Staff and residents at Fife-based Balhousie Forth View Care Home celebrated achieving two Grade 5 ratings after a recent Care Inspectorate visit by throwing an extra special party.
Forth View in Methil was awarded a ‘very good’ rating of Grade 5 for both ‘Management and Leadership’ and ‘Care and Support’ after introducing a number of initiatives including a drive for more ‘person-centred care’ to enable residents to be more supported and involved in decision making within the home.
The Care Inspectorate’s visit found that residents and their relatives were very happy with the level of care provided and enjoy many of the home’s activities including a Residents Committee, while staff felt well supported and ‘listened to’ by their managers.
People living at Forth View and their relatives commented on having a “great relationship with the staff” and feeling “happy” and “secure”.
The Care Inspectorate commented that staff at Forth View “were good at giving care and support in a respectful, kind manner whilst promoting dignity and privacy.”
To celebrate, Forth View welcomed staff and residents on Wednesday, March 14 from Luncarty, one of Balhousie’s Perthshire-based care homes and a group of staff and service users from Balhousie’s Advanced Specialist Care (ASC) unit which is also in Perthshire. The ASC team brought an inflatable pub with them to really get the party going and residents from across the homes enjoyed mingling together.
Residents from Luncarty enjoyed testing out Forth View’s state-of-the-art Virtual Reality system which enables users to have a range of unforgettable experiences including deep sea ocean diving and riding a roller coaster.
Forth View acquired this new technology after Deputy Manager, Samantha Beattie successfully fundraised £1500 through skydiving to purchase the interactive equipment and the team are enjoying being able to share the technology with residents from across the Balhousie family. VR technology has been shown to improve memory, mood and verbal communication among care home residents.
Gordon Candlish, Care Home Manager at Balhousie Forth View, was delighted to be able to celebrate the care home’s good news with residents and staff from other care homes as well as Forth View. Gordon said:
“Our latest grading from the Care Inspectorate is a culmination of many months of hard work from every member of the team here at Balhousie Forth View and it is incredibly well deserved. Our focus on person-centred care has been embraced by our staff, residents and their families and has enabled residents to be more involved in decision making – it is their home after all.”
“It has been fantastic being able to celebrate with a special party and share our good news with both Luncarty and our Advanced Specialist Care unit who came to visit us and join in the festivities. Everyone had a brilliant time trying out or new Virtual Reality system, dancing, singing and enjoying the inflatable pub!”
