The Southern Healthcare family of four care homes in Devon care home group, has become the first group in the country to have achieved four outstanding accreditations for dementia care from a highly regarded organisation which specialises in auditing the care industry.
Southern Healthcare, which owns award-winning homes in Devon care home group in, Exeter, Plymouth, Dawlish, and Seaton, has won the accolade for its Butterfly and Dragonfly programmes from Meaningful Care Matters.
Meaningful Care Matters Auditors Sally Knocker and Nancy Cunningham said: “To achieve the highest level of Butterfly and Dragonfly accreditation, all four homes demonstrated a whole team approach to making each moment matter for every individual. As one of their activity coordinators said, “We could make the opening of a bag of crisps a big thing here!” ”
Founded in 2019, MCM aims to change the culture of care by ensuring people have purpose, are empowered to be themselves and have meaningful relationships within their care setting.
MCM rate care providers on the care environment, the individual care plans (including the use of medication) and the meaningful relationships between staff and residents. Those care providers who demonstrate a high number of meaningful interactions against a long list of criteria, are awarded the status of a Butterfly Home.
The auditors went on to say: “The homes have perfected the art of creating a true sense of home and family, where no one gets forgotten, and the environment is full of pictures, objects and items linked to people’s life stories and interests. Meaningful Care Matters is proud to partner with Southern Healthcare in celebrating that people in care homes can be ‘Free to be Me’ and do still live a good life supported by a fantastic team.”
The Dragonfly programme has several key features including creating a high-quality person-centred care environment that has a sense of home, where staff do not wear uniforms and are comfortable with being in the company of residents (rather than merely performing tasks for them).
Activities are organically integrated into all parts of the day and all team members play a role (including housekeeping, food services and maintenance). Families, children, and animals are welcome as informal and regular visitors, not just for special occasions.
Geoffrey Cox, the Managing Director of Southern Healthcare, said: “A Level 1 Outstanding rating from Meaningful Care Matters is an amazing outcome. I feel very humbled to hear the auditors speaking of witnessing the huge love our teams feel for the people they support and how much they care. This is a testament not only to the quality of the skills and knowledge of the people in our team, but also to their compassion, heart, and meaningful connection to the people they are caring for. https://www.southernhealthcare.co.uk/why-choose-us/
