Caring UK Issue 25

Issue 25 16.09.20

The weekly online newsletter for the care sector

Plans for a social care celebration ORGANISERS of a successful celebration honouring those who care for older and vulnerable people in North Yorkshire are looking forward to a huge party in 2021 after being forced to cancel this year’s event.

They say the miracles social care workers have performed in the fight against coronavirus will spur them on to create an even better event next year.

Organiser Mike Padgham said: “It will be a fantastic event, truly honouring those amazing people in social care who, alongside their colleagues in the NHS, have performed miracles helping the country to fight Covid-19.”

The first Celebrate Social Care was held in October last year and was a great success, attracting around 500 people from social care to Scarborough Spa for an inspiring evening.

The organisers had hoped to repeat that success next month and had booked the Spa for another party. But the coronavirus pandemic has meant that the event has had to be called off.

Mike added: “We were absolutely gutted to have to cancel the second Celebrate Social Care event this autumn.

But it is out of our control

and now we are turning our attention to hosting a bigger and better Celebrate Social Care event in 2021.”

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to be the principal supporter of next October’s event, which will again be held at Scarborough Spa. They are calling on other organisations, businesses and individuals to step up and sponsor next year’s Celebrate Social Care.

“By the time we get to next Autumn, hopefully with coronavirus behind us, we shall be long overdue an enormous celebration and we plan to hold one,” Mike said.

“We look forward to lots of local people, individuals and organisations joining us to sponsor and support what I expect to be the event of the year next October.”

Last year’s Celebrate Social Care featured live music, a four-course celebration dinner and loads of surprise entertainment which included West End singers and all-round entertainer Steve Walls.

The evening also raised £2,000, which was split between four charities: Saint Catherine’s Hospice, Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Dementia Forward.

Care home unveils its new pods

Residents of Barnes Lodge in Tonbridge brightened up a cloudy morning with a spot of baking, making biscuits to have with their cup of tea. Donning their aprons, the residents enjoyed rolling out the dough and shaping their biscuits, before handing to staff to bake in the oven. Once their treats had baked, they enjoyed them for their afternoon snack. General manager Nicky Pett said: “Our residents love their regular baking activities, they give them the opportunity to be social and work together, while also enabling them to create something from start to finish, that they can really be proud of.”

Resident Doreen Frost is pictured making biscuits.

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

HOME Close nursing home in Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire has unveiled a visiting ‘pod’ to help residents connect with loved ones.

The purpose-built, temporary wooden cabin is located in the gardens of the home and provides a safe space for relatives to visit residents while Covid-19 continues to pose a risk across the country.

With all external visits halted since before lockdown began in March, Healthcare Homes Group, which operates Home Close, has been researching ways to make it safe for residents to see family.

The answer has been to create garden rooms, which are equipped with a Perspex screen to separate visitors from residents and an intercom to make communicating easy. The room is also equipped with heating when required, insulation and nurse call buttons.

Patricia Burton for Home Close said; “We’re so delighted with our lovely new visiting cabin.

“The garden room structure means loved ones can meet without increased worry. With visits needed to be kept outside of the main home, having this warm, welcoming and comforting space is making such a difference to residents and their families.

“Our residents love it and, set in our lovely wooded area, it has a feel of an authentic log cabin.

“Maintaining contact with friends and relatives is so important for the wellbeing of those we care for so we’re delighted to be able to offer this new facility.”

CALLING ALL SUPPLIERS …

Your online presence has never been more important so that you can keep in touch with your clients!

Do you need a website – and quick – to sell your services and products online?

We can help with a five-page website, with or without payment facilities AT NO UPFRONT COST! And it will be ready within ONE WEEK of us receiving the necessary information.

That’s the design and development of your own website within seven days!

Includes domain name (.com or .co.uk), hosting in the UK and email forwarding We can also help with SEO, PPC, flyers or promotional material and affordable advertising in print and online!

Contact us today: sally@scriptmedia.co.uk or 07939 324 781

2

CARINGWEEKLY

Former sweet shop owner ‘couldn’t be happier’ in her new care home A 90-YEAR-OLD woman believes moving into the newly launched 66-bed Sandbach care home Elworth Grange has given her a new lease of life.

In recent years Jean Smith has needed a little more help to do the things she enjoys and eventually decided to look into care options.

She said: ‘I decided to move into Elworth Grange on a temporary basis at first to see how I liked it.

“It turns out that I love everything about the home; the staff, activities and delicious food, so I have made the decision to become a permanent resident.

“I couldn’t be happier and I feel like I have my freedom back.”

Jean was born and raised in Crewe and is the eldest of six children. She attended local primary school West Street Infants, where she met her best friend Muriel on her first day and the pair remained close friends throughout their lives.

Following her school years Jean worked as a sales assistant at a local grocery shop, working her way up to management in just a few short years.

Jean believes she would have

Jean Smith happily stayed in her supermarket role if it had not been for close friend Mrs Stubbs, who encouraged her to follow her dream of running her own sweet shop.

Jean took the leap and opened ‘The Grotto’ sweet shop on Welles Street.

The store became a huge success for more than 40 years and remains one of Jean’s greatest accomplishments.

Jean moved to Elworth Grange on July 1 and has since celebrated her milestone 90th birthday.

Home manager Donna and her team ensured the day was special and pulled out all the stops including live entertainment from a local singer in the gardens, a buffet style afternoon tea and socially distanced outdoor visits with her family.

Jean added: “I had a wonderful birthday, it was a brilliant day and I was so pleased to see all of my family and receive such lovely cards, flowers and presents – everybody spoilt me.”

The team has created a tailor made activities schedule that incorporates all of Jean’s favourite hobbies and interests.

Alongside the garden visits where Jean can catch up with her loved ones in a safe manner, the team has arranged musical afternoons in the cinema room, pamper days including manicures and hairdressing in the onsite beauty parlour and even flower arranging in the botanical rooms.

Jean said: “I am really looking

forward to meeting people and creating new friendships as more residents move into Elworth Grange.

“I am hoping to see some familiar faces that know me from my time at the sweet shop too – that would be lovely.

“Despite moving into care at such an uncertain time, the staff and the procedures in place to keep me safe have been meticulous and I cannot fault them.

“If anybody else is looking into care, I would say try it out for yourself and follow your gut instincts. I know I couldn’t find a team better than Elworth and I feel very settled here.”

Activities co-ordinator Frankie Durrant added: “When Jean moved in, we sat together and chatted about all of her likes and dislikes and completed our ‘This is Me’ booklet, a unique initiative created by Ideal Carehomes to ensure the daily running of our home and activities programmes are personcentred and enjoyable for everyone.

“So far we have had a blast and I am looking forward to planning many more special events for our residents.”

Homecare provider campaigns for zero -rated VAT status Activities assistant Sophie Carter with Aaron Harris, Kirsty Harris and Alexandria Harris.

Donation made to sensory garden in Dad’s memory HE may no longer be with them, but there is a corner of a care home in Wellington, Somerset, that will remain forever in the thoughts of Neil Gale’s children, grandchildren and friends.

Neil, who had dementia and was a resident at Camelot Care’s Camelot Lodge, passed away in June aged 74.

Following his death, Neil’s eldest daughter Kirsty Harris donated herbs and plants for the garden in his memory.

Kirsty, along with grandchildren Aaron and Alexandria, joined activities assistant Sophie Carter to carry out the planting.

“Our family are very grateful for the care Dad received at Camelot Lodge and we wanted to give something back for the other residents to enjoy with the activities team,” she said.

“We chose a herb garden as it is accessible and can be used to evoke good memories. I hope the residents and team will enjoy the different scents and textures.

“It is such a comforting thought that

his memory will live on in the garden and that people who knew him might pause a moment and think of him.

“Dad was a keen gardener all his life and I have many fond memories of gardening with him at the weekends.

He enjoyed planting tomatoes with the activities team at Camelot Lodge and it’s nice to see them growing now.

“It’s apt that there is a scented rose already in the sensory area. Dad always picked a rose from the garden for mum. He loved their colour and fragrance.”

Camelot Lodge activities organiser Richard Dempslake added: “For people with dementia walking, gardening or just moving outside are incredibly beneficial to promoting and performing physical activity.

“Being around plants has a wonderful calming effect and for Neil it enabled him to step outside of himself for a moment and relax.”

Neil, who was born in Wilmington, Salisbury, lived in Devon for the past 35 years.

BLUEBIRD Care is working alongside other homecare providers to campaign for social care provision to be zero-rated for VAT. Services offered by care providers are currently exempt from VAT, but operators have called for the status of social care provision to change from exempt to zero-rated. This would allow them to reclaim VAT on expenses.

Bluebird Care has teamed up with other providers to write to Rishi Sunak with the proposed updated VAT status.

Wayne Smith, acting managing director and finance director at Bluebird Care, said: “We operate in a highly regulated sector, there are lots of costs of running a business like ours that are often not given full consideration.

“Margins were incredibly tight before the pandemic and now are even more so, which makes it incredibly difficult.”

Savings from the zero-rated VAT status would be invested back into the homecare businesses to support care teams and customers.

Wayne joined several other industry leaders on an hour-long webinar hosted by BBC journalist Ben Thompson.

The leaders included Martin Jones, chief executive of Home Instead Senior Care; Ken Deary, chief executive of Right At Home; Lisa Fyfe, finance director from Caremark; Alex Green, director of Radfield Home Care; Yvonne

Wayne Smith Tomlinson, chief executive at KarePlus and Michelle Fenwick, director of Heritage Healthcare.

Wayne added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the care sector like never before.

“Finally, those who work so hard to care for the most vulnerable in society are getting the recognition they deserve.

“With this updated VAT status, homecare providers will be able to give more back to their teams and customers.

“It would be a relatively small cost to the Government, but would completely transform the sector – helping businesses that are contributing so much to their local communities.”

CARINGWEEKLY

Otto Schiff’s secretary celebrates 100th birthday at care home named after him ALICE Frank, who worked as a secretary for Otto Schiff MBE in 1936, celebrated her 100th birthday at the care home named after her once employer.

He had come to the UK in 1896 from Germany and aided refugees for many years.

Otto persuaded the British Government to allow thousands more refugees than they had planned to escape Nazi Germany and settle in the UK, arranging for the community to sponsor them.

Born in 1920, Alice came to London at the age of 16, aided by the Jewish Refugee Committee set up by Otto, she spoke German, Italian and some French.

She worked as his secretary in her first year while also attending secretarial college.

Alice then found paid employment as a secretary living in a boarding house with other Jewish refugee girls.

Later in life, her connection with Otto continued once again when she volunteered as a secretary of the Otto Schiff Housing Association.

The centenarian enjoyed celebrating her birthday on a Zoom with her two sons, Peter and Tony’s families, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren from Canada and the UK as well as her younger brother from USA. Danuta Krysiak, Jewish Care social

Alice Frank celebrates turning 100 at Jewish Care’s Otto Schiff care home. care coordinator at the home, textile business. In 1934 along with added: “All the staff at the home feel some other German Jewish children, privileged to look after someone she was sent, aged 14, to school in who’s worked for Otto Schiff and Gardona, Northern Italy to be out of we were pleased to celebrate such a Nazi Germany. special occasion with Alice.

Her parents considered retiring “It was a lovely online celebration there as Max had lived in Milan for with her family on Zoom. Alice was several years before World War One. so pleased to see them all and was However, as the Mussolini delighted to see her grandchildren Government became antisemitic and young great-grandchildren on in the mid 1930’s, this no longer the screen. We wish Alice many appeared a safe option so Alice happy returns.” moved to London.

Alice grew up in the suburbs of She greatly enjoyed her relatively Elberfeld, Wuppertal, a centre for independent teenage years in both Jewish textiles and where her father, Italy and England.

Max Ferber owned a successful In 1939 her parents and the younger

of her two brothers came to London en-route to New York, where they had family. However, while waiting for their visas, war broke out, so the family stayed in London until after the war.

Alice moved back home with her family to a flat in West Hampstead until this was destroyed by a bomb and they moved to a flat in Finchley.

In 1942, Alice married Herman Frank a dentist who had come to London from Cologne in 1936.

After their civil wedding at Hampstead Town Hall and a Jewish wedding at Alyth Gardens Shul they moved to West Hampstead and then Maida Vale, to be near Herman’s dental practice where Alice ran the practice administration and the household.

They joined Belsize Square Synagogue, which had a large German community.

After Herman passed away in 1998 Alice continued as an active member of the Leo Baeck Lodge where she was for a time president of the women’s section, volunteered as a secretary of the Otto Schiff Housing Association and a volunteer archivist at the Wiener Library, using her language skills.

She later moved to Golders Green and moved to Jewish Care’s Otto Schiff home in 2019 due to her health deteriorating.

Log my Care gives out free smartphones in Go Digital challenge Log my Care, the award-winning provider of app-based care planning software, is offering two free smartphone worth £150 to all care services that complete a 4-week paper-to-digital challenge this September and October.

To receive the free smartphones, all care settings have to do is download Log my Care’s free app and try out using it to make digital notes instead of paper notes through the four-week Go Digital programme. Each week starts with a set of short tasks that providers can complete and tick off. Throughout the programme, carers will receive free support from a dedicated Customer Services Representative. Care teams will also be able to discuss the challenge and share ideas with other care providers through two open webinar forums held every week. At the end of the four weeks, care settings that have completed the challenge will be awarded two smartphones worth £150.

Additional costs due to COVID-19 have put a further financial strain on many care settings, but there are few options for providers looking to reduce their costs.

One of the most often-cited advantages of digital note recording in care is that staff can reduce the number of hours spent on admin, whilst improving quality.

Log my Care estimates that care settings can save between 30 minutes to an hour of admin time per staff member per shift by switching from paper to digital notes. Log my Care is also the only UK care management software available to all registered care services for free. Coronavirus support tools, including symptom tracking and track-and-trace tools are also free to use for all care settings. Two optional premium modules with enhanced features are available for a monthly subscription.

Sam Hussain, Founder of Log my Care, comments:

“The care sector is facing huge challenges, and spiralling costs due to COVID are putting even more pressure on care delivery. We know that switching from paper notes to online can save carers so much time. We have seen a small, family-run care home go from paper to making 80 digital logs per day after just five days. That same team are now creating three times as many logs digitally as they made previously on paper.

“With some technology upfront costs can be prohibitive. We never wanted that to be the case with Log my Care, which is why we have always offered our app free to all care services. The Go Digital challenge is about making electronic care planning even more accessible.”

Care teams have from today up until 8th October to get started with the Go Digital challenge.

Full details of the challenge are available at https://logmycare.co.uk/digital-challenge .

G

two et

E FRE

om en you c ts wh e s d han

plete the challenge

3

SPECIALIST SUPPORT ACROSS THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SECTOR Our experienced Relationship Managers have a wealth of banking knowledge, are highly skilled in structuring flexible finance packages for customers and share a strong passion for the sector.

To find out more contact: Derek Breingan, Head of Health & Social Care Sector derek.a.breingan@cybg.com 07818 454674

cbonline.co.uk/healthcare

l ybonline.co.uk/healthcare

Lending subject to status & eligibility, security may be required.

Clydesdale Bank PLC (which also trades as Yorkshire Bank, B and Virgin Money) is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Financial Services Register No. 121873. Credit facilities other than regulated mortgages and regulated credit agreements are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Clydesdale Bank PLC is registered in Scotland (No. SC001111). Registered Office: 30 St Vincent Place, Glasgow G1 2HL.

5

CARINGWEEKLY

Experience coordinator gets creative in care BISCUIT bake offs and outdoor entertainment have been all the rage at Belong Atherton during lockdown.

The care village’s newly appointed experience coordinator Jo Woods has rolled out a range of fun and engaging, socially-distanced activities to keep residents in high spirits while nationwide restrictions are still in place.

The fortnightly baking competitions have gone down a treat since the 31-year-old joined the team in June, with residents from across the village’s six households whipping up delights, from cheesecakes to shortbread biscuits, in a bid to be crowned Belong’s bake-off winner.

Outside the kitchen, local duo Music in Mind have been providing the outdoor entertainment, playing a repertoire of much-loved classics to a socially-distanced crowd of residents, who have enjoyed dancing along from their gardens and balconies.

As the lead for the village’s busy activity schedule, Jo’s background in event planning has proven vital to finding new and innovative ways to keep everyone feeling positive over the last few months, ranging from static biking competitions and virtual tours to arts and crafts sessions and pizza and Prosecco parties on households.

She will also be responsible for Belong Atherton’s experience day programme, which enables customers from the wider community to enjoy supported access to village facilities and actives on a day basis.

Relocating from Wilmslow to Leigh six years ago, Jo joined the CQC outstanding rated care village from her previous role as conference and event coordinator at Leigh Sport Village Stadium, where she organised and hosted large dinners and weddings.

She also has extensive experience in third sector fundraising, coordinating a number of charity events for

They were rocking and rolling at The Elms in Bembridge, Isle of Wight, for Hartford Care’s family day.

Jo Wood Sainsbury’s local stores.

She said: “I am thrilled to be leading activities provision at Belong Atherton, albeit under slightly different circumstances than normal.

“Lockdown has given me the opportunity to really understand what residents enjoy and the events programme has been designed to reflect this.

“Although this is my first role in the care sector, I feel that I’ve found my true calling in life and nothing makes me happier than when a customer says an activity has made their day.

“I have a number of exciting plans in mind for the village once restrictions have been lifted, involving both community groups and charities, and I look forward to putting those into action in due course.”

The village, which recently retained its prestigious Gold Investors in People accreditation, is currently Covid-19 clear following testing of all residents and staff, and it is continuing to monitor everyone closely.

The winning household of Jo’s biscuit bake off will represent Atherton in the McVitie’s baking competition.

Duo born 80 years apart mark birthdays in style PERCY Mann and his youngest granddaughter Clare Macleod marked their 103rd and 23rd birthdays in style.

Having lived through two world wars and 25 prime ministers, the father to 11, grandfather to 20 and great-grandfather to 16, retired policeman and recent TikTok sensation Percy was able to enjoy his special day with loved ones nearby as family members, including Clare, paid him a visit outside his window at Renaissance Care’s Whitecraigs care home.

Having celebrated more than 100 birthdays, Percy is more than happy to have shared his birthday weekend with Clare over the last 23 years.

Granddaughter Clare, who is currently a PHD student studying cardiovascular science at The University of Edinburgh, said: “It has always been a really special weekend every year, and I definitely value it more the older we get.”

The pair had their own separate celebrations with Clare enjoying some socially distanced drinks with a few friends in her back garden and Percy being treated to birthday cakes with staff, residents and family all singing him happy birthday from a distance.

Clare added: “My grandpa is still so full of life and young at heart, he inspires us all everyday to live life to the fullest and to always have fun. “ I have never thought there was 80 years between us, age is just a number to him.

“Having a birthday this year will have been strange for anyone, it has been the first time as a family we haven’t been able to mark both our birthdays and sit down to enjoy cake together.

“Although, it has still been lovely to be able to see each other and acknowledge that we can hopefully celebrate properly very soon.”

Homes make videos to thank relatives on family fun day HARTFORD Care turned its traditional family day into an opportunity for residents and staff in its 15 homes to say thank you to each other and their loved ones.

The current restrictions within care homes meant the relatives of residents and staff were unable to visit to participate in the themed events which were held in celebration of everyone’s families.

To ensure that all families were included, the care homes and members of the head office team made their own videos to thank their families and loved ones for all their love and support during the past few months when they have not been able to visit them.

These were then uploaded onto social media for families to see.

CEO Sean Gavin said: “While being unable to enjoy having all of our residents’ and teams’ families with us for the family day, we really wanted it to go ahead so had to be creative in how we enabled this to happen.

“Making these videos enabled our residents and teams to show their appreciation to their families for all the support they have given them during these past difficult months.

“We are so grateful to all our residents’ families who have worked with us in keeping in contact with their loved ones and us throughout the pandemic.

“Our grateful thanks also go to the families of our fabulous teams of staff, who have supported their family member whilst they continued to look after our residents during a very frightening period of time.”

At Belford House in Four Marks, Hampshire, some of the residents’ families made their own video messages for their loved ones which were posted on social media.

Hartford Care’s homes organised their own special events for residents and staff.

Tegfield House in Winchester held a Wild West-themed celebration while The Elms in Bembridge, Isle of Wight, had a rock ‘n roll party.

At Bethel House in Barton-on-Sea there was a multicultural barbecue for the residents and staff team where staff members dressed up in costumes from their countries of origin.

In Sidmouth, Devon, the residents and staff of Malden House organised a sand sculpture competition.

HC-One’s Dove Court care home manager Catherine Brierley celebrated her 40th birthday in true fashion when she received a surprise, socially distanced tea party outside in the garden.

Catherine, who is commonly known around the home as ‘Cat’, started working at Dove Court as a carer in Robin House. Then she moved to wellbeing coordinator, but it didn’t just end there. Cat decided to go to the University of Central Lancashire to gain her nursing degree and then returned to Dove Court as a nurse on night shifts to then become unit manager of Robin House. Cat later became clinical services manager and then for a short spell managed HC-One’s Old Gates care home before landing her ‘dream job’.

THE 2021

CARING

UK AWARDS Thursday 2nd December 2021,

THE ATHENA,LEICESTER We are extremely sad to bring you the news that we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to cancel this year’s Caring UK Awards.

All nominations for this year’s awards will be carried over to next year – and nominees will have the opportunity to update their nominations should they wish to ahead of the closing date.

Thank you for all your nominations and support and we look forward to celebrating your amazing feats in 2021. Thanks too to our sponsors for your continued loyalty and support.

N O M I N AT I O N S W I L L R E M A I N O P E N T H R O U G H O U T THE YEAR CLOSING ON AUGUST 31ST 2021

W W W. C A R I N G - U K . C O . U K S P O N S O R S H I P PA C K A G E S A R E AVA I L A B L E Call 01226 734605 or email tb@scriptmedia.co.uk for details For general enquiries call: 01226 734630 SPONSORED BY

I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H

CARING UK AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

CARINGWEEKLY

WWII veteran remembers Birmingham bombings on eve of 80th anniversary THE Blitz in Birmingham has been recalled by a WWII veteran living at Royal Star & Garter, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the raids.

Joan Sprigg was serving in the Air Raid Precautions during the bombings, before later joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

She recalled “night after night of relentless bombing” and the awful devastation caused to the city. The Blitz began in London on September 7, 1940.

Speaking from Royal Star & Garter in Solihull, where she now lives, the 96-year-old revealed she lied about her age to join the ARP. She said: “I was 15 going on 16 and I lived in Birmingham and I was anxious to play a part. And you had to be 16 to join the Air Raid Precautions.

So I’m afraid I told a little fib and upped my age by a couple of months and said I was 16.”

She did first aid and home nursing training and, after passing exams, was placed at a first aid post in Bordesley Green.

“It was situated in a school and was fitted out to deal with casualties,” she added.

“And we had plenty of those when the air raids started in 1940,” she recalled.

Joan Sprigg “It was night after night of relentless bombing. We received a terrible, terrible pasting.

“The air raids were terrifying. They used to start quite early and they would sometimes go on for 13 hours.

“They made a terrific noise. The floor beneath us shuddered. We held our breath. There was a giant roar and we were all quieted.

“The guns opened up, heavy guns which positively thundered. Bombs

screamed and exploded, the place shook.”

It was Joan’s responsibility to administer first aid and make comfortable the more serious patients while they waited for transport to hospital for further treatment.

She continued: “We had a lot of dead who we used to lay out in the playground. There were ever so many dead. It was horrendous, quite horrendous.”

Call for CQC inspectors to be tested for coronavirus IN AN open letter to Matt Hancock, Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, and Helen Whately Minister for Care, the National Care Forum is calling for a reversal of the decision to allow CQC inspectors into care homes without testing.

The not-for-profit membership organisation considers the decision to exclude CQC inspectors from weekly testing prior to visiting care settings to inspect them an extraordinary decision, which is not credible and which is very counterproductive.

Vic Rayner, executive director at the NCF, said: “We welcome scrutiny and oversight by the regulator and we all want the CQC to be able to regulate effectively.

“However, this must include routine regular testing for those inspectors tasked with conducting on-site inspection visits to care settings.”

Current DHSC policy to limit the spread of Covid and backed by the £600m Infection Control Fund instigated a whole home testing regime designed to test all staff within care homes, regardless of role.

By not testing CQC inspectors, who spend a number of hours on-site in care homes, moving between different groups of residents and staff, and who will be visiting potentially multiple homes and therefore have the potential to transmit the virus as part of their visits, both within care homes and

between care homes undermines the policy.

Care homes have worked hard to make sure they have stringent infection prevention and control measures, for those living in care homes, for staff and for visitors, and regular Covid testing of those routinely working in care homes is a key part of these measures to prevent inadvertent asymptomatic transmission of the virus.

Vic added: “Not providing regular testing for CQC inspectors is an extraordinary decision. For months central government and the regulator have been requiring care homes to essentially eradicate the movement of staff and the flow of people, including close family relatives, into homes.

“Having done this, care homes are now being asked to let inspectors into homes without knowing whether or not they are Covid positive. Understandably they are both shocked and hugely concerned.

“If Inspectors are coming in, they need to be tested – there should be no further debate about this.

“We recognise that testing capacity is always part of these decisions, but it seems likely that it will be a relatively small number of CQC staff who will be front facing and going into homes, so including them in routine regular testing will not have a significant impact on capacity.

“We call on government to reverse this decision and introduce weekly testing for inspectors immediately.”

But Joan managed to remain resilient and defiant: “Although I was very young somehow you coped, you got through it.

“The morning after an air raid, you would pick your way through the debris, but there was never a thought of giving in. Capitulation wasn’t a word we recognised.”

She said Birmingham was in the Nazi’s crosshairs because of the crucial role it played in the war effort: “Birmingham was certainly a target because the whole of the city was turned over to war work.

“All the factories were producing armaments of different kinds and of course the Spitfire was manufactured in Birmingham, so I suppose we were a legitimate target.

“But it was dreadful, the city took a pounding. But it never got a great deal of publicity.

“It was as if the authorities didn’t want the Germans to know what destruction they were inflicting on us.

So Birmingham used to be referred to as “a Midland town”, not even a city.”

Joan continued serving in the ARP until in 1942, aged 18, she joined the ATS. She served in the 2nd AntiAircraft Group Command at RAF Uxbridge, where she worked as a secretary. She left in 1945.

Bluebird Care Tamworth & Lichfield director Martin Lahert, presents a cheque for £250 to Caroline Bruno of MHA Lichfield.

Also pictured is Hannah Burgess, Bluebird Care marketing executive.

Provider awards grant to charitable scheme MHA Lichfield and District Live at Home, a charitable scheme that enables older people to maintain their independence and live fulfilled lives, has been awarded a community grant of £250 by Bluebird Care Tamworth & Lichfield.

The scheme was awarded the community grant in recognition for its work tackling isolation among the elderly by providing a lifeline and support network to those who wouldn’t otherwise have one.

Bluebird Care Tamworth & Lichfield, who is a provider of care for some of the scheme users, was inspired by the dedication of scheme manager Caroline Bruno and her team who run weekly activities for local older people and work hard to raise funds to support the group’s operational costs.

Martin Lahert, director at Bluebird Care Tamworth & Lichfield, said: “So many neighbourhoods thrive because of volunteers who work tirelessly to run community groups, host events and provide services that benefit

others.

“Much of this work involves supporting older people who, without regular coffee mornings, day-trips or lunch clubs, would be left isolated at home.

“MHA Lichfield and District Live at Home Scheme was just the type of initiative we were hoping to fund this year.

“The scheme makes a real difference to the lives of others, and ensures that older people have opportunities to socialise, leave their homes, and feel less isolated.

“We hope our grant of £250 will help Caroline and her team supporting the scheme in all the work it does.

“Thanks to their hard work, MHA has a positive and welcoming reputation in the Lichfield community.”

Bluebird Care opened its Tamworth & Lichfield office in June 2018, and has since supported other organisations across Lichfield, as well as providing a daily care service to local people.

7

A valuable addition to the Caring UK family ‌ keeping you informed alongside the care sector’s Number One magazine

Follow us @caringuk

Please send any stories and photos you may have to editor Dominic Musgrave at dm@scriptmedia.co.uk For advertising opportunities please call Bev Green on 01226 734288 or email bg@scriptmedia.co.uk or Tracy Stacey on 01226 734480 or email cuk3@scriptmedia.co.uk

For more information and to sign up

visit: www.caring-uk.co.uk

or email Megan Prince on circulation@scriptmedia.co.uk For all enquiries call 01226 734 779

- the Number One magazine for the care sector