Chasedale Care Home

Colleagues from Laurels Lodge Care Home in Woodside, Havencourt Care Home in Stonehaven and Cumbrae Lodge Care Home in Irvine all came together to do a skydive, raising money for residents in their care and Alzheimer's Scotland.

Tracey Rhodes, Resident Experience Facilitator for Scotland, said: "Everyone was really excited for the jump. One of them hadn't even been in a plane, and they completed it, which was a huge accomplishment. They managed to raise £4,000 which is fantastic. Well done everyone."

Congratulations everyone! We’re all proud of you.

Chasedale Care Home in Blyth has been accredited for a pioneering dementia care approach.

The care team at Chasedale Care Home is celebrating being accredited for a radically different approach of care for people living with dementia.

The Dementia Care Framework is a unique step forward in the personalisation of care for people living with dementia. The care team uses exclusive purpose-designed technology to help build and continuously update a picture of each resident’s individual experience of their care and their physical, psychological and emotional well-being, so that their care can be adjusted to their changing needs.

The pioneering home is part of Four Seasons Health Care which spent two years developing and testing the new approach. The home hosted an event for care commissioners, other health and social care professionals and relatives to introduce the Dementia Care Framework to them on Thursday 22^nd December 2016, with entertainment provided by a local singer.

Amanda Cunningham, Managing Director for Four Seasons in the North East of England, South West and Bristol said: “This is next generation dementia care to make life better for the person with dementia and we are excited to offer it. A vital part of the Framework is the bespoke support and training the team throughout the home receives with additional support and training for those, working within our dementia services. This goes beyond the practicalities of caring for someone with dementia and through simulation gives them a deeper understanding of what it is like to live with dementia.”

In addition to the support and training, there are three additional components to the Dementia Care Framework – personal care reviews, Resident and Family Charters.

At the heart of the Dementia Care Framework is a personal care review process which is continuously updated electronically by care staff to give a comprehensive and current picture of each resident. Thought to be the first of its type worldwide, it is based on 320 recognised standards, including NICE Guidelines (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and Alzheimer’s Society best practice guidance. It replaces paper-based audits that are slow and almost always behind the changing care needs of the person.

The resident and family charters were developed in consultation with residents, family members, health and social care professionals and care teams, taking account of over 400 comments. The resident charter sets out their rights, the standards of care they can expect and commitment to provide for their personal needs and preferences. The family charter, sets out the support that they can expect to receive and how they can input to planning their relative’s care.

Only when a home achieves key standards within the Dementia Care Framework does it receive Four Seasons Accreditation for the quality of its dementia care.

To find out more about this fundamentally different approach to dementia care please visit carehomes.fshc.co.uk/dcf or email dementiacare@fshc.co.uk

Kayleigh Hart, Care Assistant from Chasedale Care Home in Blyth has been crowned the Regional Carer/Support Worker of the Year for the North East of England, South West and Bristol in the Four Seasons Health Care Awards 2016 and is through to the national finals.

These are the 1st Four Season’s Care Awards and this Year over 700 people were nominated for awards by care home residents, colleagues and visitors. All entries have been of a very high standard making the judging process a difficult one. However, a winner had to be chosen and the nomination for Kayleigh demonstrated how she continues to make a difference and provide special resident experiences on a daily basis.

During the judging process for the Regional Carer/Support Worker of the year, the panel was looking at a number of different factors including how the overall winner shows understanding about what is important to individual residents and how they strive to personalise their care.

Kayleigh was nominated by a colleague. Her nomination read: “Kayleigh has worked at Chasedale for three years, initially as a bank worker and across our various units. Her care delivery across the board is exceptional, but she excels herself on our all male unit. As a 24 year old young lady, her approach, manner, compassion and understanding appears equivalent to someone that has developed such skills over a professional lifetime. Kayleigh maintains her composure even in the most challenging of situations and is able to minimize any distress exhibited by any individual based on her detailed knowledge of them personally and the relationship she has developed with them. Kayleigh is a shining example of exactly how care should be delivered, and from this she instills trusts on the residents, and also their family members who have the difficult decision of entrusting their loved ones into our environment.”

As the winner for the North East of England, South West and Bristol, Kayleigh is automatically through to the national Four Season’s Care Awards finals. She will meet a panel of judges in for the last round of judging and will then join finalists from across the UK in Birmingham for a special event to celebrate their achievements and discover if they have won a national award.

Rob Hearn, Regional Manager for Four Seasons Health Care in Northumberland, said: “Kayleigh is an absolute pleasure to see on a daily basis and how she makes the residents feel both empowered and valued. She is not aware of her skill within the care environment which makes her work even more special. Well done Kayleigh you are a very deserving winner of this award!”

Amanda Cunningham, Managing Director for Four Seasons Health Care in North East of England, South West and Bristol, said: “Kayleigh is quietly confident and has been as asset to the team at Chasedale. Her skills in being able to support residents that have complex care needs is very special indeed. Her person centered approach and her ability to empower others is a talent we need from all of our Four Season’s care teams.”

The Care Awards were open to employees from all Four Seasons homes across the UK and central team members to celebrate their commitment in the delivery of high-quality services to approximately 14,000 residents cared for in more than 300 locations.

The 14 categories have been created to recognise excellence in a variety of roles across the organisation ranging from ‘Carer/Support Worker of the Year’ to ‘Personal Activities Lead Champion’. We also wanted to recognise the hard the dedication and commitment from our residents, their relatives and volunteers.

Tim Hammond, CEO of Four Seasons Health Care said: “The award categories are all really important as we want to highlight the fantastic people we have working here in our organization. However, I believe it is important to acknowledge the special people who go above and beyond to help others in the community, and this is why our ‘Resident or Relative Contribution’ and ‘Volunteer of the Year’ awards are so important to us.

“I look forward to seeing all of our Regional winners at the National Finals in December.”