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22/9/11
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October 2011
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Call for more recognition of disorder care By Dominic Musgrave A MANCHESTER care home manager has called for a major overhaul to the way Schizophrenia is recognised. Angela Baker, manager of Overton House, says more should be done to make governing bodies aware of the work care homes do to treat people with the disorder to make extra funds available. She also told Caring UK that a new registration category, similar to that for dementia, should be created as it is a condition thousands of people suffer from. Angela added: “All we seem to hear about is dementia, and specialist homes get paid more money for caring for people with the condition, which is fair enough. It’s not an easy job and l have three service users with dementia. “The rest of my residents, however, are diagnosed with Schizophrenia, which we never hear anything about, let alone receive extra payment for. The extra care a resident who has been diagnosed with the condition, requires is endless. “How local authorities or those who set the standard fees can possibly say that a home where
service users with just older people’s needs should be paid the same basic rate as that of a home full of service users with schizophrenia is beyond me. “ There is also no recognition for the carers and homes that care for these people.” Angela added that inspectors from the CQC and local authority should also take the condition into account when visiting care homes as residents with the condition often refuse to ‘bathe, dress appropriately, have their hair done, have a shave or their finger nails cut’. “Although this has never happened to me, it should not be seen as poor quality care or low standards,” she said. “A lot of service users who have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia do not require mental health nursing homes or private hospitals, but what they do need is extra input from a highly skilled and qualified team and from a manager who is a RMN. “Without this team, their needs would not be met and, by us being able to cater for such needs, we are in turn preventing hospital readmissions to psychiatric units due to mental health relapse and are, therefore, saving the Government money on NHS beds.”
Film set in care home grounds
Celebrity chef James Martin made a special appearance at a ‘Healthy Eating, Happy Living’ event at a recently refurbished Hertfordshire-based care home. Residents and guests at Monread Lodge were treated to a live cookery demonstration by the chef, who is currently hitting the headlines for his project to improve the quality of food served in hospitals. The event also marked the opening of the home’s new 16-bed Knebworth Court dementia unit and demonstrated its focus on healthy eating with a visit from the top celebrity chef.
THE grounds and exterior of a Dunfermline care home were transformed into a movie set that is due to hit the television screens next summer. Guardian Care’s Leys Park site was renamed Cowdengelly Poor House for the day for the film ‘Happy Lands’, which is set in 1926, about the time of the miners’ strike. Activities co-ordinator Lynn Ratcliffe, who liaised with the film crew and cast on the day, said: “Although none of the residents were directly involved they were very excited to see what was going on outside in the grounds of their home. “Six of the cast members – three women and three children came into the home when they were on a break to inform them what was going on and also to pose for photographs. The residents said their costumes were very realistic and are now looking forward to seeing the film later in the year when special screenings are held at the local theatre.”