Around the clock innovation

Hallmark’s Angmering Grange is pioneering a range of innovative approaches and technologies. Charlotte Goddard toured the home to find out more

Before opening its doors to its first residents last month, Hallmark Care Homes' Angmering Grange invited a small group of local influencers to check out what it had to offer, and Caring Times joined the party. From an ice cream parlour supporting those living with dementia, to high-tech bedding, innovation is central to the West Sussex home.

One of two new-build Hallmark homes opening this year, Angmering Grange will house 74 residents in small communities of around 10 to 15, offering various levels of care. Weekly fees start at £1,650 for residential care, while dementia care packages start at £1,750 and nursing care at £1,950. Weekly fees include services such as a weekly hairdresser appointment, weekly manicure or back massage, a monthly pedicure and chiropody every eight weeks.

The team has been building relationships with the local community for the past year. “We thought we would try something a bit different so we fitted up a shop in a local village as the show suite of a care home,” says general manager Ray Arnold. “It meant we could market the care home before it was built and gave us a year to build links with local groups – it also helped with recruitment.”

The tour, led by customer relationship manager Kate Fitches, took in a groundfloor care community for 15 residents, with its own lounge and dining room, and access to the cinema, therapy room and hair salon on the same floor. Furnished suites include a kitchenette and en suite, and open out onto individual patios.

With the consent of the residents, bedrooms feature an innovative acoustic monitoring system which Hallmark trialled during lockdown. The Ally system sends an alert to staff if there is unusual activity in the room, such as someone getting out of bed.

“It gives you a little friendly ear on the inside,” explains Claire Johnsen, Hallmark’s head of innovation. “It gets to know how the resident sleeps, and if there is a change the care team can make a judgement as to whether they need to come and take a look. It was initially put in to improve sleep, so we are not constantly opening the door and waking someone up to check on them, but we found that not only has it improved sleep enormously, but there has also been a very significant reduction in night-time falls.”

Innovation at Angmering Grange is not limited to design and technology. The home is adopting a new approach to wellbeing, with every member of staff empowered to contribute. “Our carers are all now called care and wellbeing

“Innovation at Angmering Grange is not limited to design and technology. The home is adopting a new approach to wellbeing, with every member of staff empowered to contribute.” assistants,” explains wellbeing coordinator Natalie Taylor. The Relish app gives team members access to information about residents’ preferences, experiences, capabilities, likes and dislikes so they can tailor activities and everyday experiences. “It is about working as a team – rather than bringing in any flowers, a housekeeper might see a resident likes sunflowers, so they will adapt to that,” says Taylor.

Many of the home’s design elements have been incorporated from the winners of Hallamark’s Innovation Challenge, which was rolled out to employees during lockdown to recognise new ideas. The dementia community, which houses 34 residents, has bedrooms which are designed to enhance contrast between objects, as people with dementia can be less sensitive to differences in colours. Pictures of toilets on the door of the en suite help residents locate the facilities, and wardrobes have transparent windows to show that they hold clothes.

The hair salon in the dementia community has a small mirror, which can open up if required. “Someone with a diagnosis of dementia may not recognise or like their own reflection,” explains Fitches. There are plenty of interesting objects to fiddle with, including hair clips, fascinators and hair bobbles.

We visited the quiet lounge, where residents will be able to access Namaste therapy, with its low lights, calming music and aromatherapy puffers. “Namaste is a programme whose basic principles are a loving touch and a safe space,” explains

Jessica Davies, dementia care manager at Hallmark’s Admiral Court Care Home who is supporting the Angmering team. The structure of the session varies depending on the needs of the resident, down to the scent of the room. “For someone who has lost a lot of weight, we would use a tangerine scent, which promotes appetite. If people aren’t sleeping well, we will use lavender,” says Davies. “It might be they like a hand massage, or we might spend 10 minutes brushing their hair.”

Angmering Grange is the first Hallmark home to have an ice cream parlour, with pictures of beach huts, neon sign and pastel décor. “Ice cream can evoke special memories of childhood and family holidays, and the smell and taste triggers the pleasure centre in the brain,” says Jane Archer Bodkin, dementia care manager at the home, doling out scoops of ice cream in pretty glasses. “It’s a good way to break the cycle of someone who is feeling anxious – you can say: ‘Let’s go here together, do you want some ice cream? What’s your favourite flavour?’ It is a nice place for children who are visiting, and a meaningful place to spend time chatting.”

In the garden the innovation continues: Angmering Grange is the first Hallmark home to feature an outdoor gym. “We have different pieces of kits aimed at aiding mobility and exercising different parts of the body, for those residents who feel up to it and want to target a certain movement,” explains Adam Newson, landscape architect at Ground Control which worked with Hallmark to create the garden.

The garden completely surrounds the care home, allowing for different microclimates throughout, areas include formal and informal spaces, social spaces and individual patios, sensory planting, areas for vegetables and a nostalgic rose garden. A summer house includes a kitchenette and lavatory. “The summer houses were installed during Covid, as places you could meet outside, and since Covid we have repurposed them as activity rooms, ” says Hayley Hughes, head gardener at Hallmark.

The tour didn’t end at bedtime, with visitors given the chance to spend the night and experience another innovation. Originally developed to make clothing for elite athletes, the KYnergy Infrared Recharge bed set uses infrared technology to improve circulation, regulate body temperature, reduce muscle soreness and improve muscle condition. Special sheets are made out of celliant viscose, a natural wood pulp fibre.

“We found that people enjoy sleeping in these sheets, they sleep better, and there was also a reduction in pain,” says Johnsen.

While lucky enough not to be suffering from pain, I can certainly report that they were comfortable, and made for a pleasant night’s sleep.

Hallmark learns from each new build, with successful innovations in one home rolled out across the portfolio. Pioneering Angmering Grange should prove to be a trailblazer in the care home sector.