Notes from recent Relatives meeting held on 1st May 2024: Askham Court, Place and Grove
Present:
Attendees: Sarah Bartlett – Rehab Administrator (minute taking only)
Pat Rhodes (mother of resident in Askham Place)
Chaired by: Manu Magar (MM) – Head of Rehab and Nursing for Askham Court, Grove & Place
Notes:
MM opened the meeting at 6.08pm and thanked Pat for attending and making the effort to join us. As a team it is important for us to know what is going on and to receive feedback. It is also a learning lesson for us too.
MM said this was her second relatives meeting. Pat said that she had never been to any of the relatives meetings previously, can’t remember. MM said that she wanted to continue to give outstanding care to all of our residents and was happy for the CQC to visit at anytime as long as we continue to do well.
MM asked Pat if there was anything she would like to discuss. Pat said that her son is not very communicative and felt this was due to the staff changes on Place. Today a physio had turned up to work with SR and was going to be doing leg exercises, but Pat said that she didn’t know they were coming. Pat said the physio met them on the drive. Another time when Pat came in, she was in the car and didn’t know the physio was coming. Pat went on to say that she had spoken to the staff on Place, and they didn’t know why Pat hadn’t been told.
Pat explained that on Place there were some people that SR gets on better than with others with. A referral had been made to Doddington when SR had been having falls. SR had had a few falls but hadn’t had them as recently now. Pat said that when SR uses the Sara Steady, he kept the strength in legs and this helped keep his upper body strong. The physio had given SR exercises today and will continue to send them over for him. The physio had carried out some exercises with SR on his bed and chair and he had settled down with things that he cant do.
MM said that she hadn’t received any further incidents. Pat said that SR doesn’t sleep well and is up early. MM said that she was glad to hear that the Falls Team had visited and reviewed SR, but they should have informed Pat that they were coming. They had come to do exercises with SR today and he was happy with this. This will be kept up. MM said that all units have a diary and will find out if this had been noted down, as we would always like to inform families when things are happening. Pat said when they had gone to the hospital to see Dr Anwar, he suggested he would book an MRI scan in for SR. She was worried that she wouldn’t be notified if this came through and wasn’t made aware of it. MM said that with any appointments, we would usually inform the next of kin and book transport.
MM said that our new Clinical Lead would be starting on the 13th May and her name is Lindsay. There are a few recent changes going on across the site. We have a new nurse, Tony who is working across Place and Grove. Tony is also supporting Shainy. Julie, the nurse on Place, is back now. MM said that she is expecting 2 new carers to start next week who will be based in Court. Currently there are no new carers on Place and there are no new carers needed on Grove. The units now have a good ratio of staff.
Place now has 17 beds, currently with 13 residents. We had sadly lost a couple of residents recently. Grove is our rehab unit and residents are coming in and out. With the residents on Grove, they have an initial 12-weeks pathway. It depends on their progress if they stay longer or are discharged home, but the teams always work towards a safe discharge. Court has been extended by 2 bedrooms and we are in the process of extending this to another room. After that, Court will have a total of 15 beds. MM explained that we now have residents in the 2 new rooms on Court and there continues to be a lot of building work going on.
Pat said that they had had a walk around and had seen bits that there going on. It was felt this would be nice if it would be ready for when summer comes. MM said that the operations team were trying to organise this and for it to be as safe as possible. Pat commented that it had been a bit noisy today with the builders cutting up slabs but appreciated that this was only short-term. MM explained that Court is also having a new kitchen installed. Ponni who was one our of senior carers is now stepping up as a nurse.
CQC
MM said that she was in the process of submitting a Pre-Inspection Report (PIR) for Court and Place and had a deadline of the 14th May. MM went on to explain that she is in the process of gathering information on what challenges we were facing. The main difficulties MM is finding is with the local GP practice. We have a practice nurse visiting every week, but we do need the GP to be in attendance. We don’t want a resident to pass away and then for the family member to feel the need to go to the Coroner. MM said that she had found this difficult, but we were working and trying our best to get an appointment with Doddington Medical Centre’s practice manager. MM said this is her challenge for the year. MM continues to chase the surgery, but the GP surgery continue to send the nurse.
Safeguarding
There are no safeguarding issues with Place and there is nothing pending with Court. With Grove there are still 2 safeguarding issues open, but MM said that she had submitted all of her evidence, so is waiting for feedback around this. These safeguarding issues had been raised around a medication error and a skin tear. MM said that a lot of lessons had been learned by the staff around skin integrity. The overseas staff have been provided with regular training on how things are done in the UK. One-to-one training has also been provided. MM explained that things had improved significantly in terms of incidents and accidents.
Pat said that SR has skin problems and gets annoyed with this. He finds personal care is hard for him, but Pat feels he is calming down now he is getting used to the staff. Shainy, Lead Nurse from Place, had commented that SR is better with the staff. MM said that it is also with the approach with residents and that training that was being given.
Training
MM explained that we have Michelle, our onsite training manager. Michelle carries out the mandatory training and induction for all staff. Court, Grove and Place are over 90% compliant with all training and Askham remains very strict around this. MM explained that the staff would be receiving a charge for any failed attendance to training sessions that are held. It is and remains the responsibility of staff to attend training and for this to be kept up to date. MM said that it is our duty as providers to make sure the staff are up to date with policies and procedures.
Dr Anwar continues to visit every other week. We also have Dr Alberto Bonilla Miralles, our clinical psychologist onsite. SR had been seen by both Dr Miralles and Dr Anwar. We are expecting a new OT to start from the 6th May and, we continue to have locum OT’s who have been with Askham for quite some time. Caroline is now our Lead Physiotherapy, and we have Sarah who is our rehab administrator.
Company Structure
Aliyyah continues to be our Director, with Mav who is now our Operations Director. Laura is now our HR Coordinator. Sonia is now in charge of operations and is looking after the kitchen staff and housekeeping. Jessica continues to be working on our accounts and, Jane is the receptionist in the main building. Jane is planning to retire shortly. Pat commented that Jane is very friendly. MM said that we have quite a few maintenance people around at the moment, including Dave and Steve. The operations team are also recruiting for further maintenance members.
Housekeeping and weekend kitchen staff have started for Place and Grove. MM said that we are very fortunate with the staffing we have over the 5 units. The staff are all supportive and understanding around being flexible across the units.
Complaints
MM explained that we had one complaint in April. When a new resident is admitted, it takes time for them to settle for them and their family to get to know us. There is a settling period and the team want to continue to support the resident around this. One family had been quite quick to make a formal complaint, but MM explained that we had good evidence to support the team. It therefore concluded well.
We are looking to change our Resident’s User Service Guide, and this will be reviewed at the next Service Development Meeting. This guide will provide a history around Askham and how the rehab process works to provide everyone peace of mind. This will help the team to enjoy continuing working with the residents and their families.
MM asked if there was anything else that needed to be discussed. The care home reviews are now correct for the three units. Court has now got 9 and, Place is in the progress of this improving. Grove has around 8.
MM said that she will make sure that all families are aware of upcoming relatives meetings. MM thanked Pat again for coming this evening.
Meeting ended: 18.43