Caring Weekly January 18

The weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Group benefits from overseas sponsorship

A CARE group based in the South East of England is reaping the rewards of sponsoring overseas workers to help address the ongoing skills gap in the social care sector.

ACI Care, a group of care homes which specialise in residential, respite and dementia care, has been offering Certificates of Sponsorship to overseas workers to help combat the staffing crisis currently faced by the social care sector in the UK.

Recruiting from overseas gives ACI access to a wider pool of potential staff and talent, and allows the care group to decrease its dependency on temporary agency staff.

Following the recruitment of sponsored staff, ACI aims to decrease its use of agency staff by 70 per cent across the whole group – ensuring the care group’s long-term sustainability in offering care to people in Sussex, Kent and Northamptonshire.

Ravi Sodha, director of ACI Care, said: “While we prioritise hiring staff local to our care homes to help benefit the local community, the current staffing shortage means we also have to look to overseas sponsorship.

“This process allows for new experiences, approaches and cultures, to ensure consistent and high-quality care for our residents across all homes.

“Unlike some sponsorship

programmes, we don’t require our sponsored workers to sign contracts stating a minimum term to work with us.

“We believe that by creating the best working environment possible, the staff we sponsor will want to stay with ACI long-term without the need for contractual obligations.”

The pandemic highlighted the crucial role of health and social care workers and their importance in providing necessary services. However, many care home providers are facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining enough staff with the appropriate skills to meet the growing demands of residents.

Despite their efforts, providers are often unable to compete with other industries that offer higher pay and less demanding work environments, leading to a shortage of staff in the field, hence turning to other recruitment options.

To help tackle this ongoing issue, ACI has currently sponsored 20 staff members across its four homes.

The Certificate of Sponsorship is open to both overseas workers and those within the UK who require a visa, including those coming to the end of their studies on a student visa and those who have already been sponsored by another employer in the UK but are seeking a new role.

Operator celebrates its 107th birthday

PARTIES and activities have taken place in each of Royal Star & Garter’s three homes, as the charity celebrated its 107th birthday.

Residents at the homes in Solihull, Surbiton and High Wycombe enjoyed live music, dancing and cake as part of the celebrations.

It was established on 14 January 1916 to care for severely injured men returning from First World War battlegrounds, following concern expressed by Queen Mary.

She charged the British Red Cross Society with finding a ‘permanent haven’ for severely disabled young men returning from war.

Director of care Pauline Shaw said: “It was lovely to see the Homes filled with music and laughter as residents helped us celebrate our 107th birthday.

“Our staff take every opportunity to create magical moments for the residents and celebrating our anniversary is a great reason to have fun.”

In Solihull, singers Boogaloo Babes sang an array of classics from the 1930s to the 1960s, while residents danced and tucked into birthday cake.

In Surbiton, singer and musician Jason Allen also had residents dancing, while in High Wycombe, singer and pianist Liza Jaz provided the live entertainment.

World War II veteran Roger Roberts was ‘delighted’ to get back in the water for the first time since his days on board a Royal Navy cruiser. When the 97-year-old moved to Foley Grange care home in Kidderminster in January 2022, the staff were amazed to hear his story. Roger told the staff that it was dream to get back in the water, as he ‘had always been a strong swimmer’. Eager to help Roger tick swimming off his bucket-list, home manager Hannah Atkinson got in touch with Wyre Forest Leisure Centre, who were more than happy to invite him to the pool. When the day came for Roger to take his first steps into the water since the war, he couldn’t wait to get started.

Duo sleep rough to help charity

A PAIR of community-minded colleagues slept out in the garden of the Chichester care home where they work to raise funds to help homeless people.

Flo Dudley-Barritt and Heather Pearce, companionship team members at Colten Care’s Wellington Grange, braved the overnight cold in support of the home’s nominated charity of the year, Stonepillow.

Together, the pair spent two hours building a makeshift shelter out of pieces of cardboard they gathered from family, friends and fellow staff.

Residents watched from the warmth indoors as the construction came together and Flo and Heather did their best to bed down for the night.

Flo said: “Each year Stonepillow host a night in the grounds of Chichester Cathedral where you sleep rough in a cardboard box.

“It’s such a great way to raise money and we wanted to see how hard it would be for ourselves.

“We then thought it would be great if the residents at Wellington Grange could watch us build a shelter actually in the home’s garden so they could see the result with their own eyes, cheer us on as we got ready for the cold night ahead and make sure we didn’t sneak in for any home comforts.”

Flo and Heather built the corners, walls and roof in stages with lots of layers of cardboard to sleep on inside. They also fashioned a door and put up a string of fairy lights to make it a little more homely.

Flo added: “Once we had built our home for the night, one or two residents came for a moment to take it all in for themselves.

“We also had cheers from residents’ windows, lots of waves and people looking out from the dining room as they were eating their supper.

“Luckily there was no rain. We were quite sheltered in the garden and the only thing we really felt was the cold air.

“It was a rough night’s sleep, on the hard ground with only blankets and

sleeping bags to keep us warm.

“We also had a curious fox stop by briefly, nosy as to what was inside.”

Heather said: “We woke up several times in the night.

“One of the first things that came to mind is how we couldn’t wait to get back into our own beds with the warmth and comfort around us and to be with our own things.

“The ground was hard and cold and the gaps in the cardboard made a cold draft come through.

“Had it been colder, raining or snowing we can only imagine how much tougher it would have been.

“It made us realise that we are so fortunate for everything we have, and how lucky we are to have fresh clean clothes and a roof over our heads.”

The sleepout was the second initiative Wellington Grange has staged in aid of Stonepillow in recent weeks.

The first was a dog show dubbed ‘Welly G’s Woofs and Wags’ open to pets owned by residents’ families and friends and Wellington Grange team members.

Home rated outstanding for third successive time

STAFF and residents at Brandon Park Nursing Home are ecstatic to have received their third consecutive Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission.

With only five per cent of care homes receiving this highly prized rating, Brandon Park has yet again bucked the trend; not only seeing the home retain an Outstanding rating, but even seeing it improve further this time round.

Stow Healthcare director Ruth French said: “To say we are delighted is a complete understatement. Like all other care homes, we have endured a trying three years.

“Despite all of this, our team has remained focused on what we do best – caring. It was a robust inspection, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“The reaction of staff, residents, and relatives has just been lovely to see.”

Inspectors rated the home as outstanding overall and also outstanding in three of five categories reviewed.

Following the CQC’s two unannounced visits in October, the inspectors said in their report: “There was a strong and visible, personcentred culture at the service. We observed staff were highly motivated,

offering care and support that was exceptionally compassionate and kind.

“This positive culture was because staff had built trusting and positive relationships with people they cared for.”

Home manager Carol Rhind added: “Having joined Brandon Park in the summer, I have been delighted to see the passion and commitment shown by my team, across every role in the home.

“I am proud to lead this home and know we will continue to push for the very highest of standards, ensuring our residents live their lives to the full every day.”

Feedback about the management of the home was noted as continuing “to be outstanding with people at the heart of the service” and staff were complimentary too, describing themselves to be “motivated, proud to work at the service and passionate about the delivery of high-quality care”.

Governance of the service by the senior team at Bury St Edmundsbased Stow Healthcare was viewed to be a real strength of the home, with a strong framework of systems for monitoring and managing service quality being evident to inspectors.

Home ticks off residents’ bucket list wishes

SIGNATURE at Camberley has channelled its inner ‘genie’ and made the wishes of four residents a reality.

The home’s Bucket List initiative is designed to help residents embark on new experiences, or equally to revisit treasured chapters of their lives.

Customer liaison manager David Windeatt said: “It was fantastic to see our residents experiencing their bucket list wishes. One of the key principles we champion is allowing our residents to live life with purpose.

“Providing these opportunities, alongside our extensive activities’ programmes that run daily, makes a huge difference in every single one of resident’s lives – the holistic elements of care are so important.

“We are now looking forward to ticking off more wishes on our residents’ bucket lists.”

As part of this, Signature at Camberley residents Patrick Fell and Terry Wiles were able to take to the skies as they revisited their distinguished military careers.

Patrick, a 96-year-old former

Patrick took full control of the plane for the take-off and flew for much of their time in the air, with the full trust of the pilot who was in awe of the two gentlemen as they swiftly slipped back into their old way of life.

Joined on the day by friends and family members, it proved to be the perfect day for Patrick and Terry who cherished every moment of the wonderful experience.

Elsewhere, fellow residents at the care home, Roy Pankhurst, 91, and Brian Best, 81, both headed to St Mary’s Football Stadium to watch their favourite boyhood team Southampton take on Everton.

For Roy it was a special moment as he was joined by his son, Martin, who he reminisced with about days gone by at the stadium when Martin was just a young boy and had to stand on an old-fashioned soap box to see the pitch.

navigator in the RAF, and Terry, an 80-year-old Ex-Paratrooper in the military, flew in an aeroplane from nearby Blackbushe Airport, courtesy of charity Aerobility and the team at Signature at Camberley.

Heather Pearce and Flo Dudley-Barritt, with the shelter they built at Colten Care’s Wellington Grange care home in Chichester.

Resident marries his sweetheart of 42 years at home

FAMILY, residents, staff and guests gathered together at The Orders of St John Care Trust care home Grevill House to celebrate the wedding of Jim and Lynne.

Initiative to view care through residents’ eyes is reintroduced

A LUXURY Cheshire care home will be reintroducing its ‘resident of the day’ programme as it looks to build upon its person centred approach to care — with each resident encouraged to explore the system of care and provide honest feedback.

Priesty Fields Care Home in Congleton, has reintroduced the scheme, which selects residents throughout the month to spend a day learning about the care they receive –ensuring the care team can refine its approach to meet the needs of those in receipt of care.

Rishi Sodha, care director at Handsale, said: “We want to ensure our residents receive the highest quality of care and believe the best way to achieve this is through transparency.

“By involving the residents through our ‘resident of the day’ initiative, we’re able to establish what would make a real difference to them and their experience at Priesty Fields.

“This level of insight is invaluable and helps us ensure that the needs of each individual are always met.

“We have worked tirelessly to create an inclusive care culture, and I feel like this initiative embodies just that.

“We also value the opinions of

Mary Capaldi from Orchard Care Homes’ Ashlea Mews in South Shields celebrated her 100th birthday with a special delivery from King Charles III and a vintage themed party for her friends and staff. Mary spent her birthday reminiscing about her happy, full life and memories of her time as an ice cream seller in Whitley Bay – working for the family business, Whitley Ice Cream Company. One of six children, Mary evacuated to family in Italy in 1939 until the end of World War II. Staff at Ashlea Mews organised a party for Mary to celebrate her birthday where everyone enjoyed a cake and a performance from singer Christine Rosemand. The highlight of her birthday celebrations was receiving a very special card signed by King Charles III and Queen Consort, Camilla.

the residents’ families and their feedback helps further develop our understanding of their loved ones and also puts their mind at ease knowing they are receiving the highest standard of care.

“We look forward to seeing the effects of this initiative and hearing any new ideas that residents have.”

Residents can now make an appointment to review the care plan and offer any feedback or comments that they feel may enhance their overall experience – which ultimately creates a transparent environment of mutual understanding.

The process is ongoing, and reviews take place monthly in line with residents’ room numbers, whilst family members are also encouraged to get involved with care plan reviews.

The ‘resident of the day’ initiative will serve to establish a level of independence and control among the residents, who have a strong voice when it comes to shaping their care experience.

The day focuses on officially updating records with choices and preferences, likes and dislikes and staff allocating quality time to spend with each resident – helping to further develop meaningful connections.

Jim and Lynne Hawkins formalised their relationship after 42 years as partners at the Cheltenham care home which Jim moved into this summer.

The couple had a small ceremony with two registrars and witnesses, followed by a celebration party hosted by the home.

Home manager Su Heller said: “It has been an absolute privilege to support Lynne and Jim with the plans for their wedding day.

“Everyone was thrilled to see this declaration of their love and affection for each other.

“Even in the later stage in life, love and romance can thrive.”

The new Mr and Mrs Hawkins met when they lived in the same road in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Their first date took place in the local pub, and they went on to live in Fairview, Cheltenham, where they brought up their only son, James.

Jim, 81, moved into Grevill House as his care needs, due to living with dementia, increased.

Lynne, 64, has also suffered health issues and is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

Despite these challenges the couple were determined to get married, and employees at the care home launched a Just Giving page to help raise funds for the wedding.

The team was excited to host the wedding and went to every effort to make it a special occasion.

The wedding cake and refreshments were made by the catering team and other team members organised the decorations and drinks for the toast.

Early on in their relationship, Lynne proposed to Jim but had been refused.

This time Jim agreed to get married.

Alpacas visit veterans’ home

RESIDENTS at Royal Star & Garter in Surbiton welcomed some unusual guests to their care home – a pair of alpacas.

Hugo and Finley were stroked and fed by residents. The 15-month-old boys were greeted by excited staff and residents in the reception area, where they were fed carrots and made a fuss of.

The pair were then taken on a tour of the home, greeting veterans in their rooms and meeting residents in the dementia care area.

Suzie Elliott, one of the wellbeing coordinators at Surbiton, said: “We love welcoming animals to the home, and the residents love having them here.

“It puts them in such a happy mood, and you can see the boost it gives to their wellbeing. The residents couldn’t get enough of Hugo and Finley and they can’t wait to have them back –they brought a lot of happiness to the home.”

Last year residents at Royal Star & Garter in Surbiton got up close to winged wonders including an African spotted eagle owl and Harris hawk during a birds of prey presentation.

Pets as therapy (PAT) dogs also regularly visit, and relatives often bring their dogs to the home when seeing a loved one.

The alpacas were brought to the home by Sam and Emily from Mortimer Alpacas.

Lynne and Jim Hawkins

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Athena Care Homes has welcomed a new general home manager at Goodwins Hall Care Home in Kings Lynn. Jayne Wardell-White joins the business with more than 25 years’ experience in the care sector, and is embracing her new role at the home. “The team all want to make a difference, our teams want to make the residents happy and do whatever they can for them,” she said. “We really can make a difference to someone’s life when they are with us, make each day count rather than just going through the motions. “So often in care you are living to a schedule, but here we like to make each resident feel special and find out how they want to spend their time. We want Goodwins to be a home people come to because they want to, rather than need to.”

Maria Mallaband Care Group has appointed a new regional hospitality manager for the south to drive forward plans for an even warmer welcome and the best food and service for everyone living in their homes. Matt Knott brings with him an extensive knowledge of the hospitality sector; as a classically trained head chef he has worked in top class restaurants across the UK over the past decade and comes to the post from a previous role as head chef in a luxury care home. Based in Worcester, Matt will be working closely with hospitality teams in many of the homes to improve their offering and roll out new initiatives, such as Hug on a Plate. This initiative sees each home build a recipe bank of familiar or special dishes suggested by those living there.

New Care has appointed Farai Hanyane and Hannah Sparks as registered manager and deputy manager respectively at its recently opened Statham Manor care centre in Lymm, Cheshire. Prior to joining New Care, Farai worked for a large corporate company for more than 14 years, progressing from nurse to operations manager covering homes across England, Scotland and Wales, and thoroughly enjoying the challenges that came with the role.

Hannah started her career at a nursing home before moving to St Roccos Hospice in Warrington where she focussed on providing specialist palliative care, both holistic symptom management and endof-life care to patients and support to their loved ones. Both registered general nurses, the pair have extensive additional professional qualifications but agree that elderly care is most definitely a calling for both of them.

Hartford Care has appointed Gemma Melhuish to the role of people and culture director. This newly created position enables the operator to build on its positive company culture by strengthening employee relations and cultivating a team ethos that affirms its three core values of care, comfort and companionship, while promoting productivity and growth. Gemma began her career in the NHS on an HR graduate training programme, gaining experience across primary, secondary and mental health hospital trusts. Upon completion of the programme, she became Charted Institute of Personnel and Development qualified and completed a Masters degree in HR. After seven years as head of HR at West Middlesex University Trust, she transitioned to the charity sector as director of HR for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity, a position she held for six years. Gemma is also a trustee at GlassDoor homeless charity.

Specialist dementia care village Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme has appointed Isis Whitmore as heritage coordinator to lead a programme of events and activities providing opportunities for people of all ages to engage with local heritage at the Belong Heritage Gallery. Isis has a longstanding interest in history, particularly local heritage, going back to when she was a child, when she would often visit local museums and places of interest, including the Brampton Museum in Newcastle-underLyme. She holds a BA in history from the University of Greenwich; while studying, Isis undertook a placement involving archiving, restoration work and conducting tours of New Tavern Fort as a member of the Thames Defence Heritage, as well as volunteering at Milton Chantry for English Heritage.

Elizabeth Finn Homes, part of the anti-poverty charity Turn2us, has appointed Dr Olivia Curno as its chief executive, who will take up the position in the Spring. Having been a Board Trustee of Turn2us for six years, before stepping down to apply for this role, Olivia is ambitious for the future of Elizabeth Finn Homes and of its residents. She has a long history of involvement in the charity sector, currently as the chief executive of sight loss charity Vision Foundation, which prevents avoidable sight loss and fights for the inclusion and empowerment of blind and partially sighted people. Prior to this Olivia headed up fundraising and communications at children’s mental health charity Place2Be and autism research charity Autistica.