Caring UK Weekly December 21

The weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Care operator opens its new training suite

MARIA Mallaband Care Group has launched a new training suite as part of its ongoing investment in staff development.

The purpose-built ‘Maria’s Training Suite’ was opened at the group’s Leeds headquarters and will provide a learning and development hub for teams across the estate.

The official opening, with MMCG owner and executive chairman Phil Burgan cutting the ribbon, took place ahead of the first ‘Induction for All’ session at head office (previously held off-site).

Going forward, this session will be provided at head office for all new starters across the group as they begin the operator’s newly developed induction programme, launching their careers with training and an understanding of its history and ethos.

This new centre is an addition to a London training centre which is located in one of the group’s care homes.

As well as induction sessions, the new dedicated suite will also be used for continuous professional development for staff, hosting both clinical and non-clinical training, personal development, and leadership sessions.

Phil said: “It was a privilege to open our new training room – Maria’s Training Suite – at

our head offices in Leeds – a purpose-built training space created to support and develop our teams to be the best they can be.

“I am passionate about making sure the people that live with us in our homes get the best care possible, and I know this comes from the people who work with us feeling valued and appreciated.

“The new training room space is just one of the many ways we are investing in people’s future at MMCG, and I truly believe with this, and other developments, we can reach our ambitions further to be a great place to live and work for all.”

The operator has a strong reputation for investing in staff, with a multitude of development opportunities and training structures in place.

A particular success story in recent years has been the group’s Trainee Nursing Associate programme – with a larger cohort graduating each year since it began in 2019.

That is part of a wider offer of apprenticeships, which are available to any member of staff in every department – starting at Level 2 and going all the way up to master’s degree level, with employees working towards Masters in Medical Ethics and Law and Global Leadership and Management.

Residents show they care at Christmas

TWO Edinburgh care homes have helped spread some Christmas cheer with a special charity donation.

The residents and staff of Letham Park and Mathieson House residential care homes, operated by Renaissance Care, held a festive raffle to raise £350 for local homeless people as their way of giving back to the local community.

The money will be donated to Social Bite’s Festival of Kindness campaign, which uses funds raised to offer support to homeless people, such as accommodation for the night or a hot Christmas meal.

Up for grabs in the raffle was a Christmas hamper filled with specially designed glassware, coffee cups and

special festive crafts, which were all handmade by Kevin Dignall, deputy manager at Mathieson Care Home.

He said: “I had made things like that before for staff or families at the home and I just wanted to make a nice hamper for Christmas to raffle off as a prize.

“The residents are always keen to stay connected to their local community and it’s a tough enough time for lots of people at this time of year, so everyone felt it was only fitting to try to help some of the most vulnerable people in the community.

“It was all great fun, and we drew the raffle on the same day as our Christmas fayre, so we had music going, singing and Santa made an appearance as well.”

A New Forest care home shared the magic of Christmas with a ‘meet the reindeer’ community afternoon for residents and local schoolchildren. The fun at Colten Care’s Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst featured the chance to get up close with special guests Prancer and Jingles, who were taking time out of their usual seasonal activities. Two days before, Woodpeckers colleagues devised a novel way to raise awareness of the event at nearby Brockenhurst Primary School. With the school’s permission, companionship team leader Jane Bunker and gardener Chris Marsh dressed up in elf and reindeer outfits respectively and leafleted children and families as they left for the day. The event raised around £450 for Brockenhurst and Sway Friday club including £80 for a donated equine print which was the subject of a silent auction.

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Home pairs residents with toddlers to celebrate World Nursery Rhyme Week

A HERTFORDSHIRE care home has paired its residents with a group of toddlers to celebrate World Nursery Rhyme Week – in a bid to rekindle natural paternal bonds and evoke happy memories of old.

Foxholes, near Hitchin, recently invited several mothers from its popular ‘Foxcubs’ group, which provides a communal environment for new mothers to connect and learn from the experiences of residents in raising their own children, to join the care home in an afternoon of sing-alongs and fun.

During the visit, residents took turns to hold, cuddle and sing nursery rhymes to the toddlers to enable them to reminisce about parenthood – recollecting fond memories of them singing to their own children years ago.

Estate manager Neil Gandecha said: “We really value and appreciate the importance of intergenerational relationships, which is why we’re always looking to identify programmes and schemes that pair children with our residents.

“It’s always nice to allow our residents to interact with the little ones, while it’s also beneficial for the children, too, as relationships, especially those formed during childhood, are sacred – and we believe that the same is true in care homes.

“The day was an overwhelming success and we’re looking forward to getting everyone together again in the New Year as we look to continue the

success of our Foxcubs initiative.”

The day itself was coordinated by Foxholes’ head of engagement Adele Querelle – whose 18-month-old daughter Nellie was the inaugural member of Foxcubs – after wanting to promote an activity that kept residents active and engaged while simultaneously benefiting likeminded mothers hoping to boost interactions for their children.

She added: “I consider every resident of Foxholes an extended family member, so it’s only natural that as a mother, I’d want to involve them during the most memorable and meaningful aspects of parenthood.

“It was such a nice day for the residents to look forward to as intergenerational relationships are equally as important for children, too, so we saw this opportunity as a no-brainer.”

Hartford Care has welcomed David Martins, who joins the company in a newly created role as head of sales and marketing to support the operator’s ambitious growth strategy. Bringing a wealth of experience, David has worked in the care industry for a decade, beginning his career in customer relationship management before progressing to sales and marketing manager having worked at Care UK, Hallmark Care Homes and most recently Advinia. He said: “Having previously worked as a retail manager and then a bank manager, I moved into the care sector 10 years ago after seeing my grandmother running an assisted living home in Colchester; I was in awe of the way she interacted with the residents and helped them to lead a fulfilling and exciting life and I decided I wanted to do something similar.”

Totaliser tops hundreds for Children in Need

RESIDENTS and team members at Colten Care homes have done their bit for Children in Need by raising more than £400.

The total was totted up from various events held during and since the BBC’s annual fundraising appeal.

At Kingfishers in New Milton, Hampshire, residents had fun at a singalong with visiting pianist Mark Busell who played tunes from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

As well as the live music, Kingfishers held a cake sale at reception while staff wore Pudsey-style T-shirts and onesies.

Court Lodge in Lymington celebrated Children in Need with an afternoon tea and raffle featuring prizes such as hairdos, freshly baked cakes and chocolates.

The fun at Avon Cliff in Bournemouth included a duvet and pamper morning, while at Bourne View in Poole there was bingo and a cheese and wine party.

Colten Care’s dedicated dementia

care homes also took part in activities for the appeal.

At Fernhill in Longham, Dorset, staff and residents held a pyjama day and an afternoon of baking cupcakes to sell.

At St Catherines View in Winchester, residents decorated cupcakes for children at the nearby school and enjoyed a visit by balloon artist Chris Kimber who made some very clever balloon creations in front of their eyes.

The home’s customer advisor Vanessa Hall did her bit for Children in Need by walking 10 miles to work in aid of the appeal.

“We greeted her with a banner we had made the day before,” added companionship team leader Laura Sheldrake.

“Welcoming Vanessa, getting involved with the cupcakes and watching the balloon artistry of Chris gave everyone a great opportunity to come together and have fun while supporting such a worthy cause.”

Five-star menu at Leeds care homes

ORCHARD Care Homes is celebrating after achieving an outstanding fivestar food hygiene rating across its Leeds-based care homes.

Middleton Park Lodge Nursing Home, Nesfield Lodge Dementia Care Home and Paisley Lodge Care Home hold the Food Standards Agency fivestar rating, awarded to businesses after consideration of three key

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criteria – how hygienically the food is handled, the physical condition of the business and how the business manages ways of keeping food safe.

Specific areas analysed included cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and pest control; as well as looking at processes, training and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained.

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Vanessa Hall, customer advisor at St Catherines View in Winchester, walked 10 miles to work for Children in Need. Greeting her are residents Wendy Lunn and Nalini Bhagwat.

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Resident Norma Taylor has won Borough Care’s Christmas card design competition. Each year the operator, which has 10 homes in Stockport and two in Staffordshire, gives a Christmas card to its 700 members of staff, along with a gift. This year the organisation, for the first time ever, invited residents to enter their artworks into a festive Christmas card design competition. Norma lives at Borough Care’s Cawood House in Brinnington and was thrilled to discover her artwork will feature on the cover of the official Christmas card. Norma created her artwork at the home’s weekly family and resident art and crafts session run by activity and lifestyle facilitator Leigh Cherie Jones. Leigh Cherie wanted to try ‘peg painting’ as some residents are restricted with hand and eye coordination, and also their grip.

Residents from four New Forest care homes took the chance to decorate Christmas trees they contributed to a Lymington church festival. Parties from Colten Care’s three homes in the town – Court Lodge, Belmore Lodge and Linden House – were joined by residents from Kingfishers in New Milton to add colour and sparkle to their trees at St Thomas Church. They then returned a couple of days later to admire the full community collection of more than 60 trees going on public display in what the church described as an ‘enchanted forest’.

n Resident Val Collinge from Kingfishers care home in New Milton is pictured with one of the Christmas trees.

Nurse Lewis Chirimuuta, who works at Hunters Creek Care Home in Boston, put on his red Santa robes, warmed up with the V-Fitness Team and took part in the town’s Santa Fun Run 2022 to help raise funds for the community and surrounding villages. The cold, damp, foggy weather didn’t deter Lewis who put his best foot forward and set off from Central Park for the 5K trek with a few hundred other Santa’s. Lewis passed several Boston landmarks including the Stump (twice), ending his Santa run at the Christmas Market in Market Place. Lewis finished in a good time and enjoyed a complementary mince pie and the camaraderie at the end of the run. Ever the dedicated nurse, it wasn’t long before Lewis was back in his uniform for a nursing shift at Hunters Creek where residents were eager to hear about the run and his Santa escapades.

A nimble-fingered Army veteran has put his creative skills to good use by making a Nativity scene at his care home. Stan Pell built the scene with the help of staff at Royal Star & Garter in Solihull. It took the 91-year-old around a week to build the scene, which was made from cardboard with a wooden support and a thatched roof and lined with straw. Staff at the home knitted characters including a baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, angel Gabriel, three wise men, little donkey and cattle. Stan also made baby Jesus’ manger, and added lights. The finished Christmas scene is now proudly on display in the home.

Maria Mallaband Care Group has launched its popular advent countdown of special prizes to say a big thank you to its colleagues for their work throughout the year. This is the second year running that the care group, which operates more than 80 homes across the UK, has hosted its Advent Calendar Countdown after last year’s inaugural event proved a huge success. Colleagues across the group were once again invited to register their email address for the chance to win, with a different prize given away every day in the run up to Christmas day. Prizes include £100 Amazon Vouchers, £100 to the successful homes to spend on Christmas celebrations and the lucky final two winners will receive £1,000 in holiday vouchers.

The Excelcare and Guildmore Awards

year to

people together and celebrate the achievements of

members across the family. For the first time ever, this year’s event received

Residents at Millway House have been experiencing a bit of Christmas magic in the form of a Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime production. Community theatre group Eva Long Productions visited the Andover care home for a special show designed to provide residents with some entertainment in the lead up to Christmas. Two actors performed a festive take on the children’s classic fairy tale, and everyone at Millway got involved, with shouts of ‘Oh yes, it is,’ ‘oh no, it isn’t,’ and ‘it’s behind you,’ heard throughout. And, with a Christmas singalong incorporated into the show, residents could really get into the festive spirit.

returned this

bring

team

a festive makeover as Braxted Park Estate was transformed into a winter wonderland. This annual event had been put on hold for the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, but with restrictions eased and team members able to socialise again, Excelcare and Guildmore were able to join together once more to host this spectacular event.

A team from online electricals retailer AO brought some early festive cheer to residents and staff at Broughton House Veteran Care Village when they spent the day there putting up Christmas trees and decorations and handing out gifts. All eight members of AO’s communications team took part in one of the firm’s Make a Difference days, which enables employees to give back to the community by volunteering with a charity or good cause. The AO team was the first group of volunteers which Broughton House has been able to welcome into the building since the onset of the pandemic.

apetito picks up a treble at national FDF Awards

apetito scooped three prizes at the Food and Drink Federation’s National Awards.

They won Best Sustainable Packaging Award for its ‘boomerang’ initiative, which is believed to the world’s first large industrial scale circular recycling scheme for ready meal trays.

Plastic trays are collected from tens of thousands of sister company Wiltshire Farm Foods’ customers each week and then turned into new trays at the company’s specialist partner facility in Durham.

apetito also won the Environmental Leadership Award for leading the way to Net Zero and for its progressive stance on reducing carbon emissions in every part of its business.

Lee Sheppard, director of corporate affairs and policy, said: “Sustainability is central to everything that we do within our business.

“It’s important to our customers and is a real passion for everyone who works within our business.

“We hope our ground-breaking recycling initiative encourages other businesses to follow suit and consider how be given a new life through circular recycling schemes.

“We believe in ‘action now’ and have made a clear and meaningful commitment to reducing our carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2040 via challenging interim targets for 2025 and 2035.

“By 2025 we aim to decarbonise in

line with Paris Climate Agreement requirements to meet a Net Zero 1.5c pathway and by 2035, we aim to deliver further substantial decarbonisation.

“We go far beyond making a simple marketing-led Net Zero pledge and it’s why we have had our targets independently verified by the SBTi. Our targets are based on solid science rather than marketing greenwash”.

Declan Henderson, apetito’s category development manager in specialist nutrition was singled out for the FDF’s Rising Star Award and cited as industry talent to watch for the future.

Declan headed up apetito’s development of a world-first specialist nutrition range called Finger Food Bites, designed to support the future of dementiafriendly dining in care homes.

Veterans welcome snake and tarantula

A HAIRY spider, bird of prey and four-metre long snake were guests at a care home in Solihull.

They were among the visitors brought to Royal Star & Garter by the Animals in Hands mobile zoo.

The creatures were shown to residents living with dementia by former zookeeper Mo Safeer, who set up Animals in Hands and is known as the animal man. Among them

was an albino Burmese python, white-faced scops owl, Chilean rose tarantula, bearded dragon, skunk, tortoise, chinchilla and bullfrog.

Lorraine is part of the Royal Star and Garter wellbeing team which organised the visit.

She said: “You could see how much the residents enjoyed it all. I had the snake around my neck and I was terrified.”

Specialist agency sells Felixstowe care home

DC CARE has completed the sale of Brierfield Residential Home in the Trimley St Mary near Felixstowe on behalf of JS Healthcare Ltd.

Brierfield dates back to 1930 and was purchased by JS Healthcare in 2008. The business enjoys an excellent local reputation, providing residential and dementia care for a maximum of 26 adults.

The home is run from two properties featuring mock Tudor frontage and an extension that was added in 2012.

Looking to consolidate their existing care portfolio JS Healthcare instructed DC Care to market the home, having worked together on many occasions in the past.

The business was acquired by Sharma Mugananthan, of Care Mithra

Ltd, whose background includes extensive experience in running care homes and providing personalised care within a residential care home setting. Brierfield represents Care Mithra’s first care home purchase.

The sale of Brierfield was handled by DC Care’s director Andy Sandel and senior sales negotiator Clare Duffey.

Andy said: “It was a pleasure to once again work with Jaspal Singh at JS Healthcare, having enjoyed a great working relationship with him over many years in both selling and purchasing care homes.

“We would like to wish Sharma all the best with Brierfield and look forward to working with him again when he is ready for his next care home acquisition.”

A celebration has been held to recognise two staff who have notched up 40 years’ service between them at Wilton House in Darlington. Head housekeeper Fiona Proctor and kitchen assistant Tracy Jaques have both worked at the care home for two decades. A celebration buffet was attended by colleagues and residents at which Fiona and Tracy were presented with gifts and flowers. Steve Massey, operations manager at Popular Care, which owns the 35-bed home, said: “We wanted to recognise, not only the long service of Fiona and Tracy, who are fantastic members of the Wilton House team, but also what staff do all year round to support and care for our residents.”

Home did not discriminate against employees who didn’t want to be Covid-19 vaccinated

AN employment tribunal has ruled that it is not discriminatory for employers within the care sector to terminate contracts of employment where employees chose not to take Covid vaccinations.

In Dimitrova, Chadwick, Hussain, Masiero and Motiejuniene vs Barchester Healthcare, a group of former employees who worked at Barchester Healthcare claimed that they had been unfairly dismissed after the operator implemented a policy in early 2021 requiring staff working within the care home to be vaccinated unless they had a medical exemption.

A number of the claimants also asserted that they had been indirectly or directly discriminated against on the grounds of protected philosophical or religious beliefs.

Barchester Healthcare’s legal team, led by Weightmans partner Sejal Raja, successfully defended all claims.

In a first-of-its-kind ruling, employment judge Maidment accepted Barchester’s reason for introducing the vaccine which was to reduce the risk of Covid infection in its homes and therefore to reduce death and serious illness among its residents, staff and visitors.

It was argued by the former

employees that the requirement to have the vaccine infringed on the claimant’s rights to privacy protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, this had to be weighed against Barchester’s aim of protecting the lives of its residents.

The employment judge found that while Barchester’s aim to protect the life of its residents did conflict with staffs’ qualified rights to hold personal beliefs against the Covid19 vaccination, the absolute nature of residents’ right to life justified its decision to terminate their employment.

Sejal Raja, partner at Weightmans, said: “This is a significant and welcome ruling, that will have direct implications for those employers in the care industry, who may face similar claims in the future.

“The tribunal recognised the principle, enshrined in law, that

people must be allowed to hold, and act, in line with their personal beliefs.

“But the ruling highlighted that the law also permits difficult but essential decisions to be taken where these rights interfere in order to protect others’ inviolable rights – specifically the right to life.

“This judgement will give care home management teams that acted responsibly, with due process and with the safety of their residents front of mind, confidence in their decisions.

“But it also underlines just how much consideration, care and caution must be taken in any employment decision.

“These are complex matters, where the rights of staff must be weighed equally against the rights of others.

“Where any business is unsure of their course of action, it’s essential that they seek professional legal advice.”

Sejal Raja