Caring UK Weekly Issue 10

Issue 10 03.06.20 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 weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Homes take 30-day Wild Challenge A RECORD number of around 430,000 people have signed up to participate in The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild Challenge which began on Monday – and more than 1,100 care homes have registered to take part, twice as many as last year.

30 Days Wild is the UK’s biggest nature challenge and encourages everyone to do something that connects them to nature every single day during the month of June.

The Wildlife Trusts provide free online activity packs to help participants of all ages find new, easy ways of noticing nature – even while social distancing.

Special resources are available for care home residents to help them enjoy their grounds; these were developed after a Derbyshire operator discovered significant benefits when its residents’ lives included more time outdoors, looking at and talking about nature and wildlife. Another pack has been created to help elderly people explore their wild side from the comfort of their own homes.

Leanne Manchester, communications manager of The Wildlife Trusts, added: “30 Days Wild is fun for all ages and we provide ideas and

activities for people whatever their circumstances – for individuals, families, schools and businesses.

“Last year we experimented with an activity pack for care homes and we were really delighted that a large number were interested.

“So many of us are seeking solace in nature during the pandemic but even we were surprised – and thrilled – that double the number of care homes have signed up to do 30 Days Wild this June.

“We have also developed a new guide to going wild for people supporting elderly relatives at home – to help them experience the wild, even if they’re stuck indoors. 30 Days Wild helps people get closer to nature and enjoy the small, everyday things.”

Recent research shows that taking part in 30 Days Wild not only significantly increases people’s happiness, health and sense of nature – but that these positive increases are sustained beyond the life of the challenge – for a minimum of two months after it is over.

The people who benefit most are those who have a relatively weak connection with nature at the start.

Bidding for sculpture under way

A Somerset teenager has pledged to skip for 20 minutes straight every day for a month to raise money for Brunelcare, a charity supporting older people in the South West. James Byrne, 16, will skip every day for 20 minutes until June 11, tallying a total of 10 hours and 20 minutes of skipping. He said: “I wanted to do something to keep busy during these uncertain times, all while making a difference. I know skipping is a great form of exercise, so I married the two together. I’ll skip for 20 minutes, non-stop, daily, to raise money for the charity.” James chose to raise money for Brunelcare’s Glastonbury Care Home as his late Grandmother, Ivy Byrne, was a resident there for nearly two years. He added: “I saw what an amazing job the carers at Brunelcare were doing, and now, wanting to support key workers more than ever, I couldn’t think of a better cause or better time to start skipping.” James wants to raise a total of £3,000 for the charity to buy personal protective equipment and wellbeing supplies to be used around the home.

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.

Caring UK is part of the Script Media companies

BIDDING has begun on a sculpture of Colonel Tom Moore made entirely from nails.

The sculpture, which was made over 15 days by hammering 50,000 nails into a 40 x 60cm board, was created by Marcus Levine, whose studio is based in Keighley.

Colonel Tom Moore, known fondly by the nation as Captain Tom, made international headlines in April after raising £32.8m for the NHS by walking laps around his garden on his 100th birthday.

The sculpture of Colonel Tom is now being auctioned by Tennants Auctioneers, with bids open until 11am on June 10. There are hopes the portraits could attract bids into the thousands, with £10,000 already pledged.

All proceeds from the sale will be evenly split between The Care Workers’ Charity and NHS Charities Together.

A limited run of 15 prints of the sculpture have also been made available for £275 each. All funds raised from the sale of the prints will be donated to The Care Workers’ Charity.

The nail sculpture was commissioned by Tim Lockett from Deliver Net (a Skipton based PPE distribution company), who wanted to draw people’s attention to the heroic sacrifices that care workers are making during the current Coronavirus pandemic.

Visit: https://bid.tennants. co.uk/m/view-auctions/catalog/ id/851 for more information.

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3

CARINGWEEKLY

Group’s residents join school pupils for digital project A SURREY-based care home group and a London school have announced a collaborative project that will see children and residents share experiences and learn from each other.

CHD Living, which owns and operates 13 care residences throughout Surrey and South London, and School 21, a pioneering new East London school for four-to-18 year-olds are working together on a digital project that encourages intergenerational communication and relationship building.

The mutually-beneficial project will focus on allowing pupils to develop their communication and storytelling skills, whilst also providing residents with companionship and mental stimulation.

The first session saw a group of year nine pupils connect with Audrey Roberts, a 94-year-old former art teacher and resident at CHD Living’s Surbiton care home.

Prior to the session, which was facilitated by video call given the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, participants were asked to write a letter for Audrey introducing themselves and outlining their hobbies and interests.

After the initial introductions had been made, Audrey kicked off the session by sharing with the school children some stories of her time working as a ballet teacher, before becoming an art teacher at 54 years old.

Audrey, who specialises in portraiture and continues to teach art

at her local church to this day, then shared examples of her work with the children, as well as her top tips for creating beautiful art.

This included advice on what colours go well together, colours that should perhaps be avoided, and how to add depth and dimension to paintings.

Shaleeza Hasham, head of hospitality and communications at CHD Living, said: “We really appreciate and understand the value that older people and children can bring to each other’s lives.

“It’s something we feel incredibly passionately about, so much so that we were recently inspired to develop an ‘Adopt a Grandparent’ programme, which pairs residents across our care homes with volunteers to chat with over video call.”

“When School 21 contacted us looking to collaborate on the programme, we thought how wonderful it would be to give the former professors amongst our residents the opportunity to teach once again, while also providing them with the chance to learn themselves from some of the extraordinary pupils.

“We’re delighted that the first session went so well, and we look forward to facilitating many more sessions in the future.”

A second video session has been planned that will connect pupils with 94-year-old former music teacher Elizabeth Swain, who now resides at CHD Living’s King’s Lodge care home in West Byfleet.

Before and after: Valerie Smith raised £735 for colleagues by having her head shaved.

Val braves the shave to raise money for teams IDEAL Carehomes trainer Valerie Smith has raised £735 after shaving her head in support of her frontline colleagues.

Val, who works closely with staff from five care homes across the North West, wanted to do something to offer her personal thanks to the teams for continuing to provide residents with the highest standards of care throughout unprecedented times.

She has worked in the industry for more than 30 years and has a wealth of experience within care settings.

Val now works as a trainer to both new and existing staff: teaching, supporting and mentoring them to be the best they can be through the use of Ideal Carehomes’ employee training programmes.

She said: “Working in the care industry is an incredibly rewarding career. I have met some of the

most caring, empathetic and truly inspirational people through my work and to be able to equip them with the tools they need to provide the highest standards of person-centred care brings me great joy.

“I wanted to ’brave the shave’ for the care teams I work with, to show them that even though I am unable to join them in the homes at this time while our training is taking place on Zoom, they are in my thoughts and I am incredibly proud of them all for how they have overcome adversities during Covid-19.”

Val trains teams across all of Ideal Carehomes North West homes.

These include: Ash Tree House in Wigan, Brinnington Hall and De Brook Lodge in Manchester, Larkhill Hall in Liverpool and new home Elworth Grange in Sandbach, due to open next month.

During these uncertain times we have read and heard a lot of news regarding care homes and Covid-19.

So, what is the reality of working in a care home while trying to navigate your way through a pandemic?

We hear from Lorraine Laker, care co-ordinator at Rogers House Residential Care Home in Gillingham.

Care worker Lorraine in lockdown “To be honest, there was an awful lot of pressure when things got serious and we had to close the home to visitors, we were one of the first homes to do that and it was so sad explaining to family members and residents why they couldn’t see each other.

“Once we had organised the setup of technology, we could manage our residents seeing their loved ones over FaceTime or Skype and waving through the windows.

“The scary thing was lack of testing for all of us, the government wasn’t making it easy for us to get tests, it felt like we had been forgotten, both with testing and PPE equipment. It is very different now, the whole home has been tested and some staff are even trained to do it, including me.”

The country had been in lockdown for a few weeks and Lorraine had had a particularly busy week, juggling lots of different things, when Friday arrived, she didn’t feel quite right.

“I knew I needed an early night and

Lorraine and her son. to regroup over the weekend so I was ready for Monday, but by Sunday I got up and tried to start preparing our roast dinner and I couldn’t even peel the potatoes.

“I was so hot, I couldn’t breathe properly and within four hours it had really got a grip on me. The shaking

and fever was just incredible, I felt so cold but was boiling hot to touch.

Straight away I went upstairs and isolated from the rest of my family, that’s when my whole home set up changed for the next 25 days.”

Lorraine lives with three key workers and her son being a prison officer meant the prison service paid for her to get tested, within 24 hours the results were back. She tested positive for Covid-19.

“I don’t even remember getting tested,” she added.

“I know I scared my family, I missed them so much while I was in isolation. They lived downstairs and I lived upstairs – I missed the whole of April. It took me 25 days before I could finally get up, it was such a nice day and I managed to get to the garden to enjoy it, which did take me a while and I even had to take a fourhour nap once I was there. Then, day by day, I managed to do a little bit more, but wow I was frustrated.”

Lorraine went for a second test on

a Friday, which came back negative and meant she could go back to work when she felt ready.

Which for Lorraine, of course meant Monday.

“I feel so upbeat now,” she added. “I was naturally nervous as there is so much we don’t know about this illness but coming back to the home has just been wonderful.

“We know we can get tested now, we have a good stock of PPE and we can just carry on caring for our residents as we always have. Families have been so lovely, sending us beautiful cards and saying how grateful they are for the staff here, and knowing on a Thursday they are clapping for us, that is so humbling.”

It is so wonderful to hear Lorraine is back to her old self, however she is still missing her sense of taste and smell, but she did happily tell us that she ate a Frazzle and could get a tiny taste of the flavour – her words of advice, stop and smell the roses…or the Frazzles.

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CARINGWEEKLY

Grandson treats home’s residents and staff team

Jill and Alan Burgess.

Couple celebrate 65th wedding anniversary JILL and Alan Burgess, both residents at Sunrise of Eastbourne, have recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Jill was born in Eastbourne and Alan moved to the area from London when he was 10 years old.

They met at a dance at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne.

Alan proposed to Jill one day after taking her home, kissing her on the doorstep and saying: “If we still feel like this, shall we get married?”.

They married at Holy Trinity Church in Eastbourne and had a traditional white wedding, followed by a reception at Devonshire Park. For their honeymoon, Jill and Alan went to Paignton in Devon.

Alan had a successful career playing football, first for Eastbourne and then moving with Jill to Hastings where he played for Hastings United for eight years.

He then worked in a plastics factory, starting out as a draughtsman and working his way up to become a director.

Jill and Alan eventually moved back to Eastbourne in 2005. Together, they shared a wonderful life, enjoying plenty of holidays and cruises. The couple went on to move into Sunrise of Eastbourne last year.

They have two sons, six grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren, with another one on the way.

EVERYONE at The Manor House in Little Weighton enjoyed some delicious treats thanks to the grandson of one of the residents.

David Bell received a voucher from his employer Tesco to thank him for his hard work and dedication during the coronavirus pandemic.

He used his “Little Help” voucher to buy cupcakes and biscuits for his Nan, Gladys Leaf, to share with other residents and particularly with the staff to express his gratitude for their wonderful care of her.

Leanne Hatch, manager at The Manor House, said: “It was so kind of David to think of us all and send in such lovely cakes and biscuits.

Receiving treats like this is a wonderful boost for our team.

“Our families and the local community have given us such great support during the pandemic, and we’ve never felt alone even though we can’t welcome visitors.

“Our top priority is the health and happiness of our residents and to date, we have no reported cases of the

David Bell, Gladys’ grandson, with the gifts ready for The Manor House. virus in our homes.

“It’s testament to the commitment of our staff who have been working round the clock to make sure our residents have all the care and support they need.”

Harrogate-based specialist dementia care provider Vida Healthcare has invested in its care delivery with the appointment of Gil Chimon. He joins as the home manager of Vida Grange in Pannal after being recruited over video conferencing due to Covid-19 restrictions. Gil brings more than 25 years’ experience in the voluntary and community sectors with him. Working with the team at Vida Grange, he will be responsible for the continued safety and security of residents during the Covid19 crisis and beyond, maintenance of services and preservation of the home’s Outstanding rating.

Group to bring residents and families ‘face-to-face’ in summer houses A CARE home group is bringing residents and families ‘face-to-face’ for the first time since visits were restricted for relatives due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Oakland Care, which operates four homes in the south east of England, is introducing summer houses into its gardens which will allow residents to meet loved ones in safety.

Clear screens will be installed in the summer houses so both parties will be able to see and talk to each other.

Residents will enter from one side while up to two family members from the same household will be shown into the other side via the garden.

Half-hour visits will be booked via an online appointment system and the summer houses will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between each visit.

None of its four homes – Lambwood Heights in Chigwell, Woodland Grove in Loughton, Hastings Court in Hastings Beechwood Grove in Eastbourne – have had a single case of COVID-19.

Oakland Care’s chief executive officer Joanne Balmer said: “We are,

so far, free of coronavirus due to the measures we brought in very early on such as closing our doors to visitors.

“However, we recognise that residents and families would dearly love to be able to see each other.

“We have been keeping people in touch via video calls but it’s not the same as being in the same space

together. This is why we came up with the idea of the summer houses.”

The group carried out a comprehensive risk assessment of all its properties before the lockdown was introduced.

It brought in a raft of measures to keep coronavirus out of the homes including closing the doors to

visitors, purchasing significant stocks of PPE and cleaning products at the earliest point, closing staff rooms, cohorting groups of staff to specific areas of the homes, additional cleaning and extra hand-washing facilities.

Lambwood Heights, which the group opened in February, is also offering a unique ‘senior shielding’ package.

This gives those who may be without their usual domestic support or who might be struggling with shopping or managing their home a short stay in a separate part of the home which is Covid-19 safe.

“We continue to exceed government guidelines to keep our residents and our staff safe,” added Joanne.

“We know this is a worrying time for everybody and we want to offer support in any way we can.

“Families should feel confident to move a relative in with us and be assured that they will be safe and receive the care that they need. Now that they will also be able to ‘see’ them, this will benefit everyone’s wellbeing.”

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New app helps elderly to stay active and healthy Reinbek resident Audrey Bolton.

Residents send special wishes STAFF at Stockport-based Borough Care have been helping residents and their families stay in touch in lots of creative ways during the current coronavirus pandemic.

Residents at the provider’s Reinbek home in Davenport have been creating special messages for their family and friends, courtesy of senior care assistant Lauren Whittaker.

In addition to the regular Skype, WhatsApp and telephone call contact between residents and their families, Lauren had the idea to do something even more personal, which would be a welcome and spirit-lifting surprise for families who are missing their loved ones.

She designed and printed cards, which included a special message on the front. Each of the residents wrote their own note inside before they were sent off to their families.

Home manager Francine Riley said: “We are incredibly lucky to have Lauren working with us.

“Her caring nature shines through everything she does and she is continually going above and beyond her caring duties.

“Our residents really enjoyed writing the cards for their loved ones and families have been thrilled to receive them.”

Home receives support letters A DROITWICH care home has received messages of support for the carers from its local NHS neighbourhood team.

Staff at Ravenstone were overwhelmed when they received the hand-written notes from the Droitwich and Ombersley Care Home Neighbourhood team thanking them for their dedication during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The notes gave words of encouragement to the team with things like ‘we are grateful for what you are doing’, ‘thank you for your hard work’ and ‘without all of you, we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs either’.

Alex Hongu, deputy manager at Ravenstone, said: “We were all so shocked when we received the messages from the NHS neighbourhood team, it was quite emotional reading them.

“We’ve received lots of support from the community throughout the pandemic, but it’s nice to know our hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

A NEW app designed to encourage older people to stay active and healthy has the potential to help combat the effects of an increasingly sedentary lifestyle being lived by this age group during lockdown.

The Keep On Keep Up app has already received interest from around the world after being developed by the University of Manchester, digital social enterprise and creators of tech for good Reason Digital and Later Life Training Ltd. Based on 30 years of research, Keep On Keep Up is an app for tablets which uses the latest gamification techniques with strength and balance exercise programmes that have been specifically developed to prevent falls, which are the largest cause of emergency hospital admissions for older people.

Around a third of people aged 65+ and about half of people aged 80+ fall at least once a year, causing injury, distress, pain, loss of confidence or independence and mortality.

Treating these injuries comes at a cost too, with patients recovering from falls and fractures accounting for more than four million bed days per year in England alone, at an estimated cost of £2billion.

“With this age group likely to be needing to stay at home because of Government guidance to shield them from the spread of Covid-19, there is an even more urgent need for them to be learning more about how to stay healthy in their homes,” said Dr Emma Stanmore, senior lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Manchester.

“The knock-on effect from these months of isolation could be huge, putting a lot of pressure on primary care and accident and emergency departments.

“We’re starting to hear that people are more at risk now that they are at home all of the time. We already know from research that their muscles decondition quickly with sedentary behaviour, there isn’t any rehab going on, there’s no therapists or physios going into people’s homes.

“I would say there’s a desperate

need for something simple they can use without a clinician, to keep them active at home and empower and equip them to know the right kinds of exercises and how to stay healthy.”

Dr Stamore’s background in fall prevention and gamification has been the driving force behind the development of Keep On Keep Up, which has been designed to engage its older audience with the exercises and information it offers.

These include sit to stand, heel raises, lunge, heel toe walking and backwards walking.

She added: “I’ve worked on projects in the past aiming to gamify physiotherapy, which had great outcomes when it came to changing behaviours through rewards, points and competitions to keep users engaged and carrying on doing the exercises.

“However, there was always a barrier in that the reach was impacted by needing to have expensive hardware and a healthcare professional involved. So, the next stage was to use that learning to create something more accessible using tablets.”

At this point, she began working with Reason Digital, starting off with ideation sessions, looking at various assumptions and different types of

methodologies aimed at finding what needed to be tested.

Matt Haworth, co-founder and director of Reason Digital, added: “Everything we’ve done with Dr Stanmore to develop the app has had the user at the centre plus testing at every stage. All the feedback and comments we receive are then incorporated into each new iteration.

“Before the coronavirus pandemic we went into sheltered housing facilities in Manchester and Nottingham to start testing and after we got our first prototype, we were able to do even more in-depth strength and balance tests, adding to the usability work we were doing.”

The Keep On Keep Up app has now been launched on the iOS app store and the team has big plans for continuing to improve and expand upon the content and its reach.

Looking to cover areas like nutrition and making sure it is for more specific groups, like people with arthritis for example.

This app has been demo-ed in the USA and Japan now the team has received positive feedback and interest from sheltered housing facilities and the University of Texas who have trialled it and described it as a real winner.

Children bring a smile to residents GUINNESS Care staff have been coming up with creative and inventive ideas to keep residents living at Pickmere Court, an independent living development in Crewe, entertained while they have been unable to leave their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They had the idea of contacting schools in the local area to ask if children would like to write letters, poems or draw pictures for the residents.

After a fantastic response from the school children and other children living in the area, Carly Sproston, who works as an administrator for Pickmere Court while working from home, has put them all together in a book ‘The Book of Smiles’ which has been gratefully received by all the residents.

She said: “All the staff at Pickmere

Carly Sproston

Court want to make this difficult situation as bearable as possible for our residents and we are so pleased they are enjoying the fun activities to help pass the time.

“Our residents are coping really well and I would like to say thank you to all of them and to all the children that

sent us letters and pictures.”

Some of the other activities that the residents have been able to enjoy while social distancing has been observed include: n A zoo experience. n Rainbows to colour in and put in their windows to show support for the NHS. n Enjoy a virtual Grand National. n Learn how to sign with a sign language word search. n Having all the patterns to knit or crochet a frontline bear. n Activity booklet full of crosswords, word searches, puzzles and quizzes.

Two residents made cakes and pies which they sold in communal gardens, while maintaining social distancing, and to date have raised £600 which they have donated to Leighton Hospital to help get extra PPE for staff.

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CARINGWEEKLY Advertiser’s announcement

Preparing for an Emergency Support Framework call from your inspector

By David Beattie I HAVE been working in senior positions in the care industry since 2002.

Until 2014 I ran large psychiatric services and successfully dealt with many crisis management and turnaround situations.

Towards the end of 2014 I established Care Ideals, which is a consultancy service that supports a variety of social care providers.

I have written this article to provide practical and helpful information to social care businesses and managers, especially those with little backoffice support or those with limited experience of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the CQC has for the most part paused its on-site inspection agenda. For now, this has been replaced by the Emergency Support Framework (ESF).

The ESF is a phone call with your inspector, where they ask you up to 15 key questions about your service.

These key questions can be followed by supplementary questions, and the call can last up to two hours.

You’ll be contacted to arrange a convenient time for the actual ESF conversation. You will have time to prepare for the call.

The CQC has said: n The ESF isn’t an inspection. n The summary record of the ESF conversation isn’t published.

However, providers must remember: n You receive a summary record of the conversation in PDF format. n The conversation becomes a record that the CQC retain. n The ESF is an assessment of where you stand at the time of the call and how well you’ve managed the complications of the last few months.

I don’t think providers need to be concerned about the call. But you must prepare for it.

To help with your preparation, I have listed below questions you might be asked during your ESF call.

I have compiled these questions

according to issues you’ve likely had to deal with in recent months. n How did you inform visitors that they couldn’t visit? n Have you kept in contact with CQC, your local authority, Public Health England, your GP, etc to ask for assistance or to keep them up to date? n Have relatives been kept fully informed during the period where they couldn’t enter the home? n Did you put signage up on the front door? n Did you communicate with staff as to what was happening, and what you were doing to help maintain their safety, and that of the residents? n Did you explain to residents what was happening? n Did you make sure that staff who were showing symptoms or were categorised as high-risk were self-isolating or shielding? n What processes did you have in place for staff entering and exiting the home e.g. hand sanitiser, hand-washing facilities, donning PPE, doffing PPE, etc. n Did you have signage around the home reminding staff they should wash their hands more frequently than normal? n Did you have sufficient quantities of PPE? If you didn’t, how did you resolve this? n Have any residents tested positive for coronavirus or shown symptoms? If so, how did you protect other residents from becoming infected? n How would you contain and manage an outbreak? n Did your domestic staff wipe down and disinfect parts of the home more frequently? How is this evidenced? n Did you have issues with medication at any point (e.g. short supply)? If you did, who did you contact for assistance? n If some staff were shielding or had been furloughed, did you ensure you had sufficient staff still working who could administer medication? n Did you have enough staff in place to ensure that your residents were safely cared for? n If you were short-staffed, how did you arrange cover? Agency staff? Bank staff? Existing staff

David Beattie, founder of Care Ideals.

worked additional shifts? Staff living at the home? n If using agency or bank staff, were they block-booked? Could you ensure they weren’t doing shifts in other homes? n When recruiting new staff did you maintain safe recruitment processes? n Have you still monitored complaints and safeguarding issues? n How have you ensured that staff maintained good practice? n Have you been able to continue with your normal governance and quality assurance systems? If not, what is the plan to rectify this? n Are all policies, contingency plans and action plans up to date with information relating to coronavirus? e.g. infection control policy, health and safety policy, business continuity plan, fire risk assessments, PEEP’s, etc. n Are separate coronavirus care plans ready to use, complete with risk assessments? n Do you have isolation care plans and risk assessments in place, or ready to use if needs be? n Do PEEP’s incorporate coronavirus status and how to move infected residents, in case of evacuation? n Are you monitoring the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of your staff? What are

you doing to ease pressures and anxiety? n Are staff aware of your whistleblowing policy and how to escalate concerns?

I would suggest that you have someone with you during the call taking notes. Email the inspector after the call detailing your understanding of the call and list any actions.

I would also recommend that providers put together a hardcopy file that evidences how you responded to issues created by the pandemic e.g. updated policies and procedures, invoices from PPE suppliers, letters to staff communicating about coronavirus, etc. At some point, CQC will likely return to on-site inspections. You can hand this file to the inspectors when they arrive.

Please note the above list is a guide only and isn’t exhaustive.

You must adapt the list according to your individual services e.g. some of the above won’t be relevant for domiciliary care providers.

Don’t worry about the ESF. Prepare for it. n David Beattie is the founder of Care Ideals. Call 07763 070881, email david@careideals.com or visit www.careideals.com

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Importance of homes ‘must be recognised’ THE coronavirus pandemic highlights the vital role care homes play in the long-term care of older people and must be recognised by policy makers, a new paper co-written by the Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care claims.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected care home residents, with anywhere from 19 to 72 per cent of deaths occurring in care homes worldwide.

The paper addresses a lack of personal protective equipment, personnel and skills, and ambiguity around testing and diagnosis processes that have contributed to Covid-19 deaths.

It also calls for psychological support to ‘avoid significant mental health issues for care home staff at the end of the pandemic’.

Professor Claire Goodman from the Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care at the University of Hertfordshire (pictured top right), said: “The arbitrary distinction between health and social care sectors has long been challenged by both clinicians and academics.

“The pandemic has exposed the issues exacerbated by this distinction and it is clear we have some way to go to ensure the sector is adequately recognised, resourced, equipped and integrated with acute healthcare provision to play its role as a cornerstone of health and social care.

“The political will to address long term care provision for older people has lacked conviction, but hopefully the lessons learned from the pandemic will finally begin to correct this.”

The paper argues that the losses and difficulties faced by the care home sector have emphasised system-wide issues, such as endemic underfunding, lack of integration between the public and private sectors, and a lack of recognition and regard – because care homes are too often represented as problems and not partners in delivering care.

Celebrity a cappella group sings for care workers AN A CAPPELLA army of celebrities and entertainment professionals have joined forces to perform a lockdown megamix in aid of The Care Workers’ Charity.

The AcaArmy Lockdown Megamix features well-known tracks ‘Staying Alive’, ‘Fever’, ‘Lonely’, ‘Toxic’, to name a few, with celebrities, X factor winner Sam Bailey, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Divina de Campo, Jamie Lambert from Collabro and former En Vogue star Amanda Cole, as well as many familiar faces from the West End. Developed by Nic Chiappetta, Lara de Belder and George Strickland (AcaArmy) with Howlin Entertainment Ltd, the idea was inspired by the current coronavirus playlist meme songs and covers trending across the globe.

Kev Orkian, CEO of Howlin Entertainment, said: “The main aim of this fab project is to raise money for the nation’s incredible care workers who are at the front line of the fight against coronavirus.

“Throughout history, in times of trouble, people have always turned to the arts to help them escape, laugh or

to simply put a smile on their face.

“This is the reason Nic, Lara, George and I have called on our friends, colleagues and fellow performers to come together for CWC and help make this a reality.

“Inspired by the Sparkle for Social Care campaign which was set up by a group of care sector professionals, I felt passionate to support and to sparkle for The Care Workers’ Charity and together I feel we have done just that.”

The Care Workers’ Charity will use any funds raised from the video to provide grants to care and support workers requiring financial support during the coronavirus pandemic.

Karolina Gerlich, executive director of The Care Workers’ Charity, added: “We’re so pleased that people are coming together to sing for our care workers.

“It will make us smile, entertain us, and raise those all-important valuable funds for our target of raising £2m to enable us to continue to issue grants to care workers facing hardship due to self-isolating, shielding or with the virus themselves.”

Home marks third birthday during Clap for our Carers GRACEWELL of High Wycombe celebrated the care home’s third birthday recently.

The social distance garden party was combined with the weekly Clap for Our Carers, so residents could show their appreciation to all the team members working at the home.

The residents and the team at Gracewell of High Wycombe enjoyed an al fresco meal. The in-house dining team prepared a menu of chicken sliders, beef sliders, salmon blinis, Parma ham blinis, cous cous and coleslaw.

This was followed by some delicious treats including chocolate brownies and a red velvet cake.

The residents enjoyed the

celebration and were able to have some prosecco and dance in the sunshine.

Hayley Devereaux, home admissions adviser at Gracewell of High Wycombe, said: “It was such a wonderful way to mark the third birthday of Gracewell of High Wycombe.

“We all danced and sang along to the music, the evening was filled with laughter.

“The celebration lifted everyone’s spirits; the in-house dining team did such an amazing job with the food.

“The team at Gracewell of High Wycombe has been working so hard, and so it was a lovely way for residents to show their appreciation.”

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CARINGWEEKLY

Lisa trades in her scissors to work at care home

Homes receive generous gifts from football club A NUMBER of care homes and homecare services in Norfolk and Suffolk have received special gifts from Norwich City Football Club as a sign of thanks for the efforts of staff during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Overbury House in Wroxham, Oaklands House in Reydon, Shipdham Manor in Shipdham, Meadow House in Swaffham, The Manor House in North Walsham, Bilney Hall near Dereham, Claremont House and Lodge in Caister-onSea, The White House in Beccles, Saxlingham Hall near Norwich, and the Lowestoft branch of Manorcourt Homecare, which all belong to the Healthcare Homes Group, received a visit from the club’s staff, who delivered a signed team shirt and a carrot cake, baked using a recipe of club owner Delia Smith.

The gifts also came with a special note, thanking carers and staff for their tireless efforts to care for residents during the Coronavirus pandemic.

It read: ‘As the virus continues in

its reach, everyone at Norwich City Football Club would like you to know that we will never take for granted your dedication and selflessness. This gift comes with our love and deep gratitude from the players, staff and supporters. With love and thanks, Delia and Michael’.

Regional director Katherine Foley said: “Our teams have been touched and delighted to receive such a thoughtful gesture from Norwich City Football Club.

“Many of our staff and residents are loyal fans of the canaries, so this meant an awful lot to them. Some homes have framed the shirts and have put them on display for all to see.

“Our staff are working extremely hard during this difficult time and we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from our local communities.

“Gestures such as this mean so much, so I would like to offer our thanks to Delia, Michael and all at Norwich City for their kindness.”

A LOUGHBOROUGH hairdresser has traded in her scissors for an opportunity to give back to the community and work in a care home.

Woodthorpe Lodge launched an employment scheme back in March to help people who may find themselves out of work during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Lisa Perry has worked as a hairdresser for more than 30 years and found herself facing temporary unemployment as a result of government restrictions on salons opening across the UK. Woodthorpe Lodge is already close to Lisa’s heart as she used to set up shop in the home’s on-site beauty parlour each week to make sure residents’ hair stayed ‘a cut above the rest’.

She said: “A few months ago I would visit the home to cut, colour, perm and trim the residents’ hair regularly.

“We would always have a lovely natter and I became very close to them. I have been missing them terribly so I began to wonder if there was anything I could do to pitch in and help while I have some free time on my hands.

“When I was offered the temporary flexible worker role I jumped at the chance.”

Lisa has been working in many different roles during her time in the home, including helping to prepare meals in the kitchen, serving meals at dinner time, cleaning and laundry duties, supporting the lifestyle manager to prepare and deliver activities and, not to forget, finally getting her hands on her much-loved cutting scissors.

Lisa Perry She added: ‘I was unsure what to expect on my first day, but the team have made me feel incredibly welcome and at ease.

“The carers do a fantastic job and really pull together. The role is extremely rewarding and I would recommend anyone considering applying to go for it.

“I am so proud to be a key worker and be able to help.”

Lisa’s husband Gavin Gallear also works at Woodthorpe Lodge as the grounds keeper.

Flexible workers at Ideal Carehomes are able to access key learning portals, provided by the newly launched Ideal Academy, equipping them with the knowledge required to be successful in their role.

web agency Distinction.

The panel judging the awards said it was the “obvious choice in the health care category”. They praised the website for its large scale, geolocation functionality, and outstanding year-to-year performance.

Hannah Banfield, Bluebird Care’s

marketing and communications director, said: “We are delighted that Distinction won the award for Kentico Site of the Year 2019 for our bluebirdcare.co.uk website.

The site has to deliver for multiple stakeholders including prospective customers and potential recruits, as well as satisfying the needs of a network of nearly 200 franchise owners.

“With our new careers website, we hope to emulate the success of bluebirdcare.co.uk, utilising the adaptability of the site for recruitment purposes.

“The health and social care sector is very much in the spotlight right now, amid covid-19, and so we hope the site will not only provide a clear pathway into a career at Bluebird Care, but also act as a key resource that provides valuable information about the significant benefits of working in the care sector.”

Website wins award as provider launches new careers platform BLUEBIRD Care has launched a new careers website to help people learn more about working in the sector.

The website makes starting a career with the homecare provider clear and easy.

As well as acting as a resource for those looking to find out more about the care sector, it also details what a career in care can entail.

The case studies and FAQs pages give valuable insight into the industry and the ethos of Bluebird Care.

As unemployment is set to rise even more significantly over the coming months, the group hopes its new website will encourage people to pursue a rewarding career in homecare.

Their careers website highlights the opportunities for training and development, and the specialisms that a care assistant at Bluebird Care is able to develop.

The careers website also provides information on roles at Bluebird Care that are administrative and office based, not just customer facing.

The launch comes after bluebirdcare.co.uk won the Kentico Website of the Year Award 2019 in the home care category, with their

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CARINGWEEKLY

Residents Beryl Spaulding and Cathy Oerton taking tea at The Aldbury in Poole.

Care group puts the kettle on for families living with dementia CARE homes in the south raised cuppas to press for vital support during the pandemic for families living with dementia.

Residents and staff across Colten Care’s 21 homes observed safe distancing as they enjoyed Dementia UK’s virtual tea party, Time For a Cuppa Together.

The group’s consultant Admiral Nurse, Adam Smith, said: “Families with a loved one who has dementia need support more than ever during these incredibly challenging and isolating times.

“It was lovely to see our residents and staff get behind the idea of the virtual tea party to help. It worked really well.”

Among those involved were two dementia care homes rated Outstanding by sector regulator the Care Quality Commission.

At Linden House in Lymington more than a dozen residents took part in a traditional afternoon tea with cupcakes, cake stands and tea pots, followed by dancing, in their village hall-themed room, Bucklers Hall.

On show was a giant papier mache teapot which they and staff members had made earlier in arts and crafts sessions.

The event was so successful that

the home is looking to hold a similar get-together, Tea on the Terrace, every month.

Fernhill raised more than £1,000 for Dementia UK on its own by combining its afternoon tea with the Marathon Challenge, a separate bid to help charities affected by the cancellation of this year’s London Marathon.

Staff and residents completed 26 activities all linked to the number 26, reflecting the 26 miles in a marathon and the date the London event would have been on – April 26.

They sang 26 songs in 26 minutes, separated out 26 red buttons from a collection of badges, pins and broaches, and one team member, minibus driver Guy Shepherd, underwent a 2.6-minute shave to lose his handlebar moustache.

As well as Linden House and Fernhill, there were tea parties at Colten Care’s two other dementia care homes, St Catherines View in Winchester and The Aldbury in Poole.

Several non-dementia-specific homes also took part.

Funds raised from Time for a Cuppa Together will go to support Dementia UK’s national helpline which enables families affected by dementia to access the support of Admiral Nurses.

New hand sanitising unit with built-in temperature monitorings

AN AUTOMATIC hand sanitiser dispensing station with a builtin AI Infrared Face Recognition Thermometer is the latest innovation from Regency Design to combat the future spread of COVID-19.

The award-winning design and manufacturing business has launched the station with a fast, non-contact body temperature reading camera with AI Face recognition that can measure temperatures within 100 milliseconds and at a distance of one metre, while someone sanitises their hands.

The infrared temperature sensor provides alerts when a person has a high temperature. The system is calculated with an algorithm for object heat and fast detection temperature accuracy, with a temperature sensing range of 30 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius and an accuracy of

plus or minus 0.3 degrees Celsius.

Zak Manhire, chief commercial officer, said: “The units have been designed to help keep people safe by ensuring that they don’t have symptoms of COVID-19 in an easy, stress free and non-invasive way.”

The hand sanitising dispensers are made out of premium quality products and cut down on sanitiser costs by using sensory technology to disperse 1.5ml of sanitiser per hand detected.

They are fully brandable as they are coated with a base powder which can be adjusted to match any colour, with the added bonus of placing vinyl graphics on them if requested.

The stations can also come in various sizes, providing convenience for adults and children.

Enquiries: To find out more visit www.regencydesign.co.uk

Helping learners to start their career journey in care iHASCO has created a complete eLearning package to cover the “theory” for those who are working towards their care certificate, with 15 separate, concise and engaging courses.

This online training plays a vital role in helping anyone who is starting out in the care sector – to learn about the 15 standards of care.

They also provide a great refresher for experienced workers, because it’s vital that everyone who works in this industry provides top quality care.

It has taken the eLearning provider eight months to complete the full 15 courses, with the production of the programmes requiring 10 locations, 25 actors and 45 extras.

The high quality footage and carefully written scripts have been designed to communicate the key learning points simply and effectively. iHASCO is also a Skills for Care Endorsed Learning and Development Provider, so users can have confidence in the content and quality of these courses.

The 15 courses can be completed online, in under eight hours, but at the learner’s own

pace and convenience.

Some of the key courses include Duty of Care, Fluids and Nutrition, Basic Life Support and Infection Prevention and Control.

“Now we’ve added the last of the needed courses to our 15-part bundle, we can proudly offer the complete eLearning package for those in the health and social care sector, who are working towards completing their Care Certificate,” said Lottie Galvin, studio manager at iHASCO. “We completely understand that the current climate is throwing so many challenges at those who work in the care industry, and that training may not feel like a priority at this time.

“But eLearning is a simple and time-efficient solution that can strengthen a worker’s confidence and competence, while making sure that their training stays up-to-date.”

An employer can offer their staff access to all 15 courses for as little as £2 per course, per person. iHASCO is encouraging employers requiring health and social care training to get in touch to discuss how they can be supported with eLearning.

Enquiries: Visit www.ihasco.co.uk

Free Assessment Guidance on CQC’s Emergency Support Framework LOG my Care, a free care management system, shares a free Assessment Guidance on CQC’s Emergency Support Framework.

Since mid-March, the software company has produced, together with UK experts, a free series of resources to help care services manage coronavirus related issues and has been inundated with responses ever since.

The Care Quality Commission has developed an emergency support framework in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This approach will be used during the crisis and will be used in all health and social care settings registered with the regulator.

Log my Care has recorded more than 2,700 downloads of its free coronavirus support resources and has thought of a way to help care providers with CQC’s new emergency approach.

Expert Stuart Prince, special advisor to Age UK, has created together with the software company, a special assessment guidance on CQC’s Emergency Support Framework, to be downloaded for free by anyone who needs it.

The software company has been producing helpful coronavirus related resources and features to share with care providers across the country since the crisis started in the UK. Since then, seven official documents have been shared with thousands of care managers and carers across the country.

The Log my Care engineering team meanwhile built coronavirus symptoms monitoring tools within its management software, for free.

The help team was trained to respond well to emotional stress that can affect care workers and has continued sending gifts to members of the community, to help keep the spirits up.

These tools help carers and care managers track their clients’ potential symptoms easily, make decisions accordingly and report coronavirus deaths more accurately to the government, the latter being the most recent problematic to date.

These new features are entirely free.

Enquiries: Please click HERE to visit the website.

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