Our nursing and care staff: The home looks after around 45 residents and employs about 100 staff. The nursing and care staff are managed by our Matron who is a very experienced Registered Nurse. She is supported by her Assistant Matron and a team of 10 Registered Nurses. Every resident has a dedicated Registered Nurse who is responsible for that resident’s care planning. The nursing team supervises the home’s team of Nursing Assistants.
The home has an Activities Organiser who plans the activities for the month ahead. Some activities are tailored to each individual resident. They might include a crossword or a jigsaw puzzle, or reading a newspaper or magazine together. It may involve a trip to the local pub for coffee, or something stronger. The home has a minibus in which residents can go for a ride around the countryside. Other entertainments are provided by visiting shows. These happen once or twice a week. They always include music, either a guitarist or an opera singer or both. Visiting shows are very varied and can include a theatre group, a talk and exhibition from someone from a local motor museum.
Our Kitchen Manager works with Matron and our Meals Review Committee to devise menus that are popular with residents. Some of our residents will need special diets. Some will need their food pureed. Our kitchen staff are able to provide the variety that is needed.
Residents can have breakfast when they like, where they like, and what they like. The kitchen is right at the heart of the home and residents can go to the kitchen hatch and some are able to ask for what they want. Hot drinks and biscuits are available at any time.
The home’s lunches are varied. Dishes include roast lamb, cod in parsley sauce, cottage pie, port and pear cassoulet. Afternoon tea includes a selection of homemade cakes and fresh fruit. Supper is something light, such as salmon, vegetable lasagna, carrot and coriander soup. This may be followed by a pudding of raspberry cheesecake, or strawberries and ice cream.
Our Facilities Manager looks after the building, gardens and grounds. We like to continually maintain and improve the fabric of the house and its facilities.
The home uses technology wherever possible to help us to keep our residents safe. The home has fitted a fire sprinkler system. Sprinklers are very effective and no-one has died of fire in a building fitted with a working fire sprinkler system.
The home has developed special locks for residents’ rooms. The lock prevents other residents entering someone else’s room. However it doesn’t stop a resident leaving their own room. The home may use pressure mats next to residents beds and door alarms on a resident’s room so that staff can be alerted when a frail resident is on the move. The home is testing a radar system that can detect if a resident falls anywhere in their room.
The home has closed circuit television cameras covering much of the home’s gardens and grounds. This enables staff to keep an eye on residents when they walk around the grounds on their own. The home has discrete semi-secure perimeter fencing around the grounds and a specially developed traffic barrier on the front drive. We cannot describe ourselves as a secure facility as that has a special meaning in the mental health world.
Gardens and grounds: The home has two gardeners who work tirelessly, whatever the weather, to keep the gardens attractive throughout the year. Every month they contribute to our newsletter.
The home has a powered wheelchair for families to use when they want to take someone around the gardens.
