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.

Bluebird Care Mid Essex has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.

All of Borough Care Homes for older people are rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

Borough Care recently welcomed young people taking part in a National Citizen Service (NCS) project to its Lisburne Court home in Offerton.  Borough Care, the largest not-for-profit provider of care for older people in Stockport, has linked up with The Challenge, one of the leading providers of the National Citizen Service. NCS is a government-backed programme open to young people between the ages of fifteen and seventeen.  The programme helps them develop skills for their working life and the transition into adulthood.  

The group of young people met with staff and residents at Lisburne Court to decide what the project should entail.  It was decided the outside area where residents sit needed brightening up so the young people came up with a mural design, which was painted onto wood and attached to the building.  Circles of wood, from a felled tree, were decorated by residents and the young people working together.  These will be hung from tree branches, as a memory of the day.

The Beeches Residential Home has announced the addition of a new extension to its current home, enabling more people in the area to access care and support. 

Located in Ixworth near Bury St Edmunds, the home has extended their building with an additional ten en-suite bedrooms adding to the existing single, double and en-suite rooms. The new addition also features a landscaped courtyard where residents can enjoy outdoor space and socialise with friends and family. 

The home has plans to celebrate the unveiling of the extension with friends, family and the local community invited to take a tour and meet residents.

Leading care workforce management solution urges the social care industry to embrace technology

A market leading workforce management technology company is urging local authorities and care providers to embrace technology and digital solutions to tackle the social care crisis.

Part of HAS Technology Group, CM (previously CM2000) provide innovative mix and match technology to suit the needs and budgets of local authority and private care providers.

With the social care industry at a tipping point, and many providers struggling to be financially sustainable, technology is providing the ability to gather intelligence, support the achievement of outcomes and ensure the right care is delivered at the right time.

Northampton General Hospital (NGH) is holding a Qualified Nursing Open Day on Saturday 7th September 2019, for registered nurses looking for a fresh challenge to find out about career opportunities across Medicine, Paediatrics and Theatres, meet staff and take a tour of the hospital facilities.

Driving Miss Daisy, a community companion service, which launched in the UK in 2014, has arrived in Poole.  Synonymous with and inspired by the Academy Award winning film (which featured Morgan Freeman as a driver for his elderly client) the Driving Miss Daisy idea originated in New Zealand with just a single vehicle, but has now developed in to a global franchise.  

Due to the demand for services, Driving Miss Daisy UK has expanded from its first location in Lee on the Solent, Hampshire in January 2015 and is now as far north as Glasgow in Scotland. 

11 Bluebird Care franchisees have been named as a top 20 home care provider across six regions, by leading home care reviews site, homecare.co.uk.

The awards are based on reviews from Bluebird Care’s customers and their loved ones, and feedback on home care providers were analysed by homecare.co.uk, before a top 20 list was drawn up for each region.

Providers were rated on: Overall Standard, Staff, Care/Support, Management, Treated with Dignity and Value for Money.

The full list is as follows:

THE CHICKEN whisperer is the nickname given to a Teesside care home resident due to her uncanny ability to calm an intake of feathered friends.

Mandale House Care Home, on Acklam Road, in Thornaby, has recently welcomed three new chickens as part of the HenPower project, run by charity Equal Arts.

Upon arrival, 93-year-old Irene Fleming built an immediate rapport with the birds, having years of experience looking after hens from her time in the Women’s Land Army during the Second World War.

After chatting to the creatures and calming them when they got flustered, Equal Arts associate Raël Rawlinson dubbed Irene “the chicken whisperer”

Irene said: “I love having hens here at Mandale. They’re such good girls. They remind me of my flock when I was a land girl.”

"Healthwatch Star" award presented to care company for treating patients like a family member

A Gateshead-based care provider that specialises in working with customers requiring care in their own homes has been awarded a prestigious award from the social care and health champion, Healthwatch Gateshead.

Bluebird Care Gateshead is based in the city's Team Valley and offers personalised home care visits, from 30 minutes to full live-in support. One of its clients nominated the service for a Star award. The Healthwatch Star scheme enables patients to nominate members of the caring professions who they feel have gone above and beyond in their care. The scheme is anonymous and the recipient receives a certificate to display at their place of work.

CARE home staff have completed a mighty mixed terrain 26-mile hike across the Peak District to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Six head office staff from the Hill Care Group, based in Chesterfield, took on the Peak District Mighty Hike in pouring rain following a heatwave earlier in the week.

Organised by Macmillan, the walk started at Darley Moor and wandered across the Peak District to reach Bakewell Showground.

The staff who completed the challenge included Stacey Forster, Kelly Perryman, Kirsty Wright, Sarah Stimpson, Samantha Jackson and Meaghan Cook.

They exceeded their initial target of £1,500 for the charity – reaching £1,725 in sponsorship so far. They’re now aiming to raise £2,000 and are still appealing for donations.