and practices that are in use at Corner Lodge – this introduction will include emergency evacuation procedures, basic health and safety and the complaints policy.

During the initial three months of your placement at Corner Lodge – your keyworker will help you to develop a series of care plans. These care plans will highlight your individual care needs and requirements, and therefore ensure that you receive the necessary type and level of care at Corner Lodge

Eventually, you and your keyworker will start to develop your own care programme – a plan that will help you develop the necessary skills to achieve your own level of independence.

Your care programme will be individual to you and will cater for your own care needs.

Daily Life, Interests and Activities

Staff provides diligent 24-hour care and will help with dressing, bathing, and other personal care needs, whilst maintaining the dignity and privacy of the resident. Needs are assessed by detailed Care planning with regular reviews.

We aim to provide a lifestyle for residents, which satisfy their social, cultural, religious, and recreational interests and needs.

Corner Lodge organises social activities for the residents. Included within the activities are quizzes, outside entertainers, sherry afternoons, board games, music & movement, arts & crafts, nail care, hand massage, bingo, games, musicians, cards, knitting, manicures, hairdressing, walks and trips.

Entertainment & activities are varied throughout the year and upto date plan will be displayed on the notice board. Alternatively, you can ask the management for information.

Corner Lodge encourages residents to keep up their interests. We do all we can to help residents maintain any hobbies they may have.

The Home will endeavour to ensure that a resident can keep up their religious belief if they so wish. A vicar visits the Corner Lodge monthly and Holy Communion Service takes place in one of the lounges.

We realize that residents like to maintain their appearance, so a hairdresser visits every week, and a chiropodist visits the home monthly.

Residents Views

All staff are instructed to listen to the residents and maintain good relationships with the residents and their next of kin. The managers have daily contact with residents to ensure “all is well”.

We want everything we do in the home to be driven by the needs, abilities and aspirations of our residents, not by what staff and management or any other group would desire. We recognise how easily this focus can slip and we will remain vigilant to ensure that the facilities, resources, policies, activities, and services of the home remain resident led.

We seek the resident’s views regularly and a continuous relationship is maintained with their next of kin.

We have a quality assurance programme, which is linked to the views of the residents and next of kin.

Results of the most recent quality assurance questionnaires can be obtained from the management. All suggestions and areas of weakness identified are taken seriously. The home endeavours to action improvements that are highlighted.

Arrangements for dealing with reviews of the service users plan

We draw expert professional guidelines for the services the home provides.

We produce with each resident (where possible or alternatively with the next of kin) a regular update, and thoroughly implement a service user plan of care, based on the initial and then continuing assessment. This is updated monthly.

We will arrange for appropriate professionals to meet the health care needs of each resident. We will establish and carry out careful procedures for the administration of resident’s medication and organise reviewing the medication when necessary.

Records

Residents are made aware that they may have access to their personal records and that their opinions will be listened to and acted upon in a discreet and effective manner.

Laundry and Ironing

Corner Lodge takes care of the laundry and ironing of clothes and linen. We insist that families label all clothes. The dry cleaning of clothing is the resident’s responsibility. The ironing facilities, washing line and sink in laundry room maybe used by residents on request.

Meals

At Corner Lodge we pride ourselves on the quality of our food, whether it is special diets that some of our residents need for medical reasons, or from their own choice, or the meals was that most residents eat.

Throughout the year we vary our menus to make the most of fresh local produce as it comes into season.

We provide a choice of meals that constitute a wholesome, appealing, and balanced diet in pleasing surroundings and at time convenient to residents. Residents as far as possible may decide for themselves where, when, and with whom they consume food and drink of their choice.

Beverages and snacks are available at any time on request. We are approved by the environmental health authorities of Tendring District Council and are regularly inspected.

Resident Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions of stay at Corner Lodge are set out in the resident’s contract. The contract regularly updated to be in line with the Office of Fair-Trading working paper on residential agreements in a care setting.

The fees cover accommodation, food (including special diet if needed), light, heat, bed linen, room cleaning, personal laundry and all such necessary personal care as would normally be required by a resident of a Residential Care Home (not dry cleaning).

All additional items and services (included but not limited to newspapers and periodicals, telephone calls, televisions, physiotherapy, speech therapy, chiropody, dry cleaning, outings, transport, escorts duties, hairdressing, personal toiletries, etc.) arranged through the Home will be charged to the Resident separately. The resident will receive an invoice at the beginning of each month.

Copy of all policy and procedures to do with the running of the home can be provided.

Medical Services Available

Dental care, optician, and hearing aid reviews can be arranged by a member of staff via the NHS or privately.

Remaining continence in old age is a challenge. Assistance can be provided via the Community Continence Advisor who will prescribe any needed incontinence supplies.

District Nurses visit the home regularly and the GP would make referrals.

Whilst at Corner Lodge the PCT has now a policy whereby registration must be with the local GP, which is Green Elms Surgery in Jaywick.

The home arranges for Hospital or clinic appointments. Your next of kin will be encouraged to accompany you on routine visits.

Respite and Interim Beds

Corner Lodge offers respite and interim care when beds are available. The same level of care and service is provided as if they were a long-term resident.

We recognise that the needs of the residents are varied, and therefore aim to make their stay comfortable and happy.

Residents will be encouraged to be independent.

Security & Fire Precautions

The safety of our residents is of the utmost importance.

Corner Lodge has a formal fire policy, which can be found in the policies file. All staff are advised to read the policy as part of their induction.

The Home is inspected by the regulatory bodies and any advice is undertaken. All fire exits are kept clear and labelled. A provision of suitable fire equipment is kept and checked on inspections. All areas have smoke detectors to sound the alarm.

Weekly fire alarm checks are carried out so that staff is aware of the procedures; we also carry out regular fire drills.

Many residents have sought admission to the home as an escape from elements in their previous living arrangements which threatened their safety or caused them fear. We, therefore, provide an environment and structure of support.

We have a proactive policy in dealing with falls. Every month we fax a list of falls to our PCT so that the Occupational Therapist can decide what action needs to be taken. Falls training is also provided to our senior staff.

We have a robust safeguarding policy and ensure staff training is mandatory is this area. The overview of the safeguarding policy can be seen on the notice board.

Visitors

The Home recognises that visits from friends and relatives are important for the residents well being. Visitors are hence welcomed to the Home and are always treated courteously. There are four lounges and a dining area in which the visitors can sit if they so wish. Visitors are encouraged to enjoy a meal with residents at the home.

Privacy

Charter of Rights

We recognise that in life in a communal setting and the need to accept help with personal tasks are inherently invasive of the resident’s ability to enjoy the pleasure of being alone and undisturbed. We, therefore, strive to retain as much privacy as possible for our service users. A few examples of this are:

• Giving help in intimate situations as discreetly as possible.

• Ensuring the confidentiality of the information, the home holds about residents.

Dignity

Disabilities quickly undermine dignity, so we try to preserve respect for our service user’s intrinsic values in. We:

• Treat each resident as a special and valued individual.

• Help residents to present themselves to others as they wish through their clothes, their personal appearance and their behaviour in public

• Offer a range of activities, which enables each resident to express himself or herself as a unique individual

Independence

We are aware that our service users have given up good deal of their independence in entering a group living situation. We regard it as more important to foster our service users remaining opportunities to think and act without reference to another person in the following ways:

• Maximising the abilities our residents retain for self-care, for independent interaction with others, and for carrying out tasks of daily living unaided.

• Helping residents take reasonable and fully thought-out risks

• Promoting possibilities for residents to establish and retain contacts beyond the home.

• Encouraging residents to have access to and contribute to records of their own care. Including the shared aims of their care.

Civil rights

Being old, having disabilities and residing in a home can all act to deprive our service users of their rights as citizens. We, therefore, work to maintain our service users place in society as fully participating and benefiting citizens:

• Preserving for resident’s full and equal access to al elements of the National Health Service.

• Assisting resident’s access to public services such as libraries, further education, and lifelong learning.

Choice

We aim to help service users exercise the opportunity to select from a range of options in all aspects of their lives by:

• Providing meals which enable residents as far as possible to decide for themselves where, when, and with whom they consume food and drink of their choice.

• Offering residents a range of leisure activities from which to choose and based life history work

• Enabling residents to manage their own time and not be dictated to by set communal timetables.

Fulfilment

We want to help service users to realise personal aspirations and abilities in al aspects of their lives. We seek to assist this in the following ways.

• Informing ourselves as fully as each resident wishes about their individual histories and characteristics.

• Providing a range of leisure and recreational activities to suit the tastes and abilities of all residents and to stimulate participation.

• Respecting our resident’s religious, ethnic and cultural diversity.

• Helping our residents to maintain existing contacts and to make new liaisons, friendships, and personal relationships if they wish.

Bereavement

In the unfortunate event of bereavement, the family can expect every possible support and consolation from the staff and management of Corner Lodge.

Whereas funeral arrangements are usually made by the next of kin, the home staff can be relied upon to assist and explain what is required. Where there is no next of kin, the staff will attend to the necessary arrangements liaising with solicitors or social services where necessary.

Smoking and Alcohol

Smoking is not permitted in communal areas or the resident’s bedrooms. There is a designated area within the building if residents wish to smoke (accompanied by a staff member) or outside in the gardens. With regards to alcohol residents will normally make their own arrangements.

Expensive Possessions

We strongly advise that expensive items and large amounts of cash are not held by the residents in their own rooms. The home’s insurance policy make provision for us to hold a small amount cash for a resident. We advise that the residents make arrangements for an insurance policy if they will be keeping valuables in their rooms. Any monies placed in the home’s care for a resident is kept in a separate wallet and recorded on a ledger sheet which will be updated when money is received or spent.

The Environment

Corner Lodge is designed to provide specialist dementia care in a comfortable, bright & relaxed environment. The home has established a high standard of person centred care and continues to look to improve. We are inspected by both CQC and Essex County Council to ensure we deliver a good service.

Corner Lodge stands within a short walking distance to the sea front. The Home is within walking distance to the local shops, amenities and church.

Comfort

We believe that the quality of the environment has an effect:

• on our residents’ behavior,

• whether visitors feel welcomed and visitors desire to re-visit,

• The quality of the work of staff.

The Home aims to make a wonderful impression with the friendly welcome & beautifully decorated interior. The newly built conservatory (April 2008) is a distinguishing feature offering both a choice and a soothing area for residents & their visitors to relax in. The bedrooms are regularly renovated.

Bedrooms

Registered for 48 older persons over the age of 65, Corner Lodge is purpose built & stands on three floors with lift access to each floor. If required, the home also has a stair lift system. Most of the bedrooms have en suite toilets and double sized rooms can be used as single bedrooms.

Corner Lodge was designed with convenience, practicality, and the needs of the residents in mind. All areas are accessible by wheelchair.

All rooms are hence fitted for television reception and each room has the facility to have a telephone and the rooms are connected to a call bell system. Bedrooms were double glazed in 2007/08.

All rooms are comfortably furnished to give them a homely feel. Bedding, furniture, curtains, flooring, and screens, where necessary, form part of the furnishing provided.

To ensure residents are made to feel at home, they are encouraged to have their own family pictures, mementoes, and small items of furniture in their rooms.

Our accommodation exceeds National Minimum Standards as set by the Department of Health guidelines.

Lounges

There are 5 large lounges (including dining room), each offering a different choice of ambience for the residents. The main lounge on the ground floor has patio doors leading to a pleasant, dementia-friendly sensory garden. The number of lounges gives the residents a choice of where they would like to sit at their leisure. Corner Lodge also boasts an all year around conservatory, with under floor heating.

Specialist Bathrooms

The home contains 3 bathrooms with parker baths and two shower rooms and has communal toilets situated on all floors close to the lounges.

Our Staff

Corner Lodge realises the importance of maintaining experienced and trained staff. The Care Staff have regular contact with all residents and each shift are supported by Senior Carers who have are well experienced in looking after elderly people.

We observe recruitment policies and practises which both respect equal opportunities and protect resident’s safety and welfare. All staff have Criminal Record Checks performed.

Training

Corner Lodge is committed and focused to individual training programmes for care staff to ensure residents are cared for with their needs, dignity & identity in mind.

Staff have undergone NVQ2 training in health and social care or are in the process of doing so.

Staff receives regular training in all aspects of care. Training includes health and safety, food hygiene, care planning, infection control, dementia care, fire safety, safeguarding of vulnerable adults and manual handling.

Our Staff Routine

Corner Lodge has competent cleaners working every morning ensuring the Home is looking tasteful, clean, and odourless. All general and clinical waste is disposed of by the Home.

We employ staff in sufficient numbers and with relevant mix of skills to meet residents needs and we

There is a mixture of full and part-time staff working at Corner Lodge this includes cooks, kitchen assistants, senior care staff, cleaners, admin staff, a maintenance man, and care staff. All staff are trained to meet the needs of the residents and hold relevant qualifications where necessary to perform their jobs. The senior care assistants all have at least 3 years or more experience in Care.

Corner Lodge has three shifts per day:

1. The morning shift - 8.00 AM-2.00 PM

2. The afternoon shift - 2.00 PM to 8.00PM

3. The night shift - 8:00PM to 8.00AM

The management team are available Monday to Friday from 9AM to 5PM or other times by appointment.

Staff are easily identified by their colour uniform:

• Navy Blue – Senior in Charge (administers Medication, assists with GP and District Nurse visits, and medical queries).

• Pale Blue – Care Staff (deals with all aspect of your personal care)

• Domesic and Catering Assistants wear black tabards (deal with domestic duties such as cleaning and laundry)

The Corner Lodge Management Team:

• Lumila (Millie) Simalova – Registered Manager: Millie is responsible for the running of the home. Her usual hours of work are Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM. Should you wish to see Millie, let a member of staff know and Millie will arrange a time convenient to you.

• Karen Brian – Deputy Manager: Karen oversees the Care Staff and assists Millie with the running of the home.

• Gemma East & Lori Chaslot – Office Managers: Gemma and Lori jobshare this position. Their usual hours of work Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Gemma and Lori will assist you with anything regarding your financial matters, ordering of newspapers, etc.

• Charice Dawson – Activities Co-Ordinator: Charice organises all in house entertainment, and trips out to various places (a list of which is published in the monthly newsletter). Charice also recruits and organises our volunteers as well as ensuring the home maintains close ties the Jaywick Community.

Registration Details of Provider and Manager

The registered providers Rahul Jagota (ACA & City and Guilds 3252 Management in Care) and Sanjay Jagota (City and Guilds 3252 Management in Care) have experience of owning and managing Residential Care Homes since 1992.

The manager, Ludmila Simalova, has extensive experience in care management. She has completed recognised care qualifications in NVQ level 5.

The Deputy Manager, Karen Brian, has extensive experience in care. She has completed recognised care qualifications in health and social care management at NVQ level 5.

Address of Provider:

Corner Lodge

185-193 Meadow Way

Jaywick Sands

Clacton-on-Sea

Essex

CO15 2HP.

Telephone: 01255 22022

Email: info@cornerlodgecareclacton.co.uk

Corner Lodge is a Registered Service with the Care Quality Commission: Accommodation with personal care for the elderly (over 65 years of age). We can care for Dementia, physical disabilities, minor sensory impairments and certain mental health issues.

Organisational Structure

• The structure of the organisation is as follows:

• Registered Provider

• Manager

• Deputy Manager and Office Managers

• Senior Care Team

• Care Staff and Ancillary Staff

Open Attitude to Complaints

Policy & Procedure

Corner Lodge operates an open-door policy. Residents or their relatives are encouraged to bring complaints on any subject to the attention of the manager (or proprietor if manager is unavailable), without fear of discrimination, or disapproval. The manager will ensure that all complaints are dealt with promptly and fully investigated.

An Acknowledgement of the complaint will be made within 7 working days, and a full response following investigation will be made within 28 days. However, a full resolution of the problem may occasionally take longer.

If the resident or their representatives are not satisfied with the outcome, you may take the complaint up with the Care Quality Commission whose address is as follows:

Care Quality Commission, CQC Eastern, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 4PA

Tel: 03000616161 Fax, 03000 616171

Email: enquiries.eastern@cqc.org.uk

The home takes any safeguarding issue seriously. Training is provided to all care staff on this matter and our policy is displayed on the notice board.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE, THE SAFEGUARDING

POLICY and THE SERVICE USERS GUIDE ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT.

Review of this document

We keep this document under regular review and would welcome comments from service users and others.

In-House Facilities

Laundry: Corner Lodge provides bed linen, towels & flannels to all rooms. Personal clothing for laundering is collected in the morning by your carer, and laundered clothes are returned to your room.

Garden: Corner Lodge has a main garden area, garden furniture, flower patches, and an undercover seating area for our residents and their visitors to enjoy.

Parties: Should you wish to have a private function or party with family or friends, we can offer you the use of our middle floor lounge. We can offer catering to you – sandwiches / cakes / tea / coffee, or a hot buffet by arrangement. Please see a member of the Management staff to discuss arrangements and prices.

The In-House Shop: The home keeps a supply of toiletries for the residents’ convenience. If you should require anything in between times, please speak to the Senior on duty or an Office Manager. Items from the shop are invoiced monthly for a modest price.

The items available from the in-house shop are as follows:

• Deodorant – Men’s & Women’s

• Shower Gel

• Liquid Soap / Body Wash

• Talc

• Steradent

• Disposable Razors

• Tissues

• Bar Soap

• Baby Lotion

• Shaving Gel / Foam

• Toothpaste

• Toothbrushes

• Shampoo

• Hairspray

Recommended Toiletries

All residents are required to have their own toiletries for their personal use and for the carers to assist in maintaining the residents’ hygiene and comfort.

The following guide is the Corner Lodge list of recommended toiletries:

• Liquid soap / Body Wash

• Talc

• Deodorant

• Shower Gel / Bath Foam

• Moisturising Cream or Lotion

• Steradent (if required)

• Toothbrush & Toothpaste

• Hair Removal Cream

• Electric Razors

• Hairbrush / Comb

• Nail Care Kit

Visiting Services

Hairdressing: we have a hairdresser who visits the home on Thursdays. A list of prices is available on request.

Chiropody: a Chiropodist visits the home every four (4) weeks. The cost for this service is £20.00.

Please see a member of staff to arrange an appointment for one of these services. Charges for hairdressing, chiropody and items from the in-house shop will be invoiced monthly.

Optometry and Dentistry

Optometry: Outside Optometrists visit the home on a regular basis. This service provides eye exams and furnishes new lenses and frames. Price for this service depends on frames chosen. If you would prefer using your own Optometrist, please let us know and we will assist you in making and keeping appointments.

Dentistry: We assist residents in making and keeping dental appointments.

Those residents who are entitled to NHS funding will need to provide information regarding any benefits they receive to these companies directly.

Visiting Times

Corner Lodge has open visiting. This is the resident’s home and visitors are always welcome.

As a courtesy to the residents, if mealtimes could be avoided that would be appreciated. However, visitors are always welcome to enjoy a meal with their family member or friend.

Early morning cup of tea is available from 6:30 AM – 7AM.

From 7AM – 9 PM, Corner Lodge is staff by a Senior Carer, Second Senior Carer, and 5 Care Assistants.

Breakfast is served from 7 AM – 9 AM, and offers a variety of choices to suit all needs and tastes.

Tea & Coffee trolley will be available from 10:30 AM, for tea, milky coffee and biscuits.

Morning activity, please see the monthly newsletter for what’s on or the activity boards.

Lunch is served from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM, and two main choices are offered each day.

Tea & Coffee trolley will be available from 2:30 PM, for tea, coffee, biscuits, cold drinks & in the summer months, ice lollies.

Afternoon activities begin at 2 PM. Please see the monthly newsletter for what’s on or see the activities board.

Tea is served from 5 PM – 6 PM, and offers a hot option each day, and also a variety of sandwiches along with fruit, yoghurt & cake.

Visitors are welcome to a drink from the tea trolley. Other times, you are free to use the tea & coffee facilities available in Dining Room.

We also serve a supper trolley in the evenings, offering sandwiches & cheese with crackers and a choice of hot drinks, Horlicks, Ovaltine, Tea & Coffee.

During the night we have a Senior Carer on duty plus three (3) Care Assistants.

Complaints Policy

At Corner Lodge we take concerns and complaints seriously. We like to be told when you are not happy with our service it helps us to improve what we do. We hope that you will feel comfortable raising your concerns with any member of staff. We find that the quicker an issue is raised with us the quicker we can deal with it. The person who has overall responsibility for monitoring complaints is:

Mr Sanjay Jagota

Email: cornerlodgecare@aol.com

Telephone: 01255 220228

You can contact Mr Jagota (or the CQC listed at the end of this document) at any time.

We will give you as much assistance as possible to help you raise your concerns you can also contact an independent advocate contact details are at the end of this document.

In most cases, complaints are investigated by the Home Manager Complaints will always be investigated by someone who has sufficient authority in respect of the issue raised.

Procedure for making complaints

Complaints under this procedure can be made by anybody who lives at the home. Where people living at the home have given their consent, or where they lack the capacity to give consent (within the meaning of the mental capacity act 2005) and a representative is acting in the person’s best interest, a representative may make a complaint on behalf of a person living at the home.

We encourage you to bring matters to our attention as soon as possible as this makes it easier to fully investigate what has happened. We can however accept complaints up to 12 months after an incident. Where someone has a good reason for making a complaint after 12 months and it

is still possible to investigate the complaint fairly and effectively, we will carry out an investigation.

You may make a complaint in whatever way you feel most comfortable, this could be verbally, in writing, by telephone or email. We will talk to you to ensure that we understand the points you are raising to ensure that we investigate the complaint thoroughly. and try and reach an acceptable outcome.

We will also investigate anonymous complaints. We keep records of all complaints and the action we take for inspection by the Care Quality Commission or the Local Authority.

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 3 working days of receiving it and advise you of what, how and who will investigate. We will include a copy of the complaint where it has been made verbally to us.

If a complaint is about a safeguarding issue (an allegation of abuse) we are required to refer it to the local authority, and they will decide who should investigate the matter. In these instances, we will let you know that we have made the referral and we will contact you again once a decision has been made about how it will be investigated and who will investigate it.

We will keep a record of your complaint, either a copy of a written complaint or notes made from a conversation with you. We will also keep a record of the investigation we undertake and any action we take as a consequence of that investigation.

We will aim to complete our investigations and get back to you (in writing) within 28 days of the receipt of the complaint. If this is not possible, we will write to you and explain why, and tell you when we expect the investigation to be completed. We would not expect the investigation of any complaint to exceed 6 months.

Once your complaint has been fully dealt with by Corner Lodge, if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO):

Tel: 0300 061 0614

Email: advice@lgo.org.uk

Website: www.lgo.org.uk

The LGO will not usually investigate a complaint until the provider (us) has had an opportunity to respond and resolve matters.

Our service is registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The CQC will undertake the investigation of a complaint. You can contact the CQC at:

Care Quality Commission National Correspondence Citygate

Gallowgate

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 4PA

Tel: 0300 061 6161

Website: www.cqc.org.uk/contactus.cfm

You may also contact:

Essex Advocacy Services

Tel: 01245 382838

Email: info@advocacyessexservices.co.uk