Orbis Education and Care appoints leading light in autism education
Orbis Education and Care has appointed a leading autism education specialist in the form of Sue Hatton. Sue joins the UK education and care provider in a role created to help achieve ultimate levels of autism intelligence across the organisation. Wales-based Orbis Education and Care runs 17 schools, residential homes and day facilities for children and adults with complex needs associated with autism and is one of the UK’s leading specialist providers. As Autism Advisor, Sue will draw on her extensive professional experience of working in the education and charitable sectors to ensure best autism practice continues to be delivered throughout all of the group’s services. Sue’s appointment is integral to Orbis’ efforts to achieve what the group describes as ‘ultimate autism intelligence’. Formerly a teacher in mainstream, special and further education settings, Sue is also a published academic in the field of autism having worked closely with the British Institute for Learning Disabilities. CEO of Orbis Education and Care, Suzanne Lawrence, said: “This appointment is a reflection of our desire at Orbis Education and Care to become a truly autism-intelligent organisation. It is our practical commitment to achieving this. “Introducing a specialist Autism Advisor to our team is the next stage in what is a continuous journey for us in raising autism awareness and promoting best care practice. We’re delighted to welcome Sue on board and can’t wait to put her knowledge, expertise and experience to good use for the benefit of the families, individuals and wider communities that our services exist to support.” Sue, a Bristol-based mother and grandmother, has been working with young people and adults with autism for more than 40 years, and is also a keen beekeeper in her spare time. On her appointment, Sue said: “I’m really looking forward to supporting the development of a pioneering autism strategy at Orbis that will continue to take staff on a journey from being simply autism aware, to achieving ultimate autism intelligence. “I accepted the role as it was clear to me that there is a serious commitment at Orbis Education and Care to be a comprehensively autism intelligent company, and I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the team.” Orbis is currently recruiting specialist staff to join its schools and care homes around Wales. Visit Orbis’ website for more information about the group and the vacancies: www.orbis-group.co.uk.
Naidex moved to 15th & 16th September 2021
Naidex have taken the difficult decision to postpone the event to the 15th and 16th of September 2021. The event was previously scheduled to go ahead in March. We have been in consultation with various Government departments and whilst the rollout of the vaccine has given the country much needed optimism, we have been advised that we will be unable to host the event in the Spring. The safety of our visitors, customers, partners and staff is paramount. We are confident that moving the event to September will enable us to run the safe, successful event the industry demands. To support our exhibitors, partners and the wider industry we are delighted to announce an additional digital version of Naidex taking place on the 18th & 19th March. This will provide a digital meeting place, world class speaking sessions and access to the latest products and services. If you have any queries, please contact the Smart Home for Assisted Living team directly on marketing@naidex.co.uk
Connect2Care offers free mental health training nationwide
Connect2Care, the leading provider of training and apprenticeships in the healthcare, adult care and early years sectors, is prioritising mental health by offering free training nationwide. Two staff members from any sector business or supplier will be able to access the Level 1 Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health Training Course, free of charge. This initiative has been launched in response to growing concerns around mental health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement follows warnings from the Government of a “hidden mental health crisis” in the UK, with twice as many people experiencing a diagnosable mental health condition since the start of the pandemic[1]. This is especially pertinent in the health and social care sectors where workers’ roles and daily lives have been significantly impacted by recent events. A recent report from the Care Quality Commission stated that the impact of COVID-19 on care staff has resulted in some registered managers of adult social care services ‘suffering from burn out and extreme anxiety’, as well as inspection teams dealing with an ‘increase in care home managers suffering from distress due to multiple deaths and financial worries’[2].As part of its commitment to improving mental health provision and education in the UK, Connect2Care has developed a dedicated mental health strategy and action plan to support its staff. A mental health microsite has been created on its intranet to provide support and resources for all colleagues. Furthermore, many of its key staff are now trained in Mental Health First Aid and all 500 staff are encouraged to complete the Level 1 Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health Training Course. Lindsey Appleby-Flynn, Adult Health and Social Care Lead is heading up the Connect2Care mental health programme. An expert in the field of mental health, she sits on the Executive Committee of the Care Apprenticeship Board and has completed extensive work with individuals experiencing psychosis, schizophrenia, bi-polar and personality disorders, as well as managing a community support team for those enduring mental health issues. She comments: “We know that now more than ever, the mental strain placed on many professionals across the country is substantial and we want to help support people to manage their stress and mental health concerns. We want to break down as many barriers as possible and ensure training is accessible for those who need it most.” “At Connect2Care, we’re committed to helping professionals in the sector develop the skills they need to help manage their own mental health and support their colleagues through these challenging times”. To apply for complimentary access to the Level 1 Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health Training Course, please visit: https://connect2care.net/ or email commercial-courses@connect2care.net
Connect2Care recognised as Centre of Excellence by Skills for Care
Leading provider of training and apprenticeships in the healthcare, adult care and early years sectors, Connect2Care, has been awarded the Skills for Care Centre of Excellence certificate for its innovations in learning and development. Skills for Care is the strategic body for workforce development in adult social care in England; its endorsement aims to showcase the best learning providers for the adult social care sector. The certificate recognises those who go above and beyond, demonstrate exemplary practice, are constantly evolving to meet the needs of adult social care and innovate to ensure the needs of learners are met. Connect2Care was commemorated for its commitment to delivering an outstanding service. This includes initiatives such as its Quality Assurance measures, which ensure the integrity of qualifications are maintained in line with internal and external governance; its robust staff development programme; the enriched learning experience for apprentices, whereby they have access to a diverse range of expert trainers and one-on-one mentoring; as well as Connect2Care’s bespoke training offer, developed in response to specific business needs. “We’re immensely proud to be recognised for our commitment to learning and development”, says Kirsty Simmonds, Adult Care Lead at Connect2Care. “Meeting the training needs of adult social care workers in the current climate calls for innovation, which at Connect2Care, is something we are constantly striving towards. In recent months, we’ve developed specific courses to help care workers strengthen their skills and expertise during the pandemic, while ensuring they have the tools to manage their own mental health and support their colleagues through these challenging times. “This stamp of approval from Skills for Care shows how our training and apprenticeship programmes are helping to make a real difference to the learner and the people they care for, when they need it most.” As part of Connect2Care’s ongoing commitment to developing its training and apprenticeship programme in line with the changing needs of social care, it recently introduced four new short courses designed to help apprentices deal with the challenges directly associated with the pandemic. All of Connect2Care’s apprenticeships now contain the following live and online training courses as optional extras within the learning journey: The courses are suitable for employees of all levels and will provide apprentices with the tools and skills needed to prepare them for the post-COVID-19 future. For more information on Connect2Care and upskilling your teams following COVID-19, please visit: https://www.connect2care.net/leave-the-training-to-us
Reducing emergency hospital admissions for elderly residents
New data released today shows that care homes who pioneered an innovative telemedicine approach to assessing residents following a fall have seen a significant reduction in the use of ambulances and emergency hospital admissions. The data confirms that enabling vulnerable residents to receive rapid, high-quality clinical care in a familiar environment reduces the risks associated with lengthy hospital stays and reduces pressure on local services and budgets. Immedicare is a secure, video-enabled, clinical healthcare service linking care homes to the NHS with 24-hour access to a highly-skilled, multidisciplinary clinical team based at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. The service has been adopted by 780 UK care homes to date. The provision of consistent, high-quality care is particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many care homes struggle with absent staff due to self-isolation, ongoing recruitment challenges and Government movement restrictions. In the last 3.5 years, 105,144 video consultations were made from care homes who have access to the Immedicare central hub.1 Of these calls, 20,152 (19%) were related to falls.1 Following a falls related consultation with a clinical specialist, 83% of residents remained in their care home for assessment, follow-up and monitoring of their condition.1 Prior to installation of the service, care home residents would have been routinely sent to the hospital for assessment after a fall, usually via an ambulance. It is estimated that the service has saved the NHS nearly £10 million in less than four years in ambulance conveyancing and hospital admissions related to falls.1 If all 15,000 care homes in the UK were to use the service, it is estimated that the NHS could save over £250 million in ambulance conveyances and hospital admissions related to falls over the same period.1 Mike Padgham, Managing Director of St Cecilia’s Care Services and Chair of the Independent Care Group commented, “It always benefits the resident if they can remain in the home rather than be admitted to hospital as an emergency unless it’s truly necessary, and that’s the underlying principle of the Immedicare service. It gives care home staff and residents round-the-clock access to a highly-skilled, specialist nursing team who can assess, manage and monitor their condition. We’ve always known this is the best approach for care home residents, but now we have the data to prove it. This service protects residents and care home staff and reduces pressure on local services and budgets. It should be a must-have service for every CCG.” Falls in the elderly are a huge challenge. In 2018/19, there were over 225,000 falls-related emergency hospital admissions among people aged 65 and older in England alone.2 Falls and fractures cost the NHS an estimated £2 billion a year.3 Around a third of people aged 65 and over, and around half of the people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year.4 Older people living in care homes are three times more likely to fall than older people living in their own homes.5 Falls are the leading cause of emergency hospital admissions for older people.3,4 Once admitted as an emergency, care home residents aged 65 or older spend on average 8.2 days in hospital.6 It can be a stressful and disorientating experience for elderly care home residents, of whom 69% have dementia or memory problems.7 In the current climate, the potential for distress is heightened by visitor restrictions and can lead to additional problems associated with worse health outcomes, such as hospital delirium, which affects a third of elderly patients admitted to hospital.8 Rachel Binks, Nurse Consultant, Digital and Acute Care, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Lead for Immedicare commented, “The clinical risks associated with emergency hospital admissions provide a stark reminder of why we need to wrap specialist clinical care around our elderly residents and keep them out of hospital whenever possible. This has always been the case, but the pandemic has made it a priority and that’s why telemedicine has been adopted at a scale and pace never seen before in this sector. We have decided to share our data now to encourage more commissioners and care home providers to consider the Immedicare service as part of their long-term strategy for providing high-quality care. As the data shows, it protects elderly and frail care home residents, as well as protecting local services, so it’s a win for everybody.” For further information on Immedicare, please visit www.immedicare.co.uk
Charing Healthcare Chooses Duplex
Charing Healthcare are a company with family origins and currently have 10 care homes across Kent and Medway which deliver dementia residential care, nursing home care and also learning disability care. They provide warm, safe, friendly care homes with the very best in personal care & support. With their experience gained from over 20 years in the care sector, they are well placed to support clients and their families in their search for the right home in which to start the new chapter in their life. With cleaning and hygiene practices already a high priority and the Corona Virus pandemic unfolding earlier in the year, the management at Charing Healthcare decided to look at ways of enhancing their cleaning regimes. Charing Healthcare director, Senna Osman commented “We had a Duplex Steamer at one of our homes for a few years which was great. Then Covid hit and when we started to look at measures we could put in place to assist and elevate our infection control procedures and the Duplex Steamer instantly came to mind. We then purchased 8 more machines for our other homes which have been great. The team at Duplex arranged the delivery and training for the machines very promptly and have supported us anytime we need help. Thank You!” What machines Charing Healthcare chose The machines Senna chose were the highly popular Duplex 340 Steam and Duplex 420 Steam floor cleaning machines which clean and sanitise both carpets and hard floors utilising the power of steam which has been proven to kill 99.998% of bacteria. These models have been used to help keep care homes up and down the country clean and sanitised for many, many years and are light and easy to use. They need no harsh cleaning chemicals to achieve superior results which combined with their low water usage mean they are environmentally friendly and ecologically sound. They are also highly effective on hard to clean safety flooring scrubbing deep into its slip-resistant surface thus helping to avoid dangerous slip hazards. Duplex not only provides Covid-secure demonstrations when machines are purchased a certificated training and installation session is carried out which covers the use and care of the machine. Duplex southern area Business Development Manager, John Still said “in addition to the Covid 19 security requirements we have as a company such as the use of PPE, social-distancing, minimal staff presence and hand-washing facilities, Charing Healthcare provided temperature testing on arrival, track and trace risk assessment and large rooms in which to carry out the training. The whole experience of carrying out the training sessions was well-organised with a dedication to the staff and residents paramount.”
Naidex Virtual – the virtual offshoot of Naidex
Whilst this year has changed many things, one remains the same – our commitment to support the independent living and healthcare industries. We have been working alongside our partners, collaborators and industry experts to determine how we can best ensure you are receiving the support you need. So, as we await the 46th edition of Naidex, we are introducing Naidex Virtual. The virtual offshoot of Naidex was launched to provide a series of free online informative sessions, based on the current needs of the independent living and healthcare community. Naidex virtual will feature a wide range of digital activities, webisodes, product showcases and more, hosted by industry experts with the aim of providing free support, advice and valuable information on the most pressing challenges facing the industry today. How will Naidex Virtual help you? Introducing the first webisode – Room to Improve: Independence in the Home COVID-19 brought new challenges to the independent living and healthcare industries, and shed light on the need for accessibility in the home. With the Government also launching a public consultation on raising home accessibility standards, it is clear there is still a lot to be done. Join our first webisode ‘Room to Improve: Independence in the Home’ on the 2nd December at 2:00pm, for an in-depth look at: We will be continuing our support of the independent living and healthcare industries and look forward to welcoming you to both our digital initiatives and our next event. For more information visit https://www.naidex.co.uk/naidex-virtual/
How ketones can improve cognitive function | New study
New clinical research conducted by the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association has established people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) experienced significant improvement in cognitive function when consuming a compound rich in ketogenic medium-chain triglycerides (kMCT) and milk protein (BrainXpert Energy Complex) twice a day for six months. Affecting 15-20% of people aged 65+, MCI is a decline in cognitive functioning considered a transitional stage between normal ageing and dementia. In part, MCI develops when a person’s brain has less glucose available as a source of energy1, resulting in symptoms including memory loss, forgetfulness, and a decline in decision-making ability and judgment. The six-month randomised controlled BENEFIC (Brain ENErgy, Functional Imaging and Cognition) trial investigated the role of ketones, which can be used by the brain as an alternative fuel source to glucose. The ground-breaking results established for the first time that the BrainXpert Energy Complex compound, rich in ketogenic medium chain triglycerides (kMCT) and milk protein, can be utilized as an alternative brain energy source for people living with MCI. This signals a major breakthrough for the MCI community that, until now, has had no available treatments2. Trial results confirmed that an intervention with this compound clinically demonstrated a doubling of the ketones used by the brain, thereby significantly reducing the brain energy deficit caused by impaired brain glucose metabolism. Participants also showed a statistically significant reduction in MCI symptoms: they had improved memory; improved word recall; were able to think quicker; and were more able to multi-task versus participants that were given a placebo. BENEFIC trial principal investigator Professor Stephen Cunnane, from the University of Sherbrooke, said: “Identifying significant improvement in cognitive function in patients with MCI is an exciting development that gives us great motivation to stay on this research track. This is only the beginning and the hope is that new innovations can be found to not just boost brain function, but to slow down progression to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive decline linked to ageing. These results should significantly improve the quality of life for people living with Mild Cognitive Impairment.” Cognitive function was assessed at baseline and after six months of intervention. Episodic memory was evaluated using the French version of the 16-item free and cued word learning and recall test and the Brief Visual Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). For executive function, attention and processing speed, the Trail Making test, Stroop Colour and Word Interference test (Stroop), and the Verbal Fluency (VF) tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System were used, respectively. The Boston Naming Test (TNT) was used for the assessment of language ability. For more information on the study, please visit www.nestlehealthscience.com/BrainXpert
Free packed lunches at Sandstone care homes
Three of our care homes in Fleetwood, Longridge and St Helens are offering free packed lunches to struggling local families during the half-term holidays. Fleetwood Hall Care Home, Longridge Hall Care Home and St Helens Hall Care Home, all part of the Sandstone Care Group, are keen to hear from local families who would like help. All information will be kept confidential. The homes are offering home-made packed lunches from Monday through to Friday this week containing a sandwich, drink, fruit, crisps and a yogurt to those who would normally qualify for free school meals. Local families will receive free packed lunches It follows a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford to provide free meals for children over half term after Ministers ruled out extending free meals beyond term time. Joanne Warren, manager of Fleetwood Hall Care Home, said: “Over the past seven months we have been on the receiving end of so much goodwill from local people and this is our way of giving something back to our community. Tracey Hartley, manager of Longridge Hall Care Home, said: “So many people have seen their incomes reduce during the pandemic and we wanted to do something to help. We’ve already had a number of phone calls from local families and lots of lovely comments on our social media.” Amanda Clark, manager of St Helens Hall Care Home in Thatto Heath, said: “We’ve already had a number of families calling us asking for packed lunches. No child should go hungry and we hope that our small gesture will help.” Ben Challinor, one of the directors of Sandstone Care Group, said: “We felt it was important to get involved in this hugely important initiative. There are lots of families in urgent need and we are delighted to be playing our part.” For more information and to book a packed lunch please contact the homes direct. Call Fleetwood Hall Care Home, Chatsworth Avenue, Fleetwood FY7 8RW on 01253 777065. Call Longridge Hall Care Home, 4 Barnacre Road, Longridge PR3 2PD on 01772 786106. Call St Helens Hall Care Home, Elephant Lane, Thatto Heath, St Helens WA9 5EL on 01744 818030 or 01744 818662. www.sandstonecare.co.uk
