Caring UK Weekly June 21

Spare sector from overseas worker cuts

WORRIED care providers have called on the Government to spare the social care sector from any moves to cut the number of overseas workers coming to the UK.

The Independent Care Group has warned that limiting the flow of overseas staff to work in the sector would hit the care of older and vulnerable people hard, as it struggles to recover from the pandemic.

There are fears that the Government is to crack down on overseas recruitment amidst fears over rising immigration figures, due to be released shortly.

ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “Cutting the number of overseas staff that we can bring in to work in social care would be the worst thing the Government could do right now,” he added.

“Care providers are struggling to recover from the devastating impact first of the Covid-19 pandemic and now from the cost-of-living crisis.

“We are already losing providers and taking away a vital source of staff might push even more to the edge of survival.”

The social care sector is going through a recruitment crisis, with an estimated 165,000 vacancies within the sector, hampering the sector’s ability to provide proper care to hundreds of thousands of

people.

That staffing shortage, added to the impact of the pandemic and ensuing increases in costs, has led to further care and nursing home closures and the closure of homecare providers.

Since last year, care providers have been able to recruit care workers from overseas if they got a Home Office licence to do so.

Mike added: “In the case of my own care business we have recruited more than 20 overseas staff who have made a huge difference to us. They have brought their skills and expertise, new thinking and ideas and new cultures to our centres and we are all the better for their presence.

“We and many other providers, would struggle to operate properly if that source of staff was in any way restricted. We want to maintain the flow of overseas staff, provided the source countries’ care resources are not depleted as a result.”

He said the Government needs to carry out urgent reform to the social care sector, beginning with the extra funding needed to recruit staff.

“We have a staffing shortage and the main reason for that is that social care workers are not rewarded or recognised adequately in this country and prefer to choose other careers instead,” Mike added.

Social care leader Zoë Fry has been awarded the Order of the British Empire medal for services to social care and to nursing in the King’s birthday Honours List. Zoë has received the medal and been recognised for her long service and ongoing dedication to adult social care, which includes collaboratively founding and transforming the community interest company The Outstanding Society, working as a frontline nurse in the sector, and purchasing and operating a care home which was one of the first in Sussex to receive the Care Quality Commission’s Outstanding rating. Zoë’s drive for quality care saw her home twice rated by the CQC as Outstanding, as well as winning many national awards.

Residents are the front-runners

STAFF members from Care South’s Castle Dene in Bournemouth took residents to Salisbury racecourse to watch the horse racing and enjoy a picnic made by the home’s chef before a winning conclusion to the day.

Residents and staff members made fruit scones for the day trip the previous day, with everyone enjoying them at the racecourse with clotted cream and jam whilst sitting in the sunshine.

Activities organiser Lesley Wheal said: “What an incredible day out this was for residents in our care. It was lovely watching everyone in their element getting involved in picking their favourite horses and cheering them on.

“It bought back some wonderful memories for residents who have had close

connections with horses in their lifetimes. Everyone said that they had a fabulous day and have already asked to return again next year.”

When each race was due to start, residents watched the horses go to the starting gates and picked their favourite. Once the race started, residents moved to the fence to be as near as possible to the action and cheered on the horses they had chosen.

For the last race of the afternoon, one of the staff member’s husband paid for everyone to place a bet on a horse with their favourite name.

Between residents and staff members, they backed the winning and second placed horse. The winnings were taken back to the home for everyone to enjoy.

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Bishop makes confirmation wish come true for resident

A SENIOR church figure has helped to make a heartfelt wish come true for an 87-year-old Winchester care home resident.

Bill Lanfear was the centre of attention at Colten Care’s Abbotts Barton as the Bishop of Basingstoke, The Right Reverend David Williams, came to perform a rare confirmation service to welcome him as a full member of the Church of England.

Retired engineer Bill spoke of his joy at attaining what he called a ‘state of amazing grace’.

He added: “Being confirmed means a great deal to me. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time and I was very much looking forward to it.”

The Bishop’s personal visit to lead the ceremony followed a request by The Reverend Karen Kousseff, Rector of St Bartholomew’s Church, Hyde, who leads monthly communion for residents at Abbotts Barton.

In a series of visits and discussions in recent months, Karen prepared Bill for confirmation by strengthening his understanding of faith and Christian responsibilities.

“She has been very good to me,” said Bill, who has lived at Abbotts Barton for two years.

“I can’t praise her enough for

helping me towards confirmation.”

Rector Karen said: “It’s lovely and joyful to see Bill confirmed and it’s unusual to have a service like this in a care home.”

The ceremony was attended by more than a dozen fellow residents and featured prayers, hymns, readings and a sermon.

To mark his initiation into full church membership, Bill received the ritual laying of hands by Bishop David, conferring the sacrament of confirmation.

Originally from Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, Bill said he was not brought up in a religious family and was only christened at the age of 21

so he could get married in church. He said confirmation was not something mentioned to him at the time and it only became a heartfelt wish as he got older.

Bishop David said: “Every generation has spiritual needs, something we should always value. People ask many spiritual questions as they get older and confirmation acts as a public statement of faith.

“It’s clear that Bill has sought to live a life committed to faith since he was in his early 20s.

“He, like the other residents here at Abbotts Barton and in care homes elsewhere, contribute massively to our sense of community.”

During his career, Bill was a senior quality engineer for Westland Helicopters in Yeovil and he and his wife Christine came to live in Hampshire 11 years ago. Christine lives in Alresford.

Kirsty Sawyer, companionship team leader at Abbotts Barton, said: “It was wonderful to host and celebrate Bill’s confirmation. We do our very best to help make our residents’ wishes come true whatever these might be.

“In Bill’s case, we are honoured and privileged to have supported him on his spiritual journey and do our bit to help him find his state of grace.”

A 97-year-old lover of dance enjoyed a wish come true when her New Forest care home arranged ballroom dancers to perform for her as a birthday treat.

Maureen Miller said she ‘couldn’t believe it’ when 10 members of Southampton University’s Ballroom and Latin Dance Society arrived at Colten Care’s Woodpeckers to entertain her and fellow residents. The group performed a series of routines including waltzes and a jive in the lounge of the Outstanding-rated Brockenhurst home. To add further Strictly-style fun to the afternoon, four residents were given judging paddle boards and scored each dance out of ten, with the top two pairs coming back and dancing again for the votes of all the residents. The jive won by a unanimous vote.

A resident at Oake Meadows care home in Taunton has celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family, friends and fellow residents. Margot Komarnicka, known to everyone as Mrs K, marked the milestone with a party and a card from the new King. Born in Worcester and married three times, Mrs K has two children, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. One of her loves was acting and amateur dramatics and another was travel. She headed out on a world cruise from Southampton at the age of 93 and returned at 94. In her 70s and 80s Mrs K was a tour guide, including at Wells Cathedral where she worked between the ages of 84 and 91.

Joyce Ward completed a year-long bucket list of adventures leading up to her 100th birthday. She asked the companionship team at Colten Care’s St Catherines View in Winchester where she is a resident, to help her achieve a list of challenges in the runup to her big day. In the past 12 months her escapades have included horse-riding, speeding around Goodwood Motor Circuit, sailing and most recently a ride on a steam train. She finally celebrated her birthday with an American-themed BBQ at St Catherines View, which was filmed and featured on BBC South.

A WWII soldier has celebrated his 101st birthday at a Surbiton care home. Peter Whiteley was joined by family on his special day at Royal Star & Garter where he lives. Peter served in Burma (now Myanmar) and narrowly survived enemy attacks by Japanese troops. He was later awarded the Burma Star. On his birthday he was joined by his daughter Christine and other family members for a party at the home. Peter attained the rank of Captain, and left the Army in 1946. He soon moved to India, where he lived until 1976, and then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where he stayed for a further 10 years. He returned to the UK following the death of his wife Edith. Peter later remarried, and moved to Royal Star & Garter with his wife Colleen in 2019. She died later that year.

Bishop of Basingstoke David Williams demonstrates the laying of hands for Bill Lanfear. With them is Karen Kousseff, rector of St Bartholomew’s Church, Hyde.

Boost for veterans’ home and primary care in Solihull

TWO experienced nursing staff at a Solihull care home who trained as non-medical prescribers are now able to prescribe medication for residents.

The NMP service being rolled out at Royal Star & Garter will further improve the care it provides, while easing the burden on primary care providers in the area, and saving NHS costs.

Bupa wins Gold at the UK Employee Experience Awards

BUPA Care Services has won two Gold awards at the prestigious UK Employee Experience Awards 2023. The care provider operates more than 120 care homes and 10 Richmond Villages around the country and was presented with the top accolades in the Best Employee Engagement and Best Engagement Team categories.

The awards reflect the focus that Bupa Care Services has given to engaging its 10,000+ people throughout challenging times for the sector, to attract and retain talented people and deliver the highest quality care for residents.

These sector-leading initiatives include the introduction of more than 200 regional engagement champions, who play a hands-on role in boosting morale, teamwork and elevate the achievements of frontline colleagues.

Rebecca Pearson, general manager, care services, Bupa Global and UK, said: “This is such a proud moment for all our incredible teams up and down the country.

“We have been on a mission to create the most inclusive, supportive, engaging workplace for our people, so that they can give the highest quality care to our much-loved residents.

“We want our people to feel welcome and see Bupa Care Services as a place that they can progress their

Three new recruits arrived at Rome’s northern frontier as they swapped Roselea House, their Fife care home, for Callendar House, the 14th century country mansion in Falkirk. Dressed in cloaks and armour, the residents explored the Antonine Wall, a UNESCO Heritage site which once marked the edge of the Roman Empire. After their trip around the Roman exhibit, the residents enjoyed afternoon tea and a walk through the estate gardens. Ruth Goodman, manager of Roselea House, said: “It was a fantastic day out, and the residents loved exploring the history of Callendar House. We’ll come back again soon.”

careers. I’m so pleased and proud to see everyone’s hard work recognised.

“We are committed to being the market leader for aged care in the UK, and we know that looking after our people is the key to delivering the highest quality care that all our residents deserve.

“We have ambitious plans and I believe we have the best team in place to keep going from strength to strength.”

In the last 18 months Bupa Care Services has also introduced its “Love Working Here” strategy, designed to create the most inclusive and supportive workplace.

The organisation has also listened to the views of colleagues in order to provide greater support.

Examples include pay initiatives to support its people through rising inflation, greater adoption of technology to increase time spent on hands-on care, the introduction of ‘MyHealthcare’, a new range of improved health benefits for frontline colleagues, learning programmes, apprenticeships and qualifications to support career development, and competitions to encourage team camaraderie and fun.

This broad combination of initiatives has driven an 11-point increase in recent employee engagement scores.

Lead nurses Heni Glover and Yuriy Bukovych will, in certain circumstances, assess and prescribe medication to unwell residents after Royal Star & Garter covered the costs of their Prescribing in Clinical Practice Level 7 courses.

While non-medical prescribing is becoming a more recognised approach to improving patient outcomes in the NHS, Royal Star & Garter – Solihull is amongst the first care homes in the country to offer the service.

Yuriy said: “Royal Star & Garter recognised the delays in primary care and has acted on it. Having NMPs in the Home increases the convenience and speed with which residents receive their medication.

“The course was tough, but you don’t get permission to grant prescriptions lightly. I’m proud to be an NMP, and I’m grateful that the charity paid for the course and supported this.”

The National Care Forum praised “the dedicated support from Royal Star & Garter”, saying the investment in NMPs would lead to improved care for its residents.

The ability to prescribe in-house means the Home is able to provide a rapid on-site response to residents’ health needs, obtaining their medication within hours.

Care home staff know their residents well and can quickly spot a decline in wellbeing. The intervention of NMPs allows an illness to be treated

promptly, while reducing the number of GP call-outs or appointments.

The speedy treatment also means there is less chance of a resident’s condition deteriorating to such an extent that they require a hospital admission.

Heni and Yuriy started prescribing medication in May, just as NHS England unveiled plans to reduce busy GPs’ workloads by using highstreet pharmacies for some common prescription drugs and routine tests.

The pair will be able to issue medications from an approved formulary, or list of prescribable items.

Heni added: “We know our residents very well and can quickly spot if they are in poor health and visibly deteriorating. Now we will be able to assess them at an early stage to ensure that they are provided with timely treatment.

“Royal Star & Garter is very forwardthinking, and always looking at innovative ways to improve its care. This is definitely one of them.”

Royal Star & Garter intends to train new NMPs at its two other Homes, in Surbiton and High Wycombe.

Operator is named one of most inspiring workplaces

SALUTEM Care and Education, which operates 130 services nationwide, has been recognised internationally as one of the most inspiring workplaces at a glittering ceremony at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The company has been named in the Top 50 in the 2023 Inspiring Workplaces Awards in the EMEA region (UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa).

The Inspiring Workplaces Awards 2023 panel of independent judges based its decision on six key elements:

n Culture and purpose.

n Leadership

n Wellbeing

n Inclusion and diversity.

n Communication

n Employee experience. Salutem also received a special commendation for its engagement and communication.

Kirstie Jones, chief people officer at Salutem Care and Education said: “This recognition is something we are incredibly proud of. We believe in a company that everyone is proud to work for and where all our staff feel valued.

“By providing a warm and supportive environment for our teams, we are enabling them to offer the best possible care and education.”

Heni and Yuriy.

Kirstie Jones

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