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.
Westgate House Care Centre champions Christ Church’s ‘Shoe Box Appeal’, providing many gifts for children in need during Christmas 2022.
Westgate House Care Centre has supported its local community for over seventeen years, providing generous donations to a multitude of charities. This Christmas, Westgate House participated in its local church’s fundraiser for the ‘Samaritan Purse Operation Christmas Child’ initiative. Members of the public can kindly donate a variety of items to fill a shoe box, giving children in need a wonderful gift for Christmas. Westgate House aimed to fill twelve shoe boxes to give back to the local community. In light of their fundraiser, the home transformed their ‘Happy Box’ into a donation box specifically for the children’s appeal. The ‘Happy Box’ is a Westgate Healthcare initiative that rewards team members with everyday niceties as a thank you for their excellent work. The home displayed the box in the reception area and promoted it on social media, encouraging contributions from their residents, relatives and team members. Residents at the home organised, promoted, collected and neatly packaged the shoe boxes with the donated presents, led by Care Home Manager Nancy Currie and supported by the Activities Lead, Rosie Funiciello. The home exceeded its target of twelve shoe boxes as they managed to fill an extra box with presents, bringing their total to thirteen boxes. The shoeboxes were collected Monday, 16th November, by Mary, their Christ Church contact and friend of Westgate House. Nancy Currie, Care Home Manager at Westgate House Care Centre, said: “At our home, we practise helping our communities with humanitarian projects that will positively impact people, places, communities and cultures. We find by working with people and doing good deeds, our team and residents feel fulfilled, especially when we can present to them how their work was being received, used and appreciated.” Paul, a Resident at Westgate House Care Centre, said: “It was great! We packaged the gifts with love, and I was happy to see Mary from Church. I am looking forward to doing it again next year!” To learn more about Westgate House Care Centre, please click here. Notes to Editors
Rail strikes: Over half (58%) of nurses concerned rail strikes will further impact quality of care as NHS faces ‘intolerable pressure’
23rd November 2022, London, United Kingdom – New research has found over half (58%) of nurses and health and social care workers are concerned rail strikes will further exacerbate the issues surrounding quality of healthcare. The timing comes when healthcare professionals are already under ‘intolerable pressure’ as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. A study of over 1,000 nurses, health and social care workers, conducted by Florence, the healthcare platform using technology to help tackle the shortage of healthcare staff globally, found that nine in ten (90%) healthcare workers will be unable to get to work as a result of the rail strikes across the country. Well over two-fifths (45%) of healthcare workers are worried it will lead to people having to wait longer for appointments, causing additional strain on the NHS. With one of the highest vacancy rates and longest wait list in years*, the rail strikes are an external factor that is compounding the long list of internal challenges the NHS and care sector are currently facing. A staggering two thirds (63%) of healthcare workers are having to choose between food and fuel and one in five (14%) of nurses have started using food banks since the cost of living crisis began. Dr. Charles Armitage, CEO and founder of Florence, commented: “Healthcare workers are already worried about how the NHS will cope over the winter months, now we’re seeing concern about how the rail strikes will affect the quality of care with staff unable to travel. We’re at a crisis point when it comes to NHS and healthcare staffing and we need the government to do something about it. The government needs to look at a long term strategy and predict the trajectory for decades to come – we can’t be in a position where a rail strike is leaving the workforce on its knees.”
Anton Du Beke supports ‘Nights on Lottie’ campaign to recognise valuable work of UK carers
In partnership with The Care Workers Charity, the UK’s leading charity for supporting current and former care workers with financial grants and other support services, Lottie will offer 1,000 free night stays at a raft of amazing destinations exclusively for carers across the UK in 2023. Anton Du Beke has first-hand experience of the work of carers as his mother worked as a carer and knows how important a role it is. He said: “The majority of adults will care for a family member or friend at some point in their lives, and naturally the impact on a whole range of things are underestimated. “This initiative is a way of giving much needed respite to carers both paid and unpaid on the frontline. Will Donnelly co-founder Lottie said: “We are thankful to Anton for his help in raising awareness of the valuable role that carers play up and down the country day in and day out. “Despite being a fundamental part of the UK’s healthcare system – especially over the last few years – the UK’s social care workforce are often overworked and underappreciated. Many carers, especially unpaid carers, (someone who cares for a friend or family member due to illness, a disability, or a mental health issue) feel invisible and unrecognised for all that they do”. “We are incredibly honoured to have Anton’s support to launch our 1000-night pledge. Nights On Lottie is a huge opportunity to raise awareness of our on-going mission to champion the incredible efforts of carers across the UK – and it was inspired by the fantastic work of Nights On Us, who gifted NHS workers free hotel stays during the pandemic”, continued Donnelly. To kick start the nationwide mission, Lottie have teamed up with Unplugged, who run a variety of digital detox cabins in the UK countryside, to offer over 30 x 3-night stays for carers (and a plus one) in need of a break. Hector Hughes, Co-Founder of Unplugged, said: “We started Unplugged to help busy and burnt-out people rest and recharge. Carers are always on and always putting others before themselves. We’re so pleased to be a part of this and to help them switch off in nature for a few days with an Unplugged digital detox.” Nights On Lottie’s first giveaway with Unplugged will run until midnight on 9th January 2023. Open to anyone who works as a care worker or carer (both paid and unpaid), all you need to do is either nominate yourself, a friend, family member, or colleague, via the online submission form. 33 winners will be chosen at random when the competition ends to win a free 3-night stay at one of Unplugged’s cabins at any time in 2023 (excluding Bank Holidays). “The support for those on the frontline of the social care sector doesn’t stop there either: we want to continue championing them through our pledge of 1000 free night stays at a variety of hotels and cabins, exclusively for carers and social care workers. Nights On Lottie X Unplugged is only the beginning” concludes Donnelly. Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers Charity said: “Since 2009, we’ve supported thousands of social care workers through financial hardships, including giving almost £2 million pounds of support to carers via our Emergency Fund grants during 2020*. Unfortunately, unless there is industry-wide change that offers social care workers the help they need, we expect the number of carers we help to significantly rise over the winter months. Every bit helps, and we are delighted to support Lottie’s mission to champion the incredible efforts of carers across the UK”. Night’s On Lottie’s first pledge of 100 free night stays with Unplugged officially launches on 23rd November to mark Carers Rights Day 2022 (24th November). To nominate your own Nights on Lottie carer, visit Lottie.org/nights-on-us-giveaway/
Care homes missing out on £1,000s of savings in food waste recycling
On average, UK care homes are spending £50,862 every year on sending their food waste to landfill, but recycling food waste could save them £7,000 per year, according to new research from Keenan Recycling. This comes as the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Environmental Act is fast approaching, which plans to make it a legal requirement in England for companies to recycle food waste. The study, conducted by the national food waste recycling company, also revealed that 64%* of care homes in the UK either don’t know about the legislation or if they do, have little or no understanding of it. On top of this, almost half (48%) of UK-based care homes do not think food waste is a core priority, and nearly half (42%) said that they do not recycle food waste at all. However, although care homes said that they are unprepared and uneducated for the legislation, 65% did say that they were working to gain an understanding of it and 56% said that they were concerned about the carbon emissions sending food waste to landfill produces. Grant Keenan, managing director at Keenan Recycling, said: “Funding is one of the greatest pressures on all our budgets at the moment. We’re all impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, but the care home industry has the double whammy of not only balancing resource constraints but also the cost to people. A saving of £7,000 could see invaluable flexibility to provide extra support for staff to giving residents access to more treatments. “On top of this, with pending legislative change and pressure for organisations to make public their own net zero plans, food recycling will be key to how operations function sustainably in the future, so the best time to become involved with it is now.” For businesses in Scotland, where Keenan’s headquarters reside, food waste recycling has been mandatory for those producing over 50kg of waste since 2014. This was then extended to any business producing over 5kg of waste in 2016, making it a legal obligation for any such business to recycle using a registered waste carrier service. Grant ended: “This is what the English legislation that’s proposed to be introduced in 2023 is likely to enforce, meaning that most businesses should be looking to become more educated about food waste recycling and its many benefits, including financial, towards creating a more circular economy.” For more insights download Keenan Recycling’s full ‘Food Waste Recycling 101’ report here.
Top of the class: Specialist Cambridgeshire care provider recognised for its outstanding contribution to social care at leading industry awards
A specialist Cambridgeshire social care and rehabilitation provider has recently been recognised for its outstanding contribution to social care at a leading industry awards ceremony — highlighting its continued commitment to making a meaningful difference to the lives of its residents. Askham Village Community, near Doddington, claimed first place in the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Social Care awards’ at the regional Great British Care Awards — an achievement that will now see it progress to the National finals on the 17th March 2023 at The ICC, Birmingham. The award serves to recognise the family-run business of over 30 years as a whole and its admirable approach to all forms of care and rehab — built upon the core values of community, dignity and empowerment. Alongside the more traditional nursing and residential care Askham provides, the judges were particularly impressed by the life-changing work carried out by Askham Rehab, the specialist rehabilitation branch of Askham Village community — which has continued to support patients going through what is often the most challenging period of their lives. Commenting on this recent achievement, Aliyyah-Begum Nasser, Operations Director at Askham, said: “To win the Outstanding Commitment to Social Care award is a real honour for all of us at Askham and I think the word ‘commitment’ is pertinent here. Each and every member of staff at Askham is wholeheartedly committed to our residents and this is evidenced by the quality of care received. We are one big community here, made up of a number of smaller teams each of which works interdependently to deliver the outstanding care and rehab that this award has recognised. We place real value on staff development to ensure we are up to date with best practices, but ultimately, none of this would be possible without the outstanding personalities of our team and their desire to make a real difference to people’s lives on a daily basis.” The Great British Care Awards are a series of regional events throughout the UK and are a celebration of excellence across the care sector. The purpose of the awards are to pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work — with the finalist of each region deservingly progressing to the national finals. Aliyyah continued: “It’s important to take stock at times like this and remember how far we have come as an organisation. We work with some amazing people and families each and every day and to be a part of their individual journeys is a real privilege. Our fingers are all firmly crossed for a winning outcome at the national finals.” Askham is always welcoming new residents and staff into its growing community — with real scope for professional development through bespoke training plans designed to nurture ambition and reward hard work. For further information, please contact 01354 740269 or visit https://askhamvillagecommunity.com/
How social care can attract more workers by overcoming language barriers
Widespread recent national news has highlighted that the UK’s social care sector desperately needs to attract more staff. According to a recent report from Skills for Care, job vacancies have increased by 55,000 (52%), the highest level since records began. There are around 165,000 vacancies across social care. When this number is added to the reported 132,000 vacancies in the NHS, it means the UK health and social sector needs to recruit a workforce bigger than the population of Wolverhampton. Additionally, the number of ‘filled’ roles has decreased by about 3%, equating to 50,000, between 2020/21 and 2021/22. Thus, it is now critical to address language barriers to help both fill vacancies and improve the level of care on the frontline in major cities. Accessing talent in large urban The latest census data for England and Wales shows that in large urban areas like London more than 40% of residents are non-UK born, meaning they’re extremely likely to have English as an additional language (EAL). By breaking down language barriers it could unlock a huge pool of workers to the care sector. Communicating within teams and with some care home residents can already be challenging depending on their health issues. When you add to this that some parties have EAL, communicating can become extremely difficult. Language barriers can lead to a delay in care, confusion in care delivery and also make it difficult to communicate with the patient’s loved ones. The growing number of current and potential workers, and patients with limited English proficiency is concentrated around large urban areas, which means the need for language support is already critical in large cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. Wasted time overcoming communication challenges Research conducted by Pocketalk shows that more than a third of healthcare workers agreed that language barriers make it more difficult to assess a patient’s needs. The research also showed that healthcare workers are losing around half a working day every week – four and a half hours – overcoming communication challenges. There is an undeniable need for interpreters, but this comes with costs and is not always quick to implement. Although social care providers can use interpreters, they must rely on the availability of one when needed and ensure consistent quality of translation to build and maintain trust and understanding. How technology can help The right technology can help greatly, which is why the UK government announced an extra £5.9bn investment into healthcare in 2021, £2.1bn of which will go on improving IT and digital technology within the NHS. Currently there are a number of tech translation solutions available that can take away some of these pain points and every option comes with its pros and cons. Google Translate is a solution that can provide instant translation between patient and carer, but the effectiveness of the translations isn’t consistent across all languages. Alternatively, real-time language digital translation devices like GDPR compliant Pocketalk instantly translate a large number of languages in both audio and text – aiding real time communication between parties. There is now an opportunity for social care providers to use translation technology to attract more staff who speak EAL and overcome communication barriers. This will help to ease staff shortages while improving the clinical outcomes for patients.
