Blog
Top 20 Care Homes in The South East Award
Our award from carehome.co.uk as one of the Top 20 Care Homes in the South East was a proud moment for us as a care home and is a reflection of all the hard work which has gone into making the running of the home as exceptional as possible. We reflect on this achievement and the components of what we feel makes our home excellent:
Staffing
Supporting our staff to do their jobs as well as they can is vital to a happy team. This will vary from role to role and require different inputs depending on the demands of the their respective roles. Allocating our care staff to a section for personal care is important, as well as them finishing together and having a break/catch up later in the morning. The team having the right equipment to do their jobs, purchasing this at their request or being proactive to act on breakdowns are small things that assist with morale.
Simply being there for our staff, being aware of issues, ideas and questions and providing them with the feeling that these can be discussed ensures they are listened to and feel part of the service and the care they are giving. We believe this is enhanced by our family ethos which starts at the top, but more importantly that we create that feeling in the home and that staff enjoy coming to work and are connected to the residents lives from the smallest the funniest aspects of a day.
Responsive Care
The phrase “Person Centred Care” is often used to describe how care should be provided in an independent and bespoke nature to the elderly. However, the facilitation of independence to the elderly should be natural to the care we give and if the staff member is trained appropriately, become the mainstay of their job. What is arguably more important are staff being aware of how and why a resident may not be themselves on a given day, the reasons for which can vary considerably. Indeed, spotting the signs of skin integrity issues or the need for emotional support, documenting this accordingly and communicating this to senior staff are examples of responsive care which are integral to the health of an elderly person.
Health & Wellbeing Management
Keeping our residents well is our raison d’etre. The management of how this is achieved, consistently, every day is a function that is developed from an organised and professional senior/management team, who have clear roles and responsibilities. Examples of this include the effective management of our medications over four week cycle and on a daily basis, including the management of medication changes and any ad hoc ordering. The management of falls is another vital aspect of maintaining wellbeing and safety in a residential care home. Responding to a fall in a safe manner is important, but arguably it is more important to learn from the falls and the subtle changes that can be made in diet, mobility, assistance and environment to attempt to reduce a similar fall in future. At The Shelley, we have managed to reduce our number of falls per 1,000 bed days from 11.8 in 2022, 8.3 in 2023 and down to 4.2 at April 2024. This is clear evidence that our falls management is working and improving the safety of our residents.
