Caring UK Weekly March 29

The

weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Fears cuts are to fund NHS pay increase

SOCIAL care campaigners fear cuts are being made to their funding to help find the savings needed to pay NHS nurses better.

The Independent Care Group fears money for the settlement is coming from the £14bn extra earlier announced to help the NHS and social care in the coming two years and isn’t “new money”.

It has been reported that £500m earmarked to help train the social care workforce has been halved and £300m to boost supported housing scrapped from that £14bn fund.

ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “The NHS nurses deserve their improved pay award but that should come from new money, not from making cuts to an existing budget that was set up to pay for improved social care.

“This comes at a time when the sector is pleading for more funds not less, to try to tackle a crisis in which there are 165,000 staff vacancies, homes and homecare providers are closing and 1.6m people can’t get the care they need.”

The ICG also believes the NHS pay rise must be matched by a similar increase in pay to frontline social care staff who do much the same jobs.

Mike added: “If it isn’t, then the gap between NHS staff

and social care staff pay will grow even greater and it will become impossible to recruit into a sector that is already going through the worst staff shortages in its history.

“We can’t lose any more staff or the care of our residents and homecare clients will be further jeopardised.

“It is unlikely that social care staff will strike because of the make-up of the sector but nevertheless they surely deserve the same pay rise as those who did walk out.”

The ICG is calling on the Government to get more funding into social care so that commissioners, like local authorities, can pay care providers better and they can, in turn, pay their staff on a par with their NHS counterparts.

“We all clapped on our doorsteps for NHS and care workers for their bravery side by side during the pandemic – it isn’t fair that one is now treated differently when it comes to pay,” Mike added.

The ICG wants to see the Government set a National Minimum Wage for care staff on a par with NHS staff.

It also wants the Government to increase funding to local authorities and ring fence it to be spent on social care, which would help employers pay the set Minimum Wage.

Black Swan Care Group has committed to providing the Real Living Wage to all of its employees. From April 1 all staff will be paid at least the Real Living Wage of £10.90 per hour. The operator provides care and support to more than 550 people in residential care homes in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, employing more than 800 people. A spokesperson said: “We believe that our staff deserve to be rewarded with fair and reasonable pay, reflecting the skilled work that they do. We’re delighted to be accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and are fully committed to giving our staff a wage that meets everyday needs and sits above the statutory Government minimum wages.”

Group wins award for fourth time

BARCHESTER Healthcare is celebrating after fighting off stiff competition to land another internationally-recognised award for demonstrating high health and safety standards.

The operator has once again been named RoSPA Health and Safety Awards healthcare sector winner for working hard to ensure its staff, residents, patients and visitors are safe, and for demonstrating the best health and safety performance during 2022.

It is the fourth time in five years that Barchester has won this sector-wide award for its commitment to health and safety excellence.

Dr Pete Calveley CEO of Barchester Healthcare, said: “Our residents are at the heart of everything we do.

“There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our residents, patients and staff, all our teams work tirelessly to achieve the best hygiene and infection

control standards possible.

“I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of all the brilliant people who make up Barchester and who go above and beyond every single day to deliver the best possible care.”

Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice. The RoSPA Health and Safety Awards is the largest occupational health and safety awards programme in the UK. Now into its 67th year, the Awards have almost 2,000 entries every year, covering nearly 50 countries and a reach of more than seven million employees.

The programme recognises organisations’ commitment to continuous improvement in the prevention of accidents and ill health at work, looking at entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

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Residents answer their ‘starters for 10’ in University Challenge-style quiz

RESIDENTS across Signature Senior Lifestyle’s family of 38 care homes had their ‘fingers on buzzers’ as they took part in the provider’s take on the popular TV show University Challenge.

Based on the popular and longrunning BBC quiz show with Jeremy Paxman as the quizmaster, teams made up of four residents from each care home pitted their wits against each other in 19 head-to-head contests marking the first round of the competition.

Neil Copping, general manager at Signature at Chorleywood, said: “Signature Challenge is an initiative designed to stimulate all of our communities and unite them in some healthy competition.

“Some of our residents had already graduated by the time University Challenge was first broadcast in 1962, and the quiz format really resonated with them.

“It was nice a pleasure to see a healthy competitive spirit between the homes, and our team will be reading up ready for the next round.”

The first round saw all Signature Senior Lifestyle care homes tasked with answering 60 questions covering current affairs, film, history, world geography along with a picture special round.

The eight teams who recorded the highest overall scores from the 38 competing care homes now march

A recently expanded Peterborough care home has welcomed a new manager. Desiree Jooste has taken on the role of registered general manager at Ashlynn Grange to lead the team at an exciting time for the business. The Milton Lodge residential community has undergone a £1m after being closed for many years and was officially opened recently. With more than 30 years’ experience working in health and social care, Desiree brings vast experience having held home, regional and operational management roles. Ashlynn Grange is run by familyowned Athena Care Homes and made up of four communities, offering dementia, nursing and residential care with capacity for 153 residents.

on to the second-round match ups taking place in the near future.

Leading the first-round field was Signature at The Beeches.

The Essex care home top scored with 325 points and will now take on Signature at Bagshot.

A Surrey derby between Signature at Banstead and Signature at Reigate Grange will determine who has the local bragging rights between the

county’s care homes.

Separated by just five points in round one, Signature at Sonning will take on Signature at Cliveden Manor.

Signature at Chorleywood match up against Signature at Westbourne completes the round two line up. Each will hope to secure a place in the final, which will be made up of the two teams scoring the highest points from round two.

A resident at Andover’s Millway House recently celebrated her 99th birthday. Joined by her daughters, granddaughters and greatgranddaughters, Margaret Oldfield was treated to an indulging afternoon tea and was given flowers and cards from family and friends. Born in Belgium, Margaret met her husband Percy when he was serving as an English soldier in Germany. The couple moved to London in 1947, where Margaret worked as a supervisor in the toy department of a large Co-op store. Her family moved to Kent in the 1980s and then on to Basingstoke in 2001. Margaret moved into Millway House last May.

Tina Blake and Chris Critchley have been appointed registered manager and deputy manager respectively at New Care’s Bridgewater Manor in Worsley. Using their many combined years of experience, the duo will take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the care home, working together to deliver a high standard of personcentred care for residents. Tina is focussed on the smooth operation of the home. She is also responsible for all areas of compliance for CQC, the local authority and CCG. Supporting Tina is Chris, who is responsible for the management of the clinical team and the timely provision of care by ensuring effective supervision, assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. Chris is a registered nurse, whilst Tina was a registered nurse for 25 years, and both have worked in health and social care for many years.

The Macc Care Group has welcomed Deena Heaney as its new dementia lead. She joins the Midlands group with care, housing and management experience acquired over four decades within diverse care settings. Deena was awarded an MBE in the 2022 New Year’s honours list for her services to dementia care, and has previously been recognised for her efforts by winning several national care awards. Joining from another large luxury care provider where she spent seven years, Deena’s role at Macc Care includes developing, cascading and training a diverse range of interventions to help actively improve the lives of people living with dementia across the group’s 13 homes. She will also work closely with residents, staff, families and multi-agency services to develop a collaborative approach to person-centred care for each individual.

A family-run company has appointed a new finance director to lead them through a period of planned growth and beyond. Ben Wright joined East Anglia-based Athena Care Homes at the start of 2023 and has already launched a number of tender processes for key business expenses to lock in prices and protect the business from future rises. Since Ben’s appointment he has worked to improve management reporting and the flow of information through the business, while also setting budgets for the start of the new financial year. Ben brings 15 years’ experience within the health and social care sector, and has worked in both finance and operations roles.

Provider celebrates a decade of service at launch of new office

BLUEBIRD Care Wiltshire North celebrated a decade of providing care and support to the community at the unveiling of its new office in Bradford-on-Avon.

The event, which was attended by team members and local dignitaries including the Mayor of Bradfordon-Avon, Katie Vigar, marked the culmination of one successful chapter in its history and the beginning of the next.

The home care provider, which is rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission, was launched in 2013 by Dr Nigel and Lesley Gough, alongside Dr Nell Wyatt.

Nigel said: “When we started 10 years ago we had a vision to provide quality home care to supplement the medical care given in our area of Wiltshire.

“Within five years we had managed to grow Bluebird Care Wiltshire North into a recognised expert specialised home care provider in the community and have since expanded into other areas of the region.

“As we look to the future we are hoping to start a pilot with the local authority looking at improving our end-of-life care offering once we have received the national Gold Standard Accreditation, furthering the impact we make in the lives of those in our community.”

Eileen Jones celebrated her milestone 100th birthday with family and friends. To kick off the celebrations, Eileen enjoyed a family meal served by the team at Signature at Winchester. The care home then brought song to proceedings through an entertainer covering 50s, 60s and 70s classics, as well as a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” and additional requests from Eileen. After a dance and a singsong alongside the team members at the care home, Eileen settled down to open a bounty of gifts and card, including a much-anticipated card from King Charles III. Eileen concluded her day of festivities with an afternoon tea party alongside her fellow residents. The group then watched a movie of Eileen’s life and enjoyed a birthday cake freshly prepared by the catering team.

The trio, who had developed a wealth of experience during their careers in healthcare within the area, had identified a growing need in the community for a service offering care at home. Eager to fill this gap and play their part, Bluebird Care Wiltshire North was established soon after.

Since this point they have not looked back and continued to go from strength to strength.

This continued despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, under the watchful eye of registered care manager Donna James, who continued to ensure they delivered the care and support many needed.

As a result of the efforts of Donna and her middle management team, over the course of the last 10 years the business has grown exponentially and now has a team of more than 60 care professionals who help deliver care to more than 100 customers across Wiltshire.

It is also the reason why they have been able to launch a new office in Bradford-on-Avon as well as in Hathaway Medical Centre, Chippenham, as they look to support those seeking care within their own homes.

In addition to domiciliary care to all ages including teenagers, they also provide live-in care and complex care.

Residents take a rail journey back in time

THREE rail enthusiasts from a Dorset care home spent an afternoon reliving train journeys of days gone-by at a former station in the New Forest.

Anthony Coombes, Peter Clark and Edward Stone, who all live at Colten Care’s Canford Chase in Poole, enjoyed a visit to the Old Station Tea Rooms in Holmsley, Hampshire.

Colten companion Justin Corder said: “All of the gentlemen have had an interest in trains throughout their lives and were very keen to visit Holmsley.

“We had some pictures taken with the old signal post and a crossing sign in the sunshine and then we visited the tea rooms for refreshments and a lively discussion about the different railways they had visited in their life in Yorkshire and Devon to name a few.

“Before we left the gents also posed with some of the British Rail hats on show, which they greatly enjoyed.” Holmsley Station House was opened in 1874 and was a vital line for Dorset at the time.

In the late 1800s the eldest son of Queen Victoria, Prince Edward, frequently disembarked at Holmsley with his then mistress, Lillie Langtry, on the way to their love nest in Bournemouth.

In 1899, Robert Louis Stephenson,

who was a local resident, cast Holmsley Station as ‘Browndean’ the fictional station in his novel ‘The Wrong Box’.

During World War 2 the station played an instrumental part of the troop and freight deployment to the aerodrome at Holmsley South.

And in May 1944, with preparations for the D-Day landings underway, Eisenhower and senior government officials were frequently seen there. Holmsley was one of 2,200 casualties of the infamous ‘Beeching Cuts’ and closed for good in 1964. But it still retains some fascinating memorabilia of times-gone-by.

Group on track to open £12m care home in West Yorkshire

NEW Care’s latest facility in Yorkshire is on track to open in the near future.

The new care home in Guiseley is edging closer to completion, with practical completion confirmed for early May.

Work continues apace at the stateof-the-art £12m ‘new generation’ care facility, which will feature 74 bedrooms.

The external brickwork and roof tiling are complete meaning the building is now watertight, and the team of contractors and tradesmen on site are working hard on the interior to ensure the development remains on schedule.

When complete, the care home will cater for the aspiring needs of residents in Guiseley and the surrounding area, offering residential, dementia and 24-hour nursing care.

The new facility will be known as Guiseley Manor, and it will complement New Care’s existing care home in the region, Adel Manor, which is located a short distance away.

Chris McGoff, CEO of New Care, said: “Work is well underway at Guiseley Manor and the development is really taking shape.

“We’re delighted to be opening

a second care facility in Yorkshire, offering much needed high quality, person-centred care services.

“Expertly designed, Guiseley Manor promises to be a stunning care facility providing a true home-from-home setting for residents.”

Within Guiseley Manor there will be 74 well appointed, fully furnished private bedrooms, each boasting an en suite wet room.

There will also be several communal lounges and dining rooms, as well as a spa assisted bathroom, a hair salon with nail bar and landscaped gardens.

The care facility will also provide hotel-style services that ensure continued quality of life and enjoyment for residents, including fine dining, concierge services and a busy and varied programme of activities and events.

New Care has enlisted an interior designer to decorate and dress the space, working closely with the clinical and operational team.

Chris added: “It’s been almost a year since we opened Adel Manor and the care home has gone from strength to strength.

“We are confident Guiseley Manor will, once open in May, be a muchwelcomed addition to the region.”

Edward ‘Ted’ Stone tries on one of the old British Rail hats for size.

Durham-Ramside Hall

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Blackpool Village Hotel

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Barnsley – Holiday Inn 13th July

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Ashford International Hotel

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New recipe to support people with dementia

HICA Group has cooked up a new way to help support people suffering from dementia.

The not-for-profit Lincolnshire care provider is always considering innovative ideas to improve the lives of those living with dementia.

The latest project is the design and production of a unique book to encourage residents to take up baking and cooking activities across its care homes.

The book contains well known and much-loved recipes from residents, their families and members of staff –with each holding a special place in someone’s heart.

Mark Midgley, hospitality and wellbeing manager at HICA Group, said: “Baking is one the most enriching activities a person can do, but it’s especially valuable for those living with a cognitive condition such as dementia.

“One great benefit of baking is that it’s a fantastic reminiscence tool, evoking memories of when they used to bake at home and enjoy delicious family meal occasions.

“It brings our sensory system alive meaning the feeling of flour in hands or the smell of icing can trigger nostalgia for our residents helping them to recall happy, cheerful

memories.

“The book is truly wonderful and copies are being circulated across all of our homes so that residents can try a range of recipes to make different types of food.

“I want to express a huge thank you to all those who were involved and shared with us some of their best loved recipes – we can’t wait to sample some of the baking delights.”

HICA Group, which provides residential and dementia care for residents across Lincolnshire, published the book with the support of catering partner apetito, who paid for the cost of getting the book printed.

Around 100 copies have been distributed across all of HICA’s homes.

Carer’s invitation to minister over staff

A NORTH Yorkshire care provider has sent an invitation to a Government minister to come and see how they are already doing what she suggests to tackle chronic staff shortages.

Social Care Minister Helen Whately has urged operators to recruit staff from overseas to help fill the 165,000 staff vacancies in the sector.

But the owners of Saint Cecilia’s Care Group in North Yorkshire say that is exactly what they are already doing.

Saint Cecilia’s has employed 20 staff from India, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria since September and has plans to bring over a further seven.

Speaking to a conference last week, the Minister told care providers to “spread the word” and “give it a go” and hire overseas workers for care homes.

Saint Cecilia’s managing director Mike Padgham said: “It was good to see that we are on the same page as the Minister over employing overseas staff as that is exactly what we are already doing, to great effect.

“It was slow and challenging to get the licenses needed in the first place last year but since we overcame that bureaucracy it has been extremely worthwhile and we now have new overseas staff who have settled in well and, hopefully, more to come.

“We would love the minister to come and visit any of our homes in Scarborough, Pickering or Whitby to see for herself how it is working successfully.”

Six of those recruited so far have been nurses, which are in extremely

Home celebrates its new status

STAFF and management at a Northumberland care home are celebrating after the Care Quality Commission gave it a new, improved rating.

Birkinshaw Manor at Bedlington was saved from closure in late 2021 when it was taken over by Vital Care Services, which pledged to improve its ‘inadequate’ status and secure its future.

And that pledge has now been fulfilled as a recent CQC inspection rated the home ‘good’ across all domains.

Formerly Baedling Manor, the struggling home was in real danger of shutting down before it was saved, protecting jobs and securing a much-needed service for the local community.

The CQC report took into account comments from residents and their families who praised the new regime and the level of care that was now on offer.

The findings praised the home, saying that “the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, personcentred care.”

“This is an outstanding success,”

said Geetika Mutch, director of Vital Care Services.

“It’s down to the hard work of everyone involved that we have been able to turn the home around, in what is really a very short space of time.

“We are absolutely delighted with this outcome and I want to thank all the staff, residents and their families for their continued support.”

The 55 bed facility, which employs more than 50 staff was supported by an experienced team from Prestwick Care to help take Birkinshaw Manor to the next level.

Registered manager Nicola Undeldorf added: “We’ve faced some huge challenges but it has definitely all been worth it and all of the staff and the residents are absolutely thrilled.

“We have put in place all new policies and procedures with residents and their families very much a part of the decision making process.

“We kept the residents up to date with everything that was happening, which we know they really appreciated.

“It’s a fantastic place to work and we are delighted with this outcome.”

short supply for care providers in the UK.

Saint Cecilia’s overseas nursing recruitment has been helped by a ground-breaking partnership with York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The operator needed to move quickly once it had the necessary licences in place to enable it to recruit from overseas.

Drawing on the previous experience the Trust had in recruiting via these channels has saved the care group countless hours and streamlined the process enormously.

A pilot scheme – to enable social care providers to access health trust facilities for staff to study for and take their Objective Structured Clinical Examination – has been a lifeline for Saint Cecilia’s and for the nurses it has recruited.

“This has been partnership working at its best,” Mike added.

“The partnership with the NHS trust helped us get staff through the OCSE process and aided our overall journey to recruit nursing staff from overseas quickly and efficiently. We are indebted to the Trust for their support.”

Residents from Newcastle care homes Kenton Hall and Kenton Manor enjoyed a day out at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens thanks to the Scotswood Community Garden’s Gardening for Dementia project. They had the opportunity to explore the indoor tropical plants in the Winder Gardens, watch the Koi Carp and view the museum’s local history exhibitions, including coal mining and glass making. Steve Massey, operations manager at Solehawk, which operates Kenton Hall and Kenton Manor, said: “It is important that our residents live life to the full, and have the opportunity to get out and about and I’d like to thank Scotswood Community Garden for facilitating the visit and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens for being so welcoming.”

Mike Padgham