Redcot resident Juliet, celebrates for 100th birthday with pre-christmas party.
Saying the secret to a long and happy life is ‘Just Being Yourself’ At Friends of the Elderly’s Redcot residential care home in Haslemere, Surrey, the care team has been pulling out all the stops celebrating Juliet Fuirer’s landmark 100th Birthday. Juliet’s milestone day began with gifts, balloons and a very special card from Buckingham Palace, but it didn’t stop there. The Birthday Girl was whisked away by her family for a delicious lunch and, when she returned, Juliet enjoyed a fun-filled birthday party, complete with a scrumptious birthday cake, with all her care home friends. Juliet, who was born in Ludhiana, the most populous and largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, has been a resident at Redcot residential care home for two and a half years. Juliet spent the first six years of her life growing up in India before moving with her family to the United Kingdom. “My Mother lived in India for a long time and both my Father and Grandfather worked for the Indian Civil Service. I remember India being extremely hot and full of snakes! The snakes used to curl themselves around door handles which always gave me a fright,” Juliet said. Juliet has always loved music and whilst at boarding school in Eastbourne, her favourite childhood hobby was the Music Club, but her favourite lesson was literature. “I love music and thoroughly enjoy the musical activities and quizzes at Redcot. I was born in 1922, the same year as quite a few Hollywood musical stars such as Judy Garland, Doris Day, Cyd Charisse and Ava Gardner,” Juliet added. Growing up, Juliet recalls that she received a ten bob note – 50 pence in new money – for her pocket money. “My pocket money didn’t last long, I usually spent it on sweets,” she added. Later, Juliet studied Modern Languages and Logic at Bedford College and when she was 18, she was called up and joined the Army. Juliet – whose role was in translations – was posted to Bletchley Park which during the war was the world’s best kept secret and a key part of the country’s war effort against Germany. It is where the team of codebreakers – who included Alan Turing – cracked the German Enigma and Lorenz Ciphers. Juliet married her Husband, Fernand, a Cabinet Maker at St Christopher’s Church in Montreal, having moved to Canada after the war. The pair honeymooned on the Gaspé Peninsula, a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Following their time in Canada, the couple returned to England where they raised their family having two daughters. Chatting about her 100 years, Juliet believes that, for her, the best years were 1946 through the 1950s and that being in the Army during WW2 was very important. She said: “I didn’t complain. I was honoured to be doing such important work for my country. I didn’t question anything, I just got one with what I’d been asked to do. “Reaching 100 is quite an achievement. I’m the same age as the BBC and was born the year they discovered The Tomb of Tutankhamun. I also heard that 1922 was the year that water skis were invented; but I have to say that I think the best invention of my lifetime has to be the Smartphone,” Juliet added. Jan Daly, the Registered Manager at Redcot said: “Juliet is a lovely lady who is very popular with her care home friends. Everyone at Redcot wanted to make sure Juliet had a wonderful 100th Birthday and we’re so glad she enjoyed her day. Juliet is a real character and always joins in with the activities, she’s very special and we wanted to show her just how special she is to all of us.” “I’ve had a lovely 100th Birthday,” said Juliet, “It’s been wonderful. I was asked recently what important lessons I’d learnt during my lifetime. I answered not to be afraid, be confident and to just be yourself and I think that is exactly what I’ve done.”
Hastings care home worker surprised by residents and staff after reaching 30-year milestone
An activities coordinator at a Hastings care home is celebrating 30 years at the residence she joined at as a volunteer, and was even born opposite – with staff and residents throwing her a surprise celebratory lunch. Shelagh Hazleton started working at Mountside Care Home, a branch of ACI Care that specialises in residential, respite and dementia care, in 1992 – where she joined to assist residents with their hair, before volunteering with afternoon activities. Staff and residents at the Laton Road home kept the celebrations a secret so Shelagh was overwhelmed when she walked into the lounge to be greeted by a room of smiling faces. Even some residents who would normally stay in their room opted to come out and share Shelagh’s special afternoon. She was given a card full of warming messages, a bottle of wine and a beautiful clock, and the home’s chef Steve had prepared a buffet. The rewarding job has seen Shelagh spend three decades at the care home, ensuring each resident is engaged, happy and their needs are met. Shelagh, who is now the home’s activities coordinator, joined after her husband’s grandmother became a resident at Mountside thirty years ago. By showing kindness, Shelagh received kindness in return. Mountside wanted to offer Shelagh a full-time position after seeing her patience and empathy with the residents during her voluntary work but she initially turned down the offer due to childcare struggles of her newborn daughter, Louise. However, not wanting to lose Shelagh and the great work she does, the home offered the solution for Shelagh to bring Louise to work with her so she could continue her duties whilst keeping an eye on her daughter. This delighted some of the residents, with one finding particular joy in cuddling and feeding Louise. Shelagh leads various activities throughout the week, trying to make each day different and engaging. Some of the most popular activities include board games, card games, magnetic darts and bingo on a Friday. She goes above and beyond to ensure all residents’ needs are met, and for those who don’t wish to leave their rooms, Shelagh sits with them one-to-one and encourages them to play cribbage and cards, or just engage in conversation. Speaking of her time at the care home, Shelagh Hazleton said: “It’s amazing. I love my job every single day. It’s hard work but very rewarding. In fact, the rewards you get from it far outweigh the hard work.” Talking of one of her fondest memories, she recalls: “We did have one lady who thought our Elvis performer was the real Elvis. Her heart would melt the minute he came in and her family always paid for him to come and sing for us all. Even when her dementia got quite bad she could always recognise Elvis, and it was lovely to see!” Not falling far from the tree, in what could be considered fate, Shelagh was born in the house opposite the care home where she now works. Reminiscing over its history, she recalls that the property was two separate buildings – one being a boys school, and the other a house that was sold to become a care home. The care home took over the house next door, combining the properties and adding an extension to make it what stands today, before ACI Care acquired it in 2020. Kimberley Mann, fellow activities coordinator at Mountside Care Home, said: “Shelagh is amazing with the residents and she really takes her time to ensure they are all happy and accounted for. Even those who don’t want to come out of their rooms and participate in activities, Shelagh is happy to go and just spend time with them one-on-one for a chat. “To reach a 30-year milestone working at a care home is amazing. There is always bad press about care homes being understaffed and experiencing high turnover, but amongst all the noise there is a Shelagh who wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, and in Mountside’s case, the residents wouldn’t want anyone else here either. It’s a pleasure to be able to work alongside her in creating a bit of magic for our residents’ lives every day.” For more information on Mountside and ACI Care, please visit https://aci.care/mountside/.
New Dementia Development Lead will drive care home group’s plans for sector leading care
Maria Mallaband Care Group (MMCG) has appointed a new Dementia Development Lead to drive forward their commitment to delivering the best possible care for people living with dementia, and the best training and support for their teams Laura Steward has devoted her entire career, spanning more than 25 years, to social care, specialising in dementia education from 2012. The appointment saw her take the reins of MMCG’s Dementia Strategy, a multi-pronged approach which includes upskilling staff and sharing best practice with the aim being to enable those living with dementia live as well and as independently as possible. Earlier this year, as part of this strategy, MMCG established the role of Dementia Ambassadors. These trained specialists work in homes and take the lead in educating colleagues, sharing knowledge, skills, and evidence-based strategies and tools. Laura Steward said: “We want every member of the team to have the right knowledge, strategies, skills and compassionate understanding to respond to and care for people living with dementia across our homes in the best possible way. “Having devoted a lot of my professional time to mentoring and coaching others I believe the most successful way to educate is harnessing that flow-down of learning. “Our specially trained Dementia Ambassadors will show, train, lead, mentor, guide and inspire their colleagues, so that every member of the team has the confidence and know-how to improve the daily lives and experiences of those living with dementia in their care.” Laura, who has completed vocational training throughout her career, gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Person-Centred Dementia Studies from the University of Worcester earlier this year. She also brings to the role a broad range of experience including developing and delivering dementia education programmes and designing and improving dementia care services, with a strong focus on person-centred care. She added: “Improving the quality of care for those living with dementia is my passion, and I have developed particular interest and skills in reducing levels of distressed behaviour and developing tailored, holistic approach to care practice for each individual. “Over the past ten years I have really enjoyed gathering a better understanding of the condition and how to make people’s lives better – and for me that doesn’t have to be more complicated than simply understanding people and meeting them where they are. “I’m also focussed on delivering the right training and support for team members. By making sure we pay close attention to care teams working experience we can ensure it’s less draining for them, allowing them to give their best to those in their care. “I am so excited to get stuck into this role. MMCG’s commitment to delivering the best dementia care is second to none, and that level of support will allow me to have a massive impact and bring positive improvements across our homes.” To find out more about the Maria Mallaband Care Group visit: www.mmcgcarehomes.co.uk
Celebrating 46 UK organisations who have outstanding workplace training programmes with HRH The Princess Royal
London, Thursday 8th December: On Tuesday 6th December, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, welcomed 46 organisations to Banqueting House in London are celebrating successfully achieving a Princess Royal Training Award for their commitment to training and development. The Princess Royal Training Awards recognise employers across the United Kingdom who deliver outstanding training and development programmes that have had a direct impact on their people and organisations. This year, applications were made from a wide range of organisations from large multi-nationals through to small not-for-profits. Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of City & Guilds said: “This year we have seen applications from a range of organisations who have prioritised the development of their teams, as they continue to operate in a challenging context. I am delighted that we are able to recognise 46 fantastic employers who place value on training their employees. From inclusion and diversity, through to programmes addressing the ongoing impact of climate change and tackling skills shortages in certain sectors – organisations are using training to address these issues. It’s an honour to come together and celebrate these organisations’ shared and unrelenting commitment to learning and development.” At this year’s ceremony, employers Santander, Christies Care and Travis Perkins were welcomed onto the stage for a panel discussion about the impact of their award-winning programmes. Travis Perkins explained how they used the apprenticeship levy to create a Learn and Earn Apprenticeship programme which addresses the male-dominated and ageing workforce demographic typical for the construction sector. The impact on the company is still being realised, but 35.2% of this year’s applicants are female, the average age of recruits is now 25 and BAME representation has increased from 1.2 to 6.2%. Christies Care were revalidated for their induction programme initially awarded in 2017. In 2021 the pass rate for the Carer Induction was 93%, compared with 90% in 2017. By introducing online learning, Christies Care were able to upscale their provision quickly during the pandemic and continue training carers at a time of peak demand and immense pressure. The programme accommodated this demand and was popular with carers. Client satisfaction also remained positive and its reputation for highly trained carers remained unchanged. Santander described how they tackled the increasing number of customers becoming victims of scams during the pandemic by creating a staff training programme. This led to an impressive reduction in losses to customers from £12.5m in 2021 to just £20k in 2022. Five organisations also received a special commendation for demonstrating a significant commitment to inclusion and diversity. Those commended for their Inclusion and Diversity initiatives in 2022 include Greene King, Labcorp, IBM UK Ltd, Sheppey Matters and UK Electronic Skills Organisation. For a full list of this year’s recipients and their training programmes please see the 2022 recipients page or you can find out how to apply for The Princess Royal Training Awards 2023 here.
Sector-leading dementia care nurse receives Queen Mother’s accolade
Care UK’s Suzanne Mumford, Head of Nursing, Care and Dementia Care, has received the prestigious The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Award for Outstanding Service. The accolade, more commonly known by the title of Queen’s Nurse, was bestowed to Suzanne and other recipients during the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s ceremony on Monday 28 November. Suzanne was recognised for her constant innovation, something that she has continued to deliver in her role at Care UK, particularly in the practice of dementia care. By her own admission, Suzanne “fell into nursing” when she was just 17 years old. Her first role was as a care assistant in a geriatric hospital where she quickly realised that nursing was the career for her and still maintains it’s “the best job in the world.” After training in Southampton and specialising in neurology and neurosurgery, Suzanne discovered a love of teaching and coaching others, which has been a crucial component to her career overall. After running a training company specialising in healthcare, she initially joined Care UK in 2018 as Quality Development Manager and has since progressed to lead a new team under the direction of Rachel Gilbert, the organisation’s Director of Care, Quality and Governance. Suzanne credits the “constant innovation and drive” within the sector as her motivation. She is always looking for ways to improve the practice of dementia care and passes this passion onto the Approach to Care Team, which she leads. The most important thing, she says, is supporting people to achieve their potential: “It’s about saying – this is what we’re doing, but we can always do it better, so how do we make that happen?” A large part of that process has been gathering and imparting knowledge within Care UK to ensure those living with dementia have compassionate and consistent care across the organisation. Having been a customer of Care UK herself, Suzanne has “seen it from both sides” and says that the experience of her parents having been residents informs everything she does. Suzanne oversaw the implementation of a sector-leading initiative to help enrich the lives of those living with advanced dementia. The Namaste programme now runs across all Care UK homes to ensure those most impacted by dementia – between 12-13% of those living in our homes – receive a comforting, one-to-one sensory experience during dedicated sessions, which focus on their mental and physical wellbeing. As a result, residents have become more alert and communicative. Another passion of Suzanne’s is to decrease the use of psychotropic drugs in Care UK homes. These drugs are often prescribed for those living with dementia but can make patients feel sleepier and can increase the risk of falls. Nurses within our homes have now decreased their use of psychotropic drugs by 26% – this is possible due to ongoing professional practices, which allow our teams to identify and address the unmet needs of those living with dementia. Under Suzanne’s leadership, Care UK is launching a new academy for the training and development of their care home nurses, called the Seacole Academy for Care and Clinical Excellence. This gives nurses a programme within the organisation that formally recognises their professional commitment and development. In addition to this, it offers those who are team leaders or senior carers at Care UK homes the chance to train to be a nurse, or to step into a health care assistant role to continue supporting residents. Rachel Gilbert, Director of Care, Quality and Governance at Care UK, said of the award: “Since her arrival at Care UK, Suzanne and I have worked together to ensure we continue to support and provide care in the very best way possible. “Her compassion and her leadership means that colleagues at every level, and in many different roles, feel empowered to provide the best care possible for our residents. Those who live in our care homes are people who have lived rich, fulfilling lives and under Suzanne’s innovative initiatives, they can continue to do so. “The Care UK team are very proud of Suzanne’s achievements, and I can’t wait to see how she uses this accolade to continue support residents and to develop her colleagues within the organisation.” When asked if she had any words of wisdom to pass on to new or aspiring nurses, Suzanne said: “When you train as a nurse, you are there – and you should be there – as an inspiration to people. You should be role-modelling best practice and you should be inspiring other people in your field to be the best that they can be. “You must be interested in people and in their wellbeing – both emotionally and physically. To do a nursing degree, as well as being interested in people, you have to feel like you can make a difference. Be kind, compassionate and be curious because there is so much learning to do. She also praised the skills of care home nurses, adding: “Our nurses are so specialist – we are looking after people who are living with so many different conditions and who are at a point where they now need more support, even when they’ve been fantastically independent throughout their lives. In those circumstances, you have to want to be close to people and be a part of their lives, as well as being observant and an excellent communicator.” If you want to join Care UK and help those living in our homes to lead fulfilling lives, you can apply here….visit careuk.com
Care UK celebrates 40th anniversary by raising over £43,000.
From Edinburgh to Bournemouth, Care UK care homes across the country have been celebrating the organisation’s 40th anniversary by raising funds for good causes. To celebrate forty years since the provider opened its first home, Haven Lodge in September 1982, the Care UK family set a goal of raising £40,000 for charities across the UK, in a campaign called ‘40 Days of Giving Back’. Team members across the country organised daring challenges and fun events, from abseiling down the O2 Stadium, community cake sales, musical events and even a 400-mile cycle ride. In Epsom, Surrey, Appleby House welcomed the local community to its garden for an evening of live music from local performers, James Schouten, Barbara Christopher and Darren Watkins, who each sang decade spanning hits for all ages to enjoy. The event raised £877, which has been donated to Musical Memories, a local charity which holds weekly musical services for people living with memory and hearing impairments. Elizabeth Lodge in Enfield raised more than £1,800 for St Clare Hospice in Harlow, after team members grabbed the ropes to abseil down The O2 Stadium. Staying firmly on the ground, residents opted to grab a sponge and a bucket to take part in a community car wash. Keen to pull their shell suits and shoulder pads out of their wardrobes, residents and team members at Lonsdale Mews in Quorn, Leicestershire, and Lennox House in Islington, time travelled back to 1982 to throw eighties inspired parties, where the local community enjoyed a live music with pop classics from the decade. Residents and team members at Armstrong House, in Gateshead, decided to step up to the challenge by walking 40 miles in 40 days and raised £325 for Big Local Gateshead. Zimmer frames and wheelchairs were no obstacle for the residents, with some reaching as far as the historical landmark, the Dunston Staiths, and Newcastle’s St. James’ Park Stadium, discovering all the local hot spots along the way. Joining the homes in their fundraising efforts was Care UK’s head office team, including CEO Andrew Knight, who undertook a 400-mile bike ride with fellow directors, Tony Weedon and Jacqui White. The route took a total of five days and saw the team cycle from the Care UK’s oldest home, Haven Lodge, in Clacton-on-Sea, to the newest, Oxbow Manor, which will open in Shrewsbury in January. The team visited 17 other Care UK homes along the way, receiving warm welcomes from colleagues and residents alike. Inspired by the 400-mile cycle, residents, and team members at Silversprings walked a combined total of 40km, just short of a marathon, as well as holding a 40-day knit-a-thon, to raise £180 for Brightlingsea Museum and Brightlingsea Lido. To mark the occasion, the facilities team at Tippethill House Hospital in Armadale, Scotland, organised an amazing fun day for residents and relatives which included 60 raffle prizes, home baking and tombola stalls along with live Facebook auction. They raised a whopping £3,260 for local charity, The League of Friends. In the Midlands, residents at Sway Place, in Hampshire, were joined by families and members of the Sway community for a day spent traveling through time back to the 1940s. The home’s Memories Matter fundraising event featured 1940’s classic cars, a traditional sweet shop and live music from local singers, Soda Pops, who delighted guests with songs from throughout the decades. The event raised £1,648 for Alzheimer’s Research UK, the leading dementia research organisation in the UK. Commenting on the fundraising efforts, Andrew Knight, CEO of Care UK, said: “We’re incredibly proud of all we have achieved at Care UK in the last 40 years, all thanks to the caring, hard-working team members and the support of residents and their families. I’m delighted with the fantastic amount we’ve raised for good causes across the country and am grateful to everyone who embraced this initiative with such enthusiasm. We are all looking forward to seeing what the next 40 years will bring for Care UK. Care UK is one of the largest providers of residential care for older people. As a well-established organisation with 40 years of experience in caring for older people, the provider now runs more than 150 homes offering residential, dementia and nursing care and expects to open at least 13 more before the end of 2025.
Learning and Development Manager at South East care home championed as one of the leading women in social care
A South East care group is celebrating after one of its staff members was recognised with one of the highest accolades in the profession and championed as one of the social care sector’s most influential individuals. Marisa Spice, Learning & Development Manager at Nellsar, a family-run group of 13 care homes throughout Kent, Surrey and Essex, was crowned winner of the ‘Talent Development Award’ category in this year’s Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards (WAGS) – an annual showpiece that highlights and celebrates incredible achievements of female leaders in all roles. Recognised for her unwavering commitment to resident and nursing practice, Marisa received the highly sought-after accolade during an awards ceremony at the Hilton Bankside, London, on Wednesday, 30th November. The WAGS aim to highlight and celebrate the incredible achievements of female leaders from all corners of the sector, recognising accomplishments at all levels of leadership across the entirety of social care. As a recipient, Marisa now stands alongside a selection of remarkable individuals, helping to raise the profile of professional women leaders across the sector – and serves as an embodiment of innovation, talent, commitment and excellence throughout the industry and beyond. Having joined in 2013, Marisa has been an integral asset to the family-run operation at Nellsar, helping the business go from strength to strength while implementing a care ethos built on compassion and empathy. Her ongoing commitment to improving the interface between social care and other external professional bodies has been recognised as an industry example – having introduced new skills for carers and guidance on how to use nurse associate roles within social care. Speaking about her award, Marisa said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have received such incredible acknowledgement and to stand alongside so many remarkable ladies who I consider to be the benchmark of excellence throughout our sector. Having worked in care for many years, I’m humbled that my efforts have been recognised and this will only motivate me to continue doing a job I love doing each and every day. I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by so many exceptional colleagues, who inspire me to implement a standard of care that improves the quality of life for everyone across the industry, while creating a rich and diverse culture alongside people I consider to be not just friends, but family, too.” Commenting on her acknowledgement, Glenda Osmotherly, Director of Operations at Nellsar, said: “Marisa is a remarkable individual and we couldn’t be more proud of her. The dedication and commitment she continuously delivers to those around her is not just an example to everyone at Nellsar, but carers up and down the country, and we couldn’t be more delighted to have Marisa representing the care culture we look to implement across the board at Nellsar.” Having enjoyed a variety of roles with Nellsar over the last ten years, from Registered Nurse to Registered Manager to Operations and Compliance Manager, Marisa now specialises in learning and development of the care group’s staff teams. Over the past few years, Marisa has been at the forefront of Nellsar’s care development scheme, attending various conferences, meetings and webinars regarding several areas of development. Marisa has worked very closely with external professionals from various areas and has developed many of their attributes to bring knowledge into Nellsar’s workforce. One such event that Marisa has and will continue to attend is the Social Care Nurse Supervision (Kent and Medway Nurse Clinical Supervision) group, which is supported by KCC, Skills for Care and a fellow Queen’s Nurse. Also representing Nellsar at the WAGS this year was Leni Wood, Nutrition & Wellness Manager, who was shortlisted as a finalist in the Wellbeing at Work Award category, for demonstrating her unwavering professionalism and specialism whilst dedicating a vast array of knowledge to both staff and residents from a nutritional standpoint. When Leni joined Nellsar five years ago, she cemented the company as one of the first UK providers to recognise the value of having a Nutritional Therapist onboard. She has driven creativity and innovation in the nutrition arena, imparting her wide-ranging knowledge to both staff and residents alike. For more information on Nellsar, visit www.nellsar.com.
Luxury new Solihull care home welcomes centenarian as first resident
A newly opened luxury Solihull care home that specialises in exceptional residential, nursing, dementia and respite care has welcomed its first resident through its doors. 100-year-old Margaret has become the first resident at Blossomfield Rose, a new state-of-the-art care home situated as part of the existing Blossomfield Park in Solihull, offering residents compassionate and supportive care within a unique setting. The new home sits neatly within the wider Blossomfield Park development, a mix of sympathetically converted historic and contemporary buildings set within five acres of mature, private grounds — offering privately owned accommodation to all ages. Residents have access to all park-wide amenities and grounds, proving to be Margaret’s favourite part of her stay so far. Margaret said: “I have made the most of the sunny weather since moving in, especially as I know it’s about to change. I’ve loved spending time in the beautiful gardens and seeing the donkeys in the field opposite but as it gets colder I’ll still be able to see all this wonderful wildlife from the window in my room.” Born and raised in Shropshire, Margaret enjoyed an 80-year marriage to her wonderful husband George, where they raised two daughters. Margaret enjoyed a career with the Ministry of Food where she started out in the rationing department before working her way up to community inspections. Margaret reminisced: “I enjoyed carrying out the street inspections where I would hang around chatting and being friendly, but I would actually be watching for stalls selling illegal goods! I would then make a purchase at these stalls for evidence to catch them red handed, then they would be sent to court.” Now residing at Blossomfield Rose, Margaret and her fellow residents experience the use of unobtrusive, integrated technology throughout the home which helps the dedicated care team deliver the highest quality and standards of dementia and nursing care. Features such as acoustic listening devices and nurse call systems will offer families peace of mind as care can be delivered swiftly as necessary, alongside thorough digital record-keeping and care planning. Margaret also said: “It is a beautiful environment here, and I feel lucky to be able to live in such a friendly space. The staff have been very welcoming and the food is exceptional!” Sonia Tenniswood, Home Manager at Blossomfield Rose, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Maragret and her family into our home, and hope she creates many happy memories here. “On her first day we welcomed her with balloons and champagne to make it a really special occasion and hopefully everyday we continue to make her feel special, allowing her to express her independence within a safe and caring environment.” Blossomfield Rose is one of thirteen homes in the Macc Care group, which runs a collection of care homes in the Midlands. The group prides itself on three core values — Love, Caring and Compassion. The word ‘rose’ is used across the collection of homes to symbolise new beginnings, which will be pertinent to both staff and residents at this exciting new community. For further information on Blossomfield Rose, please visit: https://blossomfieldrose.co.uk/, or for further information on the wider Blossomfield Park, please visit: https://blossomfieldpark.co.uk/ For information on the Macc Care group, please visit: https://www.macccare.com/.
Northamptonshire care home welcomes experienced new manager as it looks to build on its outstanding level of care
A Northamptonshire care home that provides nursing, residential and respite care has appointed a new manager to help focus on dementia training and investment into the care team. Meadow View, a branch of Wellbeing Care that prides itself on providing the highest standard of person-centred care for up to 53 people in Wellingborough, has welcomed Kathy Murphy as its new manager. Kathy joins the High Street care home with 42 years of experience in the industry. She has a wealth of knowledge working across many different areas of care including learning difficulties, post operative, mental health, old age, dementia and cancer. Starting as a nurse’s aid, Kathy spent 19 years working at a mental health hospital in Ireland, before moving to the UK where she transitioned into management roles, and most recently landing herself a position at the Irchester home. Talking of her recent appointment at Meadow View, Kathy said: “I started working in the care industry when I was 15 and I can’t imagine being in any other line of work. Nothing else is for me apart from care. “After a year off, I couldn’t think of a better project to come back to work on. My overarching goal is to gain an ‘Outstanding’ CQC rating here, and from what I’ve seen already we certainly have the staff and resources to make that happen.” Originally a private Victorian house, Meadow View has seen numerous refurbishments since being repurposed as a nursing home in 1986. It has been heavily extended in three areas making it the largest of the three residencies of Wellbeing Care. Wellbeing Care is a family-run group of care services that focuses on providing first-rate, person-centred care to older people living in Northamptonshire and Suffolk. The group provides residential care, nursing care, dementia care, respite care, day care and supported living services. For more information on Meadow View, please visit https://www.wellbeingcare.co.uk/services/meadow-view.
