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Care UK takes innovative approach to Dignity Action Day

Teams working in Care UK homes and health services have come up with creative and innovative ideas to show that dignity is vitally important and much more than just about privacy.

Here’s a selection of Care UK Dignity Action Day events:

At Station House care home in Crewe, there will be an exhibition of some of the residents’ New Beginnings books which individually chronicle the experiences of the people living at Station House. These books capture how each resident sees themselves, their world, their interests and favourite activities which in turns helps carers to provide an even better, more personalised service.
At Paisley Court care home in Liverpool, staff and residents have created a tree in the foyer of the home and made paper leaves. Residents, their relatives and visitors to the home will be asked to write what they think dignity means on the leaves and these will be attached to the tree as a reminder and discussion point for everyone associated with the home.
At Jubilee House in Surrey, the manager has enlisted to the help of friends and relatives of residents to run a training session for her team so that they can experience what undignified and bad care might feel like. Staff will be wheeled around the building and not told where they are going and be blindfolded and fed without being told what they are going to eat. The aim of the session in this highly rated home is to remind everyone of how important it is to create and maintain dignity and respect as well as helping develop greater empathy and understanding for those who may have experienced poor care before they came to live at Jubilee House.
At Riverside care home in Cheshire, the team has encouraged every resident to say what treat or wish they would like on Wednesday then the staff have worked hard to make these wishes come true. Visits to much-loved local places, playing special pieces of music and choosing favourite menus have already been put in place. The Hinton Grange home team in Cambridgeshire have done something similar but with the added twist of creating a wish tree where the residents’ wishes will be displayed once they have been granted.
Patients attending two of Care UK’s health services will be offered a relaxing hand or head massage.

Other homes such as Mill Lodge in Yorkshire will be signing up a group of new dignity champions and residents at Whitby Dene in Middlesex have chosen to put cake making and at the centre of their dignity day celebrations.

Allison Kennie, Manager at Paisley Court home said: “At Care UK, we always strive to ensure that our residents’ wishes are fulfilled, that they lead the life they choose and that they have the privacy and care they want. So for Dignity Action Week we thought it would be good for all of us to take a step back and look at what other people see as being the important elements of dignity so that we can improve our care even more.”

Paddington nursing home achieves gold standard for end of life care

The award, approved by the NHS, Department of Health, Age UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, is designed to acknowledge the highest levels of end of life care and encourages choice and dignity for the patient or resident, as well as sensitive and effective support for relatives.

The GSF is a three-stage quality assurance programme which includes training for all staff in the home and stringent monitoring, documentation and evaluation to ensure standards are kept at the very highest level. The homes are then inspected to ensure that all the techniques are fully in use and that staff are consistently following the guidelines.

Jemma Craig-Dressike, who manages the 110-bed home in Cirencester Street, said: “The end of a person’s life is such an important time for them and their relatives. So much of the anxiety can be removed by planning and building relationships with the people involved.

“We work very closely with doctors and palliative care nurses and we have always worked hard to make this time as painless and peaceful as possible. Now we have a framework that means we can improve and learn at each stage and use the feedback we get from colleagues, residents and family members to offer an even better service.”

Choice is key to the programme and the team have made it increasingly possible for more residents to stay in the home until the end rather than moving to hospital.

Jemma and her team have created an environment where residents have the choice of staying in the home they love, with the people they love, rather than moving to an unknown hospital ward with unfamiliar staff. The home also has a multi-denominational room for prayer that residents and their families find comforting and a small suite where residents’ family members can stay over.

Jemma said: “Choice and dignity is very important when you care for people. This is our residents’ home and, if they choose to die here rather than in a hospital, we want not only to be able to respect their wishes but to accommodate their loved ones as well.

“This is a sensitive time and it is so much better to be surrounded by the people you love, as well as having access to first class medical care delivered by people you know.

“This is our residents’ home and many opt to stay here at the end. They know the surroundings and they are comfortable. Some people are less anxious if they talk about what they are going through, and others do not want to talk. My team are very good at judging people’s differing needs and working with them.”

Maidenhead care home is watching the birdie as part of the Great Garden Birdwatch

Activities co-ordinator Lisa Reid said: “Many of our residents have always enjoyed watching the birds but we noticed towards the end of last year that, as our gardens develop, we are seeing a greater diversity of bird life and more wildlife in general.

“Now our residents can be seen with their bird identification guides in the gardens, whilst others have joined in from the home’s terraced balconies, which not only have views of the grounds, but also have their own bird tables, plants and seated areas.

“Our residents and volunteers have done an expert job in developing the grounds and the increase in wildlife activity has come as an unexpected bonus. The residents are feeding the birds and we are using the notes and drawings they have made to inspire our arts and craft sessions.”

The team are also using the birdwatching experiences in their reminiscence sessions too. Lisa said: “We have unlocked lots of memories from people’s earlier lives, with people remembering feeding pigeons and other birds in their local park.”

During the Great Garden Birdwatch Weekend, residents will document the number and variety of birds they can see in the Courthouse Road home’s gardens and report back to the RSPB, which is monitoring bird populations across the country.

Clara Court is a 76-bed residential care home that provides expert care for older people, many of whom have dementia and it recently received an award for Excellence in Dementia Care.

Picture credit: Ray Kennedy, RSPB Images

Work begins on pioneering new nursing home

As well as expert care, the home on Redford Road, Edinburgh, will bring around 80 new jobs to the area, and local residents will also benefit from a woodland area near the development which Care UK has helped to support.

The home has been designed by Richard Pollock, of Edinburgh-based practice Burnett Pollock Associates, who is also the Dementia Services Development Centre's Director of Architecture at the University of Stirling. Richard is an international expert in creating buildings that help people with dementia to lead calm, happy and fulfilled lives.

He has worked with his wife Annie, a landscape architect who creates gardens designed for people with dementia, to create a home and grounds that are beautiful, functional and homely.

People with dementia can find large spaces and noise intimidating, so the design of both the home and grounds reflects a domestic setting. The 90 rooms are separated into nine self-contained ‘flats’, each with a kitchen and dining room rather than one large communal canteen.

Recent research has show that a calm and homely environment encourages residents to eat, whereas large noisier environments can be distracting, and even distressing, to someone with dementia.

The grounds too are kept intimate by the use of trellises, sheds and gazebos to break up the space. Washing lines have also been incorporated into the designs to make the grounds feel like home.

People with dementia often find walking comforting and calming, so the gardens have interesting walkways and the home’s exterior has terraces which add to the sense of openness and freedom. These encourage residents to walk in the open air, exposing them to sunshine which produces vitamin D, crucial to maintaining bone health in older people.

The team has designed the home to provide a wide range of facilities in an accessible way, incorporating residents’ interests and memories while building confidence and maintaining independence.

The home will include:

Fireplaces in lounges (so that they more closely reflect a family home)
‘Retro’ fittings such as old-style telephones or ornaments from the 1940s to 1960s (residents often recognise these items from their former homes)
Smaller dining rooms, separate from the lounge areas (so that residents have a sense that it is time for a meal)
Large windows (flooding the rooms with light) and
Clear signage (to help residents to move around with confidence)

As well as retro features, the home will include modern facilities such as a spa, cinema and hairdressers as well as space for crafts, activities and fitness programmes.

Richard said: "As an architect, it is a delight to be working with a client that is totally committed to providing a building that represents best practice in design for dementia care".

"It cannot be overestimated just how important a well-designed environment is to the health and wellbeing of people with dementia"

The home is close to transport networks and shops. Care UK hopes that the home will become a focus for the community; local people and their relatives with dementia can use the grounds and facilities to enjoy stress-free outings with their families, while the home’s residents can visit local amenities.

Colin Reynell Care UK’s New Homes Director, said: “Our dementia specialists have carried out a great deal of research into helping older people maintain their independence within our homes. We have found that by making homes as ‘homely’ as possible, providing lots of natural light and letting residents choose the lifestyles and activities they want, we can improve levels of well-being by up to 40 per cent. This has led to residents enjoying greater levels of mobility, increased socialising with other residents and developing and pursuing their own interests and hobbies.”

“Working with Richard and his team has greatly added to our understanding and I am convinced this home will offer the very best in dementia care to residents.”

Care UK operates 85 residential homes in England and Scotland. It was awarded residential care provider of the year in the recent Health Investor Awards, at which judges praised “its excellent track record in providing good quality, innovative care.”

Our first Head of Dementia Care

Since joining the company in 2008 as a service development manager, Maizie has contributed to the development of Care UK’s dementia strategy by creating an experiential training programme aimed at all colleagues working with Care UK’s residential care division.

During the training, staff are given direct experience of the dramatic effect that dementia and frailty can have on the senses; special glasses blur their vision, headphones deliver white noise, and gloves restrict the movement of fingers. Trainees find themselves being fed food that they cannot see, drinking tea from plastic training beakers and being asked several questions in quick succession without enough time to think of replies.

The training was piloted in Care UK services across Surrey with excellent results. Wellbeing, (based on mood, engagement, levels of interaction with other residents and staff, mobility and sleeping patterns), was measured before and after the trial and was found to have increased by 42 per cent during the trials.

In her new role, Maizie will be responsible for the continued development internally of Care UK’s approach to the care and support of people with dementia in its 85 homes across the whole country. Maizie will also be representing Care UK externally as the company seeks to maintain dementia care at the top of the Government’s agenda in terms of funding, care quality and innovation.

Richard Pearman, Care UK’s Business Development Director, said: “Care UK is deeply committed to developing excellent services that support people with dementia.”

“We are now appointing specialist trainers who will work with Maizie to help roll-out the highly effective experiential training. I look forward to the continued development of our dementia care services and wish Maizie well in her new role.”

Maizie is a fully qualified mental health nurse and has managed residential homes for older people in both the public and private sector. She is also a trained drama therapist and has a life-long interest in finding ways of communicating with people in a residential setting who may find it hard to express what they are feeling.

Maizie said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be offered this role. I really feel it demonstrates that Care UK is determined to develop even better care for people living with dementia in our homes.”

Care UK will continue to run the North East London Treatment Centre on behalf of the NHS

The decision came after a formal procurement process by NHS outer north east London using Department of Health guidelines.

Care UK has been providing the care at NELTC for the past five years and the new contract will run for at least another three years. This agreement will guarantee that patients will continue to receive high quality care for a range of services including general surgery, orthopaedics, oral surgery, ophthalmology, ear, nose and throat and gastroenterology.

Care UK’s Paul Attwal, General Manager at NELTC said: “We are delighted that local NHS commissioners have selected Care UK out of a strong field of bidders to continue operating the NHS North East London Treatment Centre. It gives us the opportunity to build on the work we have undertaken over the past five years which has resulted in excellent clinical outcomes, high scores for patient satisfaction and short waiting times for patients. We look forward to working with NHS outer north east London to further develop the Centre to meet the needs of local people.”

Health advice for the festive break

Preparation is the key – from present buying to shopping - and the same goes for keeping everyone healthy and safe over the holidays. Here are some things to think about:

Make sure your family’s prescriptions and medicines are up to date. Do you have enough to cover the full Christmas and New Year period?
Put together a winter first aid kit, to make sure you’ve got all eventualities covered. As well as basic first aid items such as plasters, pain killers and antiseptic cream, make sure you have a stock of cold and cough relief, as well as indigestion tablets
Check that elderly relatives and neighbours are also prepared for the holiday period and can keep themselves warm and healthy
Make sure you have a list of important health care numbers, including your local GP practice and their opening hours over Christmas and what local arrangements are in place for if you have an urgent health issue over the bank holidays or evenings
If you’re staying with friends or family and won’t be close to your GP, make sure you know where to go for urgent health care advice.

Here are some options:
- NHS Direct: Providing trusted advice for all health issues via phone on 0845 4647 or online www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
- Walk in centres: An NHS walk in centre will enable you to see a doctor and receive treatment even if you aren’t registered locally. NHS Direct will be able to tell you if there is a local centre near where you are staying
- Urgent Care Centres: Some areas have urgent care centres which act as the first point of call for the most urgent health care issues which can’t wait until a GP surgery re-opens but aren’t serious enough for a visit to A & E. Doctors will assess you and either provide treatment or direct you to the most appropriate health care service

Care Home colleagues pick up awards for great service

The awards are designed to recognise excellence, celebrate success and share best practice with colleagues across the company. This year, the judges received a record number of nominations - a true reflection of the dedication, expertise and innovation of people working in Care UK’s 85 homes and day centres.

Managing Director Toby Siddall said: “This really was an exceptional year. Across the company, we have dedicated people who give their best, day after day, to ensure residents and service users enjoy genuinely person-centred care that helps them maintain their independence and interests.”

Award winners included:

Fulfilling Lives - Elaine Carruthers, manager of the Orchard Centre, Epsom. Judges praised the 24/7 day centre for people over 50 with dementia, as having the atmosphere of a club. Elaine said: “I was delighted to receive the award on behalf of my team. They always work to keep our services users independent and active, they work to build the trust and confidence of the relatives and share with them their knowledge of making life better for people with dementia.”

Innovation of the Year – Denise Findley, the Willows, Middlesbrough. Judges praised the project which keeps residents active and fulfilled through swimming at the local pool. Denise said: “The benefits to residents have been wonderful and include increased mobility, reduced agitation and improved sleep. To see the freedom and sheer relaxation on the faces of our residents when they swim is delightful.”

Outstanding Community Involvement - Diana Wiltshire, Mitchell House, Poole. Judges praised Diana and her team’s commitment to enriching their residents’ lives by making the home the hub of the community. Accepting the Outstanding Community Involvement Award, Diana said: “We are all delighted with the award and we would like to dedicate it to all of the wonderful individuals, groups and companies who have helped us to make every day a special day for our residents.”

Nurse of the Year Award - Daisy Mathew, Manor Lodge, and Mike Parris, Little Holland Hall. Judges found it impossible to separate these two exceptional and talented nurses, both of whom have been praised by their managers, residents’ relatives and local health practitioners for their caring and highly professional delivery of end-of-life care.

Manager of the Year Award - Bernard Mawoyo, Manor Lodge. Judges praised Bernard’s commitment to genuinely person-centred care and his work it include relatives in the life of the home.

Excellence in Dementia Care Award – Clara Court. Judges were impressed by the Clara Court team’s work keeping up residents’ life skills and independence by engaging them in day-to-day activities and hobbies such as growing vegetables, which has led to increased mobility and a reduction in the need for medication.

Outstanding Quality Care Award – Ellesmere House. Judges praised the consistently high standards of care and documentation at the home that recently received ‘Excellent’ reports from the CQC and Kensington and Chelsea Borough Dignity Champion.

Inspiring Activity Based Care – Hollins Park. Judges were impressed that, at Hollins Park, everyone, including the maintenance, catering and administrative staff as well care staff, gets involved in creating stimulating and life-enhancing activities for residents at the home.

Outstanding Contribution – Carys Done, Pinetum. Judges were impressed with Carys’ dedication to the home’s residents, their relatives and her colleagues. Home Manager Tracy Simpson said: “I have seen her sit with relatives, comforting them and giving them excellent advice, for half an hour at a time, even though she is extraordinarily busy. Many of the complimentary letters we receive point out the bond Carys formed with residents and their families.”

Environment of the Year – Laurel Dene care home. Richard Pearman, Care UK’s Business Development Director, said: “Visiting Laurel Dene is always a pleasure. It is managed with the care and attention of a prized personal possession and one cannot help but feel that it is a home that is well-loved and cared for.”

Carer of the Year – Vera Pryce, Elizabeth Lodge. Judges praised Vera’s compassion and commitment to residents and their relatives, visiting them even when an illness meant that they had to go into hospital.

Sales and Marketing Award – Lennox House. Judges praised the strong relationship Florence Clarke and her team has built up with their public sector partners, providing a service people in Islington could be proud of.

Care Supporter of the Year – Mircea Pasca, Elmstead House. Mircea is the home’s maintenance man and judges praised his commitment to finding ways to enhance the residents’ happiness through creating a sensory room, gazebo and outside spaces as well as creating backdrops for the home’s events and themed evenings.

Outstanding Customer Service Award – Elizabeth Lodge. The team showed very high levels of customer care, providing lots of opportunities and methods of feedback for residents and relatives. Manager Peter Slaney had also devised a series of regular afternoon and evening surgeries, similar to those run by MPs, held by him and the clinical lead nurse, to answer more complex questions in a private and relaxed atmosphere.

Outstanding Customer Service Support – Aston Hunter. Aston’s introduction of monthly telephone meetings to discuss accounts and his calm and methodical manner has won him great respect across the business.

Care UK calls for hospitals to seek more appropriate care for patients with dementia

Toby Siddall, Managing Director, said: “For someone living with dementia, a busy hospital ward can be a confusing and frightening experience. The NHS and local authorities should do everything in their power to ensure that only patients with acute needs are admitted to and retained in our hospitals.

For frail, elderly people living with dementia, and suffering from less acute conditions, it makes far more sense for them to be cared for in their own homes or in a residential or nursing home where the staff have expertise in dementia care. Not only can homes provide a more comforting environment and access to appropriately trained nurses and carers, they can do so at a fraction of the cost to the taxpayer compared to a hospital bed, and also free up hospital capacity.”

Commenting on the fact that two thirds of hospital staff are not trained in dementia care, Toby Siddall added: “Our hospitals are full of highly trained people; but dementia is a very specialist area of care so it is not that surprising. There are more than 750,000 people with dementia in the UK – a figure that is expected to double in the next 30 years - so it’s good to see that the Royal College of Psychiatrists is raising the issues.

However, rather than place the entire burden on our hospitals at a time when budgets are under such pressure, we need to think more about where we should be caring for people living with dementia who have other medical conditions.”

Care UK’s Greenview Intermediate Care Unit at Woodlands Hall nursing home featured as a positive example in the Department of Health document called Living well with dementia: A National Dementia Strategy Good Practice Compendium. The case study and findings can be found on page 35.

Brewery site to have new lease of life as luxury residential care home for Hailsham

James Gant, Care UK’s Construction Project Engineer, said: “The home will combine the very best of old and new. The 1887 brewery building will be incorporated into the home entrance and there will be pitched roofs in keeping with the area.

“But the home itself will offer the very best care home design, including a village green, courtyard garden and herbal, sensory and butterfly gardens as well as patios for all ground floor rooms.”

The Hailsham home will also feature many facilities for residents, including a hairdresser’s, a library, a café and a cinema that they will be able to visit and where they can invite friends and relatives to join them.

Care UK has an excellent track record in designing care homes that enhance residents’ lives. Recently, its newly-opened Heather View home, in Crowborough, won a National Dementia Care Award and was praised by judges for its strong community feel and for its interactive design that encourages residents and their friends and families to socialise in a relaxed and stress-free environment.

Care UK runs 85 care homes and recently won best residential care provider in this year’s HealthInvestor Awards, where judges praised “its excellent track record in providing good quality, innovative care.”

Care UK is forging ahead with its major new building programme which will see more than 30 new purpose-built care homes opening over the next five years. The homes will largely specialise in providing high quality personalised care for older people with dementia.

Care UK comments on proposals to get residents and relatives to help rate social care

Toby Siddall from Care UK said: “There is an information vacuum that hinders people’s ability to exercise choice, in particular since the end of the CQC star ratings. We have already started talking with other providers about how the sector might take a lead to improve information. Now it looks like the Government is thinking along the same lines.”

Mr Siddall continued: “I cannot think of anyone better placed to inform others facing decisions about moving into residential care or choosing a social care provider than existing users and their families and loved ones; so this has to be a step in the right direction. I look forward to learning more about the detail. The key challenge will be to ensure any guide is a comprehensive and balanced source of information.”

Care UK is a strong advocate of choice in accessing public services. Toby Siddall added: “We support any initiative that improves the ability of people and their loved ones to exercise choice and gives them the full range of options and information they need to make that choice”.

The company also hopes that the new proposals will give people using social care services the opportunity to recognise tens of thousands of people working tirelessly up and down the country to deliver great quality care. Toby Siddall concluded: “We need to do more to recognise their commitment and make sure we can continue to attract more carers into a rewarding vocation”.

Care UK is a leading provider of health and social care. It runs 85 residential homes and provides care at home for over 17,000 people. The company is committed to delivering a quality service and, under the old CQC ratings, 95% of the homes that it ran at the time were rated as good or excellent.

Survey shows mums-to-be wait longer to share news

Three months, or following the twelve week scan, has traditionally been the point when expectant mothers celebrate their pregnancy, but a recent survey, commissioned by medical ultrasound service Baby Premier, suggests that expectant mothers are becoming more cautious of sharing their news earlier.

Pregnant women are more aware that there are still risks later in pregnancy, and with the average age of mothers rising, women are also more knowledgeable of the potential health risks associated with having children later in life.

Patricia Warwick, General Manager at Baby Premier, said, "Pregnant women today are very savvy about health in pregnancy and are interested in carefully monitoring the development of their baby.

"Many of our patients at Baby Premier choose to wait to share their news until a little later in their pregnancy when they have had further scans and feel more reassured everything is going well during their pregnancy."

The survey of more than 400 women also found that only 16% of women would celebrate their pregnancy in their first two months.

Baby Premier is part of Care UK. For further information on Baby Premier please visit www.babypremier.co.uk

Dr Foster Hospital Guide names independent provider as the best for hip replacement operations

Dr Foster Hospital Guide experts analysed the outcomes of thousands of patients who had undergone hip replacement operations in a range of hospitals across the country. They looked at length of time patients had to stay in hospital, how likely they were to need a second operation and how many people required readmitting to hospital, and concluded that the four hospitals run by Care UK performed better than any other NHS or independent sector provider.

Care UK also featured in a top ten of best performing hospitals for knee replacement operations in the new Hospital Guide published today by Dr Foster.

Care UK runs seven hospitals, also known as treatment centres, on behalf of the NHS and only treats NHS patients. Four of these carry out hip and knee replacements:
• Southampton NHS treatment centre
• Barlborough NHS treatment centre (near Chesterfield)
• Sussex Orthopaedic treatment centre (in Haywards Heath)
• North East London treatment centre (in Ilford)

The news follows hot on the heels of comprehensive research by the Royal College of Surgeons and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which also examined the outcomes of elective surgery for four common conditions – hip replacement, knee replacement, varicose veins and hernia repairs - in hospitals run by independent sector organisations such as Care UK. That research also demonstrated high quality service levels including patients experiencing fewer complications and a much smaller chance of needing a follow-up operation.

Dr Mark Hunt, Managing Director of health care at Care UK is not surprised at today’s high rankings in the Hospital Guide. He said: “We know from patient satisfaction surveys that people treated at Care UK hospitals rate their stay very highly and we know that our success rates are good but we’ve never been able to measure those outcomes from independently verified data - until today. These high rankings are a tribute to the dedication and hard work of my colleagues in all of our treatment centres.”

Dr Hunt went on to say: “As well as these excellent outcomes, treatment centres like ours have also helped the NHS to bring down the waiting times for operations to relieve painful conditions so that thousands of people can get their lives back to normal. Our patients are also reassured that we have never had a case of hospital-acquired MRSA in any of the Care UK treatment centres.”

Patient Pauline Coupland who had a hip replacement operation at Southampton NHS Treatment Centre said: “I was treated like a VIP right from the moment I arrived for my first appointment. I hadn’t heard about the Treatment Centre before but I was delighted I made the choice. Everyone was so friendly and helpful - and very professional too.”

You can read more about Care UK here

The new report from Dr Foster can be found at http://drfosterintelligence.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Hospital_Guide_2011.pdf

Treatment centres praised for patient outcomes

Comprehensive research by the Royal College of Surgeons and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine examined the outcomes of elective surgery for four common conditions – hip replacement, knee replacement, varicose veins and hernia repairs in independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs). The research demonstrates high quality service levels at ISTCs including patients experiencing fewer complications and a much smaller chance of needing a follow-up operation.

Dr Mark Hunt, managing director of health care at Care UK, said: “The fact that a report from the Royal College of Surgeons concludes that independent sector treatment centres deliver outcomes as good as, or even better than, their local hospital trust, will be very reassuring for patients who have yet to experience planned surgery at an ISTC.”

Dr Hunt continued: “Patients have the right to choose where they receive their treatment and the other benefit that ISTCs have delivered for people in this country is to bring down waiting lists for planned surgery. Not so long ago, it wasn’t unusual to wait almost two years for a hip or knee operation. Now patients are often waiting only a few weeks, helping the local health economy to meet Government targets.”

Read more about Care UK's NHS Treatment Centres here

Care UK comments on training and regulation of healthcare assistants in care homes

Toby Siddall, Managing Director of Residential Care at Care UK, commented: “We look forward to seeing more detail on the Government’s proposals – in particular whether this minimum level of training will address the whole spectrum of roles that healthcare assistants or their equivalents might undertake. We would also hope to see the sector’s commitment to training reflected in the attitudes and support of commissioners.”

Care UK also supports the idea of a code of conduct for healthcare assistants which the Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley is reported to have approved recently. However, directors at Care UK see codes of conduct as only part of the solution. Mr. Siddall said: “Matters of technical competence and behaviour are already an important part of the employment contract for Care UK employees. Whether or not a member of a care home team treats people with dignity is about the leadership, training and recruitment of people with the right personal values – not about a line in a contract.”

Care UK provides residential care for over 5,250 older people in 85 homes. People joining as care assistants in the homes undertake some 15 days of training, well beyond the common induction standard training for the sector. Care UK is also pioneering advanced specialist dementia training across its homes and staff. The company prides itself on recruiting employees with strong caring values and empathy to see the service from the perspective of the people they support.

“We need to stop undermining the country’s perception of care workers– the sector is full of great examples that we should be proud of. We must never forget that hundreds of thousands of care workers are doing a fantastic job for some of the most vulnerable members of our society every day of the year”, said Mr. Siddall.

Care UK pleased with decision on depression indicators

There had been concern that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had considered removing all three indicators for depression from the calculations on how GPs are rewarded for caring for patients.

Dr Rose-Quirie said: “I firmly believe there should be more, not fewer, incentives for GPs to identify and treat patients suffering from depression. Removing them from the reward would have sent a clear message to GPs that there is no need to promote treatment of one of the most disabling conditions in primary care, as one in two women and one in five men will be affected by depression at some point in their lives.”

She continued: “When the Coalition Government launched its mental health strategy, it included a commitment that mental health would be given equal billing with physical illnesses. The total economic, social and human cost of mental illness is estimated at £105 billion per year. For the sake of patients, their families, employers, and the economy, I urge Ministers to remember that pledge when considering resources for all mental health services.”

Three national awards celebrate Care UK’s outstanding services for people with dementia

Carole Wardle, manager of Care UK’s 69-bed Station House nursing home in Crewe, was chosen as the national Best Dementia ‘Dignity in Care’ Champion for her pioneering work in training carers across the north-west of England. She was also praised for promoting the cause of dignity for residents in her own nursing home and throughout the region.

Elaine Carruthers, manager of the Orchard Centre, a 24/7 dementia day centre in Epsom, was named Best Dementia Care Manager in a Community Setting for the ground-breaking service she has developed since joining Care UK eight years ago. The centre offers an invaluable service to the community, including respite care throughout the day and night. People with dementia find company and a full programme of activities on offer; meanwhile, their families and carers know that their loved ones are in good hands.

Elaine describes the service as a club with its ‘members’ deciding what they want to do and helping with the day-to-day running of the centre. She said: “Everyone wants to feel needed. If people with dementia feel they are contributing, it helps them to maintain their life skills and keeps them independent.”

Bill Roarty, home manager, and Sara Goodwin, project manager, accepted the award for the Best Dementia Care Interior on behalf of Heather View, Care UK’s flagship new home in Crowborough, East Sussex. The 74-bed home, which specialises in care for frail elderly people with dementia, was built as a vision of care homes of the future. It is also the first of over 30 innovative new homes to be built by Care UK in the next five years.
Heather View officially opened in September, and is based around an indoor ‘village centre’ with an old-fashioned tearoom, coffee shop, hair salon, village shop, post-box and a cinema. This has already become a favourite place for residents to catch up with family and friends, whatever the weather.

Also representing Care UK and nominated for awards were:

Unit manager Kelly Harrison, a finalist in the ‘Life Time Achievement in Dementia Care’ category at only 21 years of age, for her energy and enthusiasm in creating individually-tailored activities for residents, and in helping colleagues by developing their skills and encouraging them to be the best carers they can.

Service design manager Maizie Mears-Owens and Care UK’s head of service design Karen Morrison, short-listed in the category of ‘Dementia Care Team of the Year’ for their outstanding work improving the levels of happiness and mobility experienced by people with dementia, as a result of their innovative ‘experiential’ training for care home staff. During a special session of the UK Dementia Congress, they were invited to give a presentation about their work to delegates, who included people with dementia, their carers and leading experts in the social care sector.

Toby Siddall, Care UK’s managing director for residential care, said: “I am enormously proud of the team here at Care UK. To achieve nominations in five categories, and then to win three of those awards, reflects our commitment to innovation and quality care that will improve life for our residents and their families.”

National newspaper features a Care UK mental health home

You can see the full article, which appeared in The Guardian on Wednesday 2 November 2011, here

Picture shows: Cragston Court in Newcastle upon Tyne, part of Care UK's mental health services

Care home dementia experts speak at national conference

The nine-month trial was carried out in nine specialist dementia care homes and a 24/7 day centre in Surrey. Behaviours including mood, engagement, levels of interaction with other residents and staff, mobility and sleeping patterns were measured before and after the pilot, and the well-being of residents was found to have improved by 42 per cent. Now the next stage of the scheme is to introduce it in all of Care UK residential homes throughout north-west England.

During the ‘experiential’ training, staff were given direct experience of the dramatic effect that dementia and frailty can have on the senses; special glasses blurred their vision, headphones delivered white noise and gloves restricted the movement of fingers. Trainees found themselves being fed food that they could not see, drinking tea from plastic training beakers, and being asked several questions in quick succession without enough time to think of replies.

Karen Morrison, who led the pilot, will be presenting the findings at the Dementia Congress and helping other carers to reduce stress and increase well-being for people with dementia. She said:“The results show that, with the right care and environment, we can make life more fulfilling for residents and their carers. We have given staff a unique insight into how people with dementia experience the world and how they communicate their needs. We have also given them the skills and confidence to respond to those needs.”

Changes to the environment included photographic signage to show what was behind doors, which increased residents’ confidence and independence. Retro-style fittings were used which were popular, comforting and memory-evoking, and fireplaces and smaller dining rooms increased the homely feel.

Trainers have received many emails from staff giving examples of ways that the training has given them a better understanding of residents’ requests, including reasons why people with dementia may be unable to see things clearly, or changes in the way they use language.

Karen said: “The results are even more remarkable when you realise these were services that were already rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ by the Care Quality Commission and we have still managed to increase, by nearly half, the well-being of well-cared-for residents with dementia.”

Carole Wardle, Care UK’s manager at Station House in Crewe, who has won numerous awards for promoting excellence and dignity in care, is looking forward to seeing the dementia policy rolled out more widely across Care UK’s services. She said: “We are all very excited about receiving the training. By giving carers such a clear insight into how their residents see the world, lots of things become clearer for the carer.

“Because they can understand the person’s needs and preferences, it means they can go even further in providing a genuinely person-centred care package in a happy and relaxed environment.”

Harmful effects of eating disorders hit the news again

As Care UK launches a new online resource about its highly regarded eating disorder service, the issue of the effects of eating disorders on the long-term physical well-being of a person is once more in the headlines.

The Daily Mail reported how Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall has spoken of the link between young girls, crash diets, eating disorders and osteoporosis at an event to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the National Osteoporosis Society.

She went on to say that many young girls don’t realise that dieting today could lead to issues with their bones in the future.You can read more about what the Duchess said here

The new web site launched by Care UK at www.careukeatingdisorders.com provides advice, information and details of care and treatment, for anyone who is worried that they or a loved one may have some kind of eating disorder.

Care UK has specialist teams providing successful eating disorder treatment in homely, residential settings in London and the south west of England. The services are unique in that they treat people with eating disorders covering the spectrum of age, complexity and length of illness, offering individualised packages of care and a wide breadth of expertise.