Manager takes top care award

Home news

Nov 04, 2011

Crewe care expert Carole Wardle has won the prestigious national Dementia Dignity in Care Champion Award at the 2011 National Dementia Congress in Liverpool this week.

Carole, who manages the 69-bed Station House Nursing Home in Crewe, won the award for her work in training staff, both at the Victoria Avenue home and throughout the North-West, in innovative ways to ensure residents have genuine choice about their care plans, meals and activities.

Sarah Evans, who is managing the home while Carole is involved in helping to co-ordinated regional care, nominated her manager of seven years for the award. She said: “The staff and residents are over the moon. No one could deserve this award more. Carole is the most caring and inspirational person I know.

“She has made a difference to people’s lives, not just in this home, but across the region. She has helped to develop not only professional training but a whole way of thinking that helps carers to really understand dignity and ensure that we deliver it all day, every day, in every aspect of care.

“The key to promoting dignity is to help the person tell you what they want in a way they are comfortable communicating. As dementia develops, communication becomes harder, and Carole has trained us to pick up the subtlest messages from every individual. She is our star and we can’t wait to celebrate with her.”

The judges chose Carole after a rigorous process that included being interviewed by a panel of dementia experts in London. The judges were so impressed that at the awards ceremony they praised Carole’s creativity in devising initiatives that support residents and their families and they praised the use of ‘New Beginnings’ books which individually chronicle the experiences of the people living at Station House.

Carole, who also won the 2010 North West Dignity in Care Award, said: “I am delighted because it shows our team is building on our commitment to dignity.  By putting dignity at the centre of everything we do, we not only give the best possible person-centred care but we develop good people into genuinely great carers.”