Notes from recent Relatives meeting held on 13th October 2021

Present:

Carol Bilverstone, William Godfrey, Elissa McDonald, Sue Kightly, Amy Burrell, Alex Lucas, Maureen, Helen Brand, Sara Neaves, Adrian Johnston, Luke Cook, Jo Monaghan, Aliyyah Nasser.

Notes:

Introduction & feedback

Welcome to everyone and thank you for joining.

C-19 Update

No instances of the virus amongst the resident population.

No policy changes since the last meeting, three updates for the meeting:

• The mandatory vaccination requirement has had an impact but we do not consider this a business continuity issue for us as the majority of our staff have been able to provide either the blue card of the Covid pass as evidence of vaccination
• We are working with the GPs to arrange boosters but have not got a date yet; it may well happen at the same time as the flu jab; consents will be obtained in the usual way
• We are deviating from government guidance with regards isolation by asking staff who are in a household with someone who tests positive for the virus to isolate and not come to work for the 10 day period. The government does not require this of us but we would like to be extra cautious as we head into this winter period

Staff & recruitment

We are experiencing challenges with staffing, as many of our social care colleagues are too – as a result of many factors including Covid, proactive recruitment from other sectors etc. We are working hard on this and the following two items are setting us up well:

• We are a Tier 2 registered sponsor with the UK Border Agency to bring in staff from overseas
• We have increased our salary for front line care workers to the National Living Wage, which sets us apart from other care homes

Compliance update

We have had some visits from regulatory bodies of late:

• Fire Audit last week from the Fire and Rescue Service; all went well (a few minor actions for us to address) and they are satisfied with our status
• Monitoring visits have taken place for Hall and House; both homes rated Good. CCG will be out to visit next week
• Electronic meds records have been implemented which is helping our governance
• CQC new approach to inspections is that they are doing an arms length monthly audit of homes that they are not or have not inspected physically for some time; all five homes at Askham have been audited monthly and CQC have confirmed our ‘Good’ rating is still applicable

Facilities update

New agenda item for the meeting which we don’t normally discuss but we wanted to ensure families are aware of the work going on at site

• We have had a few major works done include a new boiler, new AC unit fitted, new emergency lighting, and various pieces of equipment purchased
• Full check on all Health & Safety / maintenance servicing has been completed to ensure that post pandemic anything that was dropped or waylaid has been addressed
• Thank you to everyone for their help with the laundry, we expect another 7-10 more days before it is fixed
• Café will be opening soon, for staff to start with. It will not be open to the public and nor to relatives just yet

Activities update

Loads going on with activities at present… many things were shared at the meeting a few of which include:

• Jolly trolley being well enjoyed by residents
• Good weather means the grounds are getting well used by residents
• International Youth Day – elderly residents giving advice to young people
• C-19 time capsule put together and buried by staff with memories from the lockdown/ pandemic
• Upwood Ukelele’s performed at Askham – first band for a long time and very much enjoyed by all (Carol attending the meeting was part of this – thank you so much!)
• Askham Olympics took place with games tailored to each home

We are coming up to a busy time of year with Harvest, Halloween, and then fireworks and Christmas:

• Xmas parties will be in the homes
• Relatives are normally invited in for a xmas party but unlikely this time
• Xmas fayre normally takes place but we will not be doing that again this year; however this has impacted fundraising so any support welcomed

Online activity platform signed up to – Oomph Wellness. We are piloting at the moment but very excited to roll this out to residents.

Hairdresser and Chripodist are visiting but not seeing as many people in each visit due to the time it is taking to clean between residents. We are working through everyone.

Overall outlook

We are expecting a tough next few months and coming year, both financially as well as with the continued health risks. We are regularly reviewing our Business Continuity plan and have plans in place for various eventualities. Staffing continues to be our biggest area of challenge. We are continuing to plough ahead with our improvement plans including a significant refresh of infrastructure in Askham Place, the implementation of digital care records, and also a re-organisation in Grove.

AOB

Can invoices be sent by email rather than paper copies? ABN to look into this and offer people the option.