The end of the Nurse Call system?
Sometimes nurse call systems are simply referred to as a buzzer which is used by residents to call a nurse for help or assistance. It doesn’t sound like a rocket science, does it? It’s not that long ago we used mobile phones just to make calls and send an occasional text message. Nowadays making a call is just one small function of our smartphones which have swiftly replaced the old mobile technology. With many technological solutions in everyday use in healthcare, evolution is underway. Nurse call buzzers are not immune, but can this traditional technology meet the current needs of busy care homes and become a sustainable technology for the future? After 50 years in the industry, being at the forefront of development in Nurse Call solutions, we are confident that there is a better way forward. At Courtney Thorne we look at the current and future requirements within care environments. The care technology we produce stopped being just a buzzer or bell alarm many years ago. From our well-respected wireless nurse call systems, we have developed something even more exciting: The Altra Care – SMART wireless nurse call solution. The Altra Care – SMART wireless nurse call system The SMART system doesn’t just look smart, it has the capability of wirelessly integrating with different devices and applications used throughout care homes. This not only simplifies many functions in care homes, importantly it’s proven to make significant cost savings. The Altra Care achieves this by providing automation and monitoring, staff become more productive spending less time on paper-based admin tasks. Furthermore, secure cloud-based communication provides managers remote access to reports assisting them with more effective decisions. The Altra Care doesn’t require costly wiring, therefore initial installation and any future changes in design or operation will not interrupt residents care. When compared with hard-wired or IP systems savings of up to 40% are readily achieved. We are proud leaders in Healthcare Technology offering the new generation SMART nurse call solution that is future-proof and comes with a market leading 3-year warranty. We are excited about creating the future of care technology and we invite you to be part of it. Contact us and let’s talk about your needs.
David Beckham tops the lists of wishes to be fulfilled at London care centre
Residents at Drayton Village Care Centre in west London have called on carers to make their wishes come true through a new innovative initiative. A number of Wish Trees have been placed around the home in Spring Promenade, West Drayton where residents of the 91-bed care centre can leave suggestions for staff to improve the home. However, little did the team at the care centre, run by Gold Care Homes, suspect that for one 95-year-old resident the greatest wish they had was to meet David Beckham. Joan Beard left all the staff in shock with her request to meet her heartthrob and now the home is exploring how they could make her wish come true. Matthew Bowden, Care Manager at Drayton Village Care Centre, said: “We were all a little surprised when we read the message on one of our Wish Trees. It is certainly one of the odder requests that we have had and probably one of the tougher ones as well. “We would love it if Joan did get to meet David Beckham, but it would be fair to say that he is in fairly high demand. “The idea behind the Wish Tree initiative is to try and explore what we can do to make our residents feel more at home and give them access to the things that they require.” If you think you might be able to help Joan with her goal of meeting David Beckham, please call 01895 257 010 or emailKendra@goldcarehomes.com Gold Care Homes was established in 1999 and has since grown to operate 21 care homes, predominantly in the northern Home Counties. The group offers a range of services which includes residential, nursing, frail elderly and dementia care. Respite care is also available on a short-term basis, subject to bed availability, at most of the homes. To find out more about Gold Care Homes, please visit www.goldcarehomes.com
Castle View Windsor leads the way on fire safety as Fire Service puts it to the test
A full scale fire rescue with the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been staged at the new Castle View Retirement Village at Helston Lane, Windsor, which opens this Autumn. Taking the lead after a further fire tragedy at a care home in Stevenage just last week and Grenfell, Castle Retirement Living has put fire safety to the top of its list. The full training exercise, fronted by watch manager Matt Weldon and teams from the local area took three hours and involved three fire engines and a team of 15 firefighters to stage a mock rescue. Said Robin Hughes, Managing Director, Castle Retirement Living, who was at the training exercise: “Beyond our enhanced fire safety strategy for the development including a sprinkler system, a resistant concrete structure and multiple staircases, the exercise proved that all residents that move into Castle View should be reassured about the highest level of safety. “All balconies were proven to be fully accessible by the fire brigade and its aerial ladder platform can also sit on the sky deck of the development’s Castle View Sky Lounge.” RBFRS’s Watch Manager Matt Weldon, commented: “The exercise was successful for a number of reasons, the site’s generous access allowed the brigade to manoeuvre our vehicles into effective positions, this aided the crews in performing their duties. There is also compelling evidence that fire sprinkler systems save lives, prevent property loss and limit environmental damage. RBFRS strongly recommends the provision of sprinklers as part of a building’s overall fire safety solution.” Once completed, Castle View Windsor will provide homes for over 150 local residents for the over 55s and upwards. Added Robin Hughes: “The findings from the Grenfell enquiry will take time to unfold and during our build we decided to take the lead on fire safety by building a concrete frame, installing sprinklers in all corridors. This exercise also demonstrated beyond doubt that every apartment balcony along with the sky deck is accessible to the brigade.” Four show apartments at Castle View will be ready for viewing in May just after the Royal Wedding weekend and local residents will continue to have priority reservation until 30th June 2018 when the apartments go on general release. http://castleviewwindsor.co.uk
Sunrise Senior Living UK Nominated for Prize at Prestigious Inspiring Wellbeing Awards
Sunrise Senior Living UK’s Reward Team have been nominated for a prize at the prestigious Inspiring Wellbeing Awards taking place on 20th February. The Reward Team have been nominated for the Inspiring Wellbeing Award for the Workplace, as a result of their dedication to the wellbeing of all team members at Sunrise, and the caring advice and support they continuously provide so that team members can strike a healthy work-life balance. Inspired by their motto “Sunrise Healthy Living, Care for You as You Care For Others”, the benefits offered by the Reward Team include an employee assistance programme, occupational health, an annual flu vaccination programme, opticians support, and access to hospital cash plans. The commitment of the Sunrise Reward Team to wellbeing has been demonstrated through a number of enterprising initiatives and events. In 2016, Sunrise began a partnership with Wellbeing People to put on Wellbeing Health Check Roadshows at all of its UK communities. This was followed in 2017 with a roadshow focused on Cholesterol, Blood Glucose, and Lung health. The dedicated wellbeing support offered by Sunrise is evidenced by the positive feedback expressed by team members in annual engagement surveys. There has been a clear correlation between enhanced wellbeing initiatives and positive increases in the Stress, Balance & Workload category. Sunrise Senior Living UK has over 5000 team members, all of whom are committed to providing the highest standards of personalised care to residents, across dementia care, nursing care, and assisted living. Suzanne Foody, Benefits Advisor at Sunrise Senior Living UK, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been nominated for an Inspiring Wellbeing Award, which highlights the great work our Reward Team have been doing to strengthen the wellbeing of all team members. “Our team members strive every single day to enhance the lives and happiness of residents at Sunrise communities, so it is vital we ensure they have the best possible environment to work in, and that we support them all the way. “We are looking forward to continuing our exciting programme of wellbeing events and activities over the coming months and years, and working alongside our team members to ensure Sunrise is a fulfilling and rewarding place to work.” http://www.sunrise-care.co.uk
Encore Care Homes continue to combat care sector staff shortages
Following a recent report issued which highlighted staff shortages within the care sector, due to low wages and workload pressures, Encore Care Homes is pledging to continue to buck the trend. The National Audit Office’s recent report stated low rates of pay and workload pressures mean some care services are struggling to recruit new team members. However, Encore Care Homes offer staff above average wages and a range of shifts which cater to each individual’s lifestyle and commitments. Encore’s employees receive an hourly rate which is above the national average wage for carers. Hourly rates for senior healthcare assistants at Encore can earn up to £9.74 an hour depending on NVQ qualifications. Staff with no NVQ qualification can earn up to £8.05 per hour, which is over the national minimum wage. Kavita Brown, head of people at Encore, said: “Encore prides itself on offering a range of shifts of various lengths which cover mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights. This means every employee has the freedom to choose which shifts work best for them in order to suit their lifestyle and personal commitments.” Encore uses its own dependency algorithm which nurses regularly update in each home to ensure that staff are hired based on each resident’s needs, as opposed to the number of residents in each home. This allows residents to receive the right level of care and attention which they require, while ensuring staff are responsible for the amount of residents which they feel comfortable caring for. The current ratio of carer to resident is 1:4. Kavita added: “We invest in our employees by ensuring that all staff receive regular training to allow continuous development and provision of the very highest standard of care to residents. Team members are also encouraged to develop their skillset and therefore progress in their role. “Each new starter is provided with a bespoke and certificated personal development plan which ensures every employee feels nurtured in their role. We believe that if our teams are happy, this will filter throughout the entire home, and assure our residents are also happy.” Encore manages three care homes in Dorset and Hampshire, with Great Oaks in Bournemouth being the latest to open in June last year. Please visit www.encorecarehomes.co.uk/careers to find out more information about careers at Encore Care Homes.
UK sees record number of people search for a care home
The UK has seen a record number of people search for a care home in January, with 38 per cent more people visiting leading care home reviews site, carehome.co.uk. carehome.co.uk, has seen record traffic this January, with 38 per cent more people visiting the site to look for a care home, than in December 2017. January 2018 saw carehome.co.uk have its highest ever traffic to the site with 1,579,285 visits. This was up from 1,144,572 in December, an increase of 434,713. carehome.co.uk has noticed a trend in more people visiting carehome.co.uk to look for a care home in the period after Christmas. Davina Ludlow, chair of carehome.co.uk, said: “Over recent years we have noticed a definite trend during January with a big rise in the number of people searching for care homes after the Christmas period. “The UK has an ever-growing ageing population with people living longer with complex health conditions, so it is no surprise we have seen record traffic this January, showing there is a huge demand for care homes. “We believe it is also due to families getting together over Christmas and the New Year and realising their relative is no longer able to cope on their own at home. Loneliness and illness can be more severe over the winter months, with care homes becoming a more preferable option. “The problem is that many care homes are already struggling to stay sustainable so in order for providers to keep up with this growing demand, it is vital the Government takes steps to address the funding crisis in the upcoming green paper on social care.” carehome.co.uk is the UK’s leading reviews site for care homes and in January it reached 75,000 reviews, making people’s search for a care home easier. Full set of statistics (number of visits to carehome.co.uk): January 2018 – 1,579,285 December 2017 – 1,144,572 January 2017 – 1,537,109 December 2016 – 1,186,961 January 2016 – 1,491,754 December 2015 – 1,203,753
Jessica Bland-Jennings – Becoming a healthcare assistant
Becoming a healthcare assistant At school Jessica Bland Jennings knew she wanted to work in healthcare. Her A Level choice comprised of PE, AS in Geography and a BTEC health and social care and her ambition was to become a paramedic. When she left school, she worked as a life guard but she also completed an anatomy and physiology top up course to secure the qualifications needed to become a paramedic. However, although she had the right qualifications, she was turned down because of her lack of hands on experience with patients. Undeterred, Jessica saw an NHS job advertisement for a health care assistant role in Northampton General Hospital and thought this would be a fantastic way to gain experience. She applied for the job and has worked on the trauma and orthopaedic ward ever since. What are the job highlights? Jessica loves being a healthcare assistant. She says, “The best thing about being a health care assistant are the patients – you really get to know them and their families and build great relationships with them. “ I love the fact I am helping patients with what can seem like simple tasks, but they make such a difference to their day. This could be giving them a wash, helping them have a shower or shave, helping them put on their make up or even painting their nails – making them feel human. I don’t feel as though I have done my job properly unless I go home knowing I have helped at least one person.” Other key parts a healthcare assistant’s role is taking vital sets of observations including blood pressure readings and checking pulses, oxygen saturations, temperatures and respiration rates. Such observations help them recognise if a patient is becoming unwell. The HCAs communicate with nurses to ensure that a patient who may be deteriorating gets the correct treatment in a timely manner. The great team environment at Northampton General Hospital and the support all the healthcare assistants and nursing receive from senior staff is another major benefit. Jessica said, “There is a great team environment at Northampton General – even when we are at our busiest – there are other nurses with different skills and we work really well together as a team. There is also usually a ward sister close by if we need advice and support.” She added, “No day on the ward is the same. There is such variety of people and work – I love it! The other doctors and nurses are very friendly too – there is a great atmosphere.” What are the challenges? Jessica said, “We are sometimes short staffed and there can be a heavy workload. The work can be emotionally and physically draining too but there is great support for all the workforce here. We feel valued at the hospital and with great teams in place I feel confident that even when we are very busy we can provide a great service for patients.” Career progression After two years working as a health care assistant, Jessica decided she wanted to do more for patients and she enrolled on the adult nursing course at Northampton University – a three year degree course where nurses leave with a BSc in Nursing. This was three years ago and in a few weeks Jessica will complete the course and start a fulltime nursing role at Northampton General in the vascular department. She was offered three roles – one in Nottingham and two in Northampton General. Whereas some students were nervous with patients, Jessica’s years of experience working as a health care assistant meant she was very confident and adept working with patients and also very used to a hospital environment. She said, “It is five years ago exactly that I started work as a healthcare assistant – it was the best decision I have ever made. I haven’t looked back. I continued to work as a healthcare assistant throughout my nursing degree and in a few weeks’ time I will be qualified as a nurse and start in my new role – I can’t wait.” Career plans I will definitely be nursing in 10 years’ time. It is my vocation. However, I think I will probably specialise in something like palliative care as it would suit my skills and experience and I love working so closely with patients and their families and making a real difference to them. More information: Northampton University is currently recruiting students for its Adult Nursing Course starting in October. https://www.northampton.ac.uk/study/courses/adult-nursing-bsc-hons/ Northampton General Hospital is part of the Best of Both World’s Recruitment campaign – a dedicated campaign where all the trusts and the university have joined forces in a bid to jointly recruit healthcare staff including healthcare assistants, nurses and doctors to work in Northamptonshire.
Curling care home residents compete before Winter Olympics
COMPETITIVE care home residents have been getting into the Winter Olympics spirit with a community centre curling match. Curling athletes from around the world are set to compete at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, in South Korea, from 9th to 25th of February. The upcoming international competition was preceded by residents of Barnfield and Holmewood care homes, however, when they tried the sport for the first time. The Chesterfield-based care homes, both operated by the Hill Care Group, organised the outing for residents Ronald Coats and Clive Wilkinson, from Holmewood, and Andrew Bailey, from Barnfield. The match took place at Holmewood Community Centre, run by national charity Macintyre. As well as competing with each other, they also played alongside the children and young adults supported by the charity. Established in 1966 by Kenneth Newton Wright, the parent of a disabled child, MacIntyre cares for those with learning disabilities. Viktorija Jakaitemne, activities coordinator for Holmewood Care Home, on Barnfield Close, said: “All three of the residents enjoyed the morning outing and both Andrew and Ron became competitive with each other during the curling match. “Everyone had a great time taking part in the match, which happened to take place just before the start of the Winter Olympics.” Rachel Furniss, activities coordinator at Barnfield Care Home, on Heath Road, said: “Our resident Andrew has requested to go back to the day centre to take part in curling matches every Wednesday, he enjoyed it so much. “It was also wonderful to hear the young adults who visit the centre are keen to visit both Barnfield and Holmewood care homes in future, when we organise our events and theme days.” Barnfield and Holmewood care homes are part of the Hill Care Group. For further information visit www.hillcare.net. MacIntyre, which runs the Holmewood Community Centre, is a national charity providing support to people with learning disabilities for 50 years. For further information visit https://www.macintyrecharity.org/.
Elderly get their perfect slice on National Pizza Day
A SLICE of fun was served to Stockton-on-Tees care home residents when they celebrated National Pizza Day. The residents at Ingleby Care Home, in Ingleby Barwick, were treated to a trip to Frankie and Benny’s at Teesside Park for the day. They attended a pizza party with all the ingredients to make their own Italian creations supplied by the restaurant free of charge. Over a dozen residents and staff were joined by young adults from social care provider Vision25, which previously delivered shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts to the care home in December. Their perfect pizza creations included a mixture of ham, pineapple, mushrooms, peppers, salami and the usual cheese and tomatoes. Resident Ken Robinson said: “I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s so nice to do something different.” Joe Holliday, a member of Vision25, said: “It was fantastic and lovely to see our friends again.” Kirsty Walsh, activities coordinator at Ingleby Care Home, on Lamb Lane, said: “Our thanks go to Frankie and Benny’s for hosting an excellent pizza party and supplying the ingredients free of charge. “Pizza is one of the nation’s favourite dishes and that’s true for the elderly as well. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate a National Pizza Day? “The residents and young adults from Vision25 all thoroughly enjoyed creating the pizzas and, of course, eating them afterwards. Everyone’s looking forward to next year already.” Ingleby Care Home residents Ken Howard and Roy Henderson create their own perfect pizzas to celebrate National Pizza Day at Frankie and Benny’s on Teesside Park. Ingleby Care Home is part of the Hill Care Group. For further information visit www.hillcare.net.
