Fire Safety Week survey shows unsafe fire doors in homes and that their work place is at risk of serious fire. The results of the study were released in order to mark Fire Door safety week, which is now supported by the London Fire Brigade

A leading scientist and Scotland could be the country responsible for the breakthrough of allowing people to take a pill to prevent dementia.

£1.5 million has been awarded to the next generation of dementia researchers by motor-racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart and his charity Race Against Dementia, which was formed after his wife of 57 years was diagnosed with the frontotemporal dementia.

Report finds home care workers love their profession, but endure poor pay, abuse and fear the impact of Brexit and automation

A new report on the state of the home care industry has found that home care workers are facing extremely difficult social, political and economic challenges in carrying out their roles. 

The report by leading home care reviews site, homecare.co.uk, surveyed 1,305 members of the home care workforce. The findings show that home care workers continue to be dedicated to their jobs – with 94% saying they enjoy the role and 81% not intending to leave the profession – but they are working in challenging conditions.

Jonathan Bruce, Managing Director at Prestige Nursing + Care, discusses the need for politicians to focus on the future of social care.

They say a week is a long time in politics, and the past few have seen the long-term future of British healthcare plunge deeper into uncertainty.

The latest episode of this healthcare crisis was aired in May, with the news that the Social Care Green Paper was not to be published for at least another five months. It had been originally slated for Autumn 2017.

What makes this issue and development particularly worrying is the supposed disagreement on how to fund the plans, between No10, the Treasury and the Department for Health, which has become so wide that there have been rumours that the Green Paper could be dropped permanently. This would be disastrous for all concerned in the care industry.

Great Oaks invests in robotic technology to boost residents’ health and wellbeing

Residents from Great Oaks care home in Bournemouth have benefited from the addition of two new robotic animals as part of the home’s pet therapy sessions, Biscuit the robotic dog and Arthur the robotic cat. Great Oaks is already home to the residents’ pet budgie called Smuggler which often brings a smile to everyone’s face when he starts to sing.

It has been recognised since Smuggler was introduced to the home, that he has encouraged social interaction and visibly reduced stress and anxiety in residents with dementia. Biscuit the robotic dog and Arthur the robotic cat are a welcome addition to the home’s dedicated pet therapy sessions. Biscuit responds to touch and speech, just like a real dog would, making him the perfect companion.

In one of the first examples of its open API platform in practice, ABB has been working alongside the iHomeLab of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts to pioneer a personalized virtual assistant to improve quality of life for elderly residents.
With increasing life expectancy, the number of seniors in the population will continue to grow. Consequently, solutions for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) are becoming increasingly important to allow the elderly to live independently at home for longer. 

Numerous care home in the UK have had their technology enhanced with the use of Amazon Alexa for their residents. Care homes such as Livability Brookside House stated that they believed it allows their residents to gain more independence, as with the help of Alexa, they are now able to control their television, play music and even control their lights. It is noted that some residents even use their gadgets to set reminders for them to take their medication, or have a drink of water.

Royal College of Nursing are urging health care staff to get their flu vaccination this winter. They have explained that it is a professional responsibility for all nursing staff to ensure that they are vaccinated in order to help protect vulnerable patients and clients that they will be working closely with.

Influenza, also known as ‘the flu’ is a virus that infects the throat and nose and sometimes even the lungs. If developed, it can be mild to severe and some times, can lead to death. According to Royal College of Nursing’s #BeatTheFlu campaign, you can be in full health, yet still contract severe complications such as “bronchitis, secondary bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and encephalitis.”

Orchard Care Homes, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist residential, dementia, nursing and short-term respite care, has been confirmed as a finalist in this year’s LaingBuisson Awards, in the Residential Care (larger organisations) category.

Maddy Haren, from Manchester, who lives in Timperley, is calling on others to join her and unite against dementia at the Cheshire Memory Walk, which will be held at Arley Hall and Gardens, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 6NA on Saturday 12 October 2019.

Four Orchard Care Homes in Leeds have been awarded ‘Good’ ratings by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care.

Nesfield Lodge, Middleton Park Lodge, Paisley Lodge and Lofthouse Grange & Lodge were given the ratings following scheduled inspections. The homes were assessed across five categories – safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership, achieving ‘Good’ ratings across all criteria.  

Offering residential dementia care and short-term respite care, the homes promote a person-centred approach to care that provides residents with independence, compassion and empathy and all play a vital role in their local communities.

Harrogate-based Yorkshire Care Equipment has supplied Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) with over 50 Raizer emergency lifting chairs that are now being used by first responders, falls teams and care homes in the Sheffield area.

Care Sourcer launches free health and wellbeing support for over 800,000 UK care workers
Care Sourcer, the UK’s first comparison and matching site for elderly care, has today announced that it is launching a free Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to all UK care provider employees. The free programme, provided through Health Assured and initially funded by Legal & General, is available to employees of both care homes and care-at-home providers.
Care Sourcer’s EAP will provide a complete support network that offers expert advice and compassionate guidance 24/7, covering a wide range of issues including mental or physical stress, bereavement of residents they have formed close bonds with, money worries,
and general low morale. Stress, depression, anxiety and sickness are highly prevalent amongst care workers and can force them to take extended time off work. In many cases, it leads to high turnover of staff.