Care UK’s RCS Stars awards celebrate the hard work, talent, commitment and achievements of our colleagues nationwide.
Once again we had a phenomenal response receiving nearly 2,000 nominations from colleagues, relatives and professionals.
Home Manager, Tracy Norbury, came away with the top award of the night. As an award winning home manager she challenges the team to continuously improve and innovate to enable residents to lead the most fulfilling life possible. With a family orientated culture, the home always puts residents and their relatives at the centre of their care, from recruiting new team members to tasting days to develop new menus.
Shona leads a wonderful team that everyone feels proud to be a part of. Her passion for dementia care is seen throughout the home and she motivates the team to think outside the box. Her intergenerational and art work has had huge benefits for residents as has her focus on nutrition and hydration. Shona believes there’s no limit to what residents or colleagues can achieve and this is obvious from the second you walk in to the home.
Katy Hughes, Mildenhall Lodge
Rick Mayne, Sherwood Grange
Alice Banda, Tall Trees
The happiness of residents at Tor-na-dee is testament to the continued hard work the team put in to providing excellent dementia care. Colleagues are highly motivated and their engagement with residents is fantastic. The 97% dementia training score reflects the continued training and development undertaken by the team to provide the best care they can.
Liliana is very kind and helps everyone, including families, to understand more about dementia. Her dementia training has been a huge success with colleagues who find it invaluable. Liliana’s person-centred approach sees her spending time with every resident in the home and getting to know them through their life story books.
Shelly Andrews, Priors House
Amy Nolan-Blackburn, Station House
Jennifer Coutts, Tor-Na-Dee
The lifestyle team is a huge asset to Sherwood Grange. Family members believe that the team have added years to their loved ones’ lives and helped them to discover a whole new lease of life. One relative commented that their Mum has been on more trips, activities and visits in the past year at Sherwood Grange than in past five years of her life. The team are constantly think of interesting and fun things for residents to take part in whilst encouraging independence.
Whitby Dene takes home the award after demonstrating sustained improvement over the past 12 months. Residents and relatives are very happy with the running of the home, with one relative telling us “When I first went in, the manager said to me ‘you are now part of our family’ and I really felt that was true. There is a very happy atmosphere that you can just feel.” The home also achieved an overall ‘good’ rating from the CQC, with an’ outstanding’ in one theme.
Mandisa is very caring and the residents at Franklin House are at the heart of everything she does. She has been at the home since it opened and in that time has created a positive culture by believing that anything can be achieved. She works tirelessly to enrich residents’ lives and her commitment to this was shown by her contribution towards the home receiving their One Year Pressure Prevention award from the NHS.
Sandra Holmes, Priors House
Caterina Perone, Armstrong House
Susan is held in high esteem by her team who admire her for her reliability, in-depth knowledge and attentiveness to each resident. Her abundance of empathy, love and compassion makes a real difference to residents who feel confident and safe as a result of Susan’s calm manner.
Maggie Paynton, Highmarket House
Clare Carrington, Silversprings
Graham has worked in the hotel and leisure industry for most of his career and he’s cooked for people like Princess Anne and David Attenborough. In 2017 he pushed himself out of his comfort zone and joined the team at Lauder Lodge where his focus is to set a new standard in care home catering. He enjoys meal times the most at the home, seeing all his hard work come to fruition, and the compliments from residents make all the hard work worthwhile.
Lorraine Robinson, Chandler Court
Alex Wendling, Lennox House
Stuart Passey, Pear Tree Court
Harvinder has been part of the Priors House team since the home opened. Described as an amazing deputy manager, she shows great leadership and is well respected by colleagues and residents alike. Her thoroughness and attention to detail ensures that the best care is given and residents are treated as individuals.
Catherine Faboya, Addington Heights
Antony Gatley, Hadrian Park
Kate shares her knowledge with other team leaders and coaches and guides them for as long as they need. She is fantastic at her job and this has been recognised by various healthcare professionals and regional pharmacists who rated the medication process for Britten Court as number one out of 152 homes. She does everything she can to make sure colleagues and residents are safe and happy.
Bianca Bartes, Catherine Court
Monika Gorna-Gal, Cleves Place
Carol became part of the Church View team after regularly visiting her mum at the home and getting to know everyone really well. Having previously only worked in an office, she is a great example to anyone who is looking to learn new things and change their career. Carol has put so much effort into completing her diploma and is now working towards a level two in dementia care, something that is close to her heart.
Jonathan Budd, Field Lodge
Caitlin Sawyers, Heather View
Pauline goes beyond her call of duty every day. She puts residents and visitors first and comes in on her time off to accommodate viewings and give visitors her gold star treatment. She goes out of her way to get to know the community and gets stuck in with activities all whilst being a regular phone a friend to other administrators. She has an eternal passion for the home that she demonstrated when she trekked two miles in blizzard conditions to pick up medication for a resident.
Sandra Margol, Franklin House
Tracey Frisby, Priors House
It’s the whole home approach at Ferndown Manor that ensures residents and visitors have a five star dining experience every time. The attractive table settings take into account individual requirements and meals are lovingly served with great attention to detail. The Care Quality Commission praised the home for their dining experience which enables residents to have a dignified choice.
Described as wonderful and great, the housekeeping team at Perry Manor ensure the home is kept incredibly clean. They are always happy to help and they will deep clean empty rooms at the drop of a hat. The team make a fantastic job of the show rooms and work tirelessly to keep the communal areas well-presented and inviting for residents and their families.
Phil's can-do attitude and incredibly high standards make him stand out from the rest. Nothing is ever too much trouble for him and he even comes in on his days off to help with setting up activities. His positive approach to everything makes Phil very popular with the team and residents. The home would be lost without him.
Liam McNaughton, Snowdrop House
Mick Sparham, Hinton Grange
The home has delivered customer service excellence throughout the year. The 90% relative satisfaction score demonstrates their commitment to always going the extra mile to support residents and relatives on their care journey. One relative said "They let me know what happens on a daily basis… I have seen how they talk to my relative and also how they involve her in everything there."
The home has been recognised for their initiatives to successfully market the home and generate sales, as well as delivering excellent customer service. The home is commended for their excellent reputation in the community as a result of the extensive links they have built, from a monthly carer support group, to all the events that they run. They always find ways for residents and the local community to come together for a good cause.