Features

By James Clear, hospitality director at Aria Care Group Food and drink are key to social interaction and comfort in care homes, but for residents with dysphagia the challenge is…

By Sadik Al-Hassan, superintendent pharmacist at PillTime Care Older individuals are naturally more susceptible to illnesses and health complications in the colder months. so here are some top tips to…

Three care home providers have been named in the top ten companies for work wellbeing in the UK. Recruiter Indeed’s Better Work Awards 2023 ranked Kingsley Healthcare as number one….

Sefton Hall in Dawlish, Devon, opened the Forget-me-not café earlier this year, to connect residents and the community. The opening ribbon was cut by Southern Healthcare managing director, Geoffrey Cox…

By freelance social care writer Eleanore RobinsonIn spring the Department for Health and Social Care announced that the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) would not be implemented until the next Parliament…

By Mike Meek, procurement and sustainability director at allmanhallFood price inflation is believed to have peaked at +19.1 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2023, which is broadly in-line with its…

In Herefordshire and Worcestershire (H&W), ICS leaders have created an ICS Academy. The aim of the Academy is to be a key enabler of the ICS’s work by developing the…

By CHM freelance writer Eleanore Robinson Modern slavery in becoming more and more prevalent in the social care workforce. The CQC reported double the rise in referrals for modern slavery…

By Rachelle Mills, director of partnerships & innovation at KareInn International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated around the world on the 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Nightingale…

By Howard Freeman, managing director, Fortis DPC Limited  ChatGPT launched as a prototype at the end of 2022 and has already attracted controversy. GPT is an abbreviation for generative pre-trained transformer (GPT)…

By freelance writer Eleanore RobinsonThere are “strong links” between staff wellbeing in healthcare settings and safety outcomes, a report by the Health and Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has found. HSIB’s third…

Hospital discharges between health and social care teams in Scotland can benefit from better clinical oversight and intra-organisational communication

What have the UK countries done to strengthen the professional status of staff, asks the Nuffield Trust in a blog: Addressing social care workforce challenges: what can England learn from…

By freelance social care writer Eleanore Robinson In July 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICS) launched with the aim of joining up health and social care systems to provide more seamless…

As winter looms, care home providers are being faced with some stark choices when it comes to managing their energy bills. Research conducted in August by Care England and not-for-profit…

The CQC’s new single assessment framework represents a sea change for social care inspection and ratings

Advances in sensor and artificial intelligence technology have spawned a new generation of wearable technologies with applications as diverse as HR and resident care.

A new pilot programme outlining the expected standards for care home residents in the London Borough of Southwark starts this month (April).

Hallmark Care Homes has become the latest care home operator to move into the retirement living space with its offshoot Santhem Residences.

Paul Pearce, technical director of the National Carpet Cleaners Association, sets out how a good Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) can help keep carpets clean.

The new Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) are due to come into force next April, replacing existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)

Green shoots of improved occupancy are emerging in the sector, with some providers putting strategies in place to return to pre-COVID levels.

September and October have so far been subject to quite a media frenzy about sudden sharp increases in both electric and gas prices.

It has been widely publicised that CQC is taking a more risk-based approach to inspections, “crossing the threshold” where they have concerns

By freelance social care writer Eleanore Robinson Care home operators were thrown a curveball by the Government when it ruled that all members of staff must have received both Covid-19…

Richmond Villages Willaston became the first large-scale social care setting to use the Dutch Hogeweyk model.

The Supreme Court decision on sleep-in shift pay brings welcome and long-awaited clarification on this issue, but for care providers this raises some important practical considerations, says Laura Paton, senior associate solicitor at Ridouts Solicitors.
(Additional information by freelance writer Eleanore Robinson)

Do you want to know how to improve the lives of the people you support and hopefully impress the CQC at the same time – then read the Fundamental Standards and tailor your service to meet those standards

Occupancy rates during the first COVID-19-induced lockdown plummeted eight percent, equating to 31,800 residents in the UK’s care homes.

Is it a ‘reasonable instruction’ to ask staff to take the vaccine? In contract and employment law, if you can establish that asking staff to take the vaccine is a…

The care home market is expected to be buoyant in 2021. Derek Ching partner in the commercial property team at Boyes Turner explains the key elements in due diligence associated with buying a care home.

Safeguarding personal data remains as important during COVID-19 as ever before, says Gemma Brannigan, partner at law firm Clyde & Co

Shaun Doak, CEO at REACT Specialist Cleaning, deciphers some of the latest cleaning tech on the market

By social care freelance writer Eleanore Robinson Key among the many issues related to vaccine deployment will be getting consent from residents, particularly those with dementia. While the Government has…

By Chris Partington, partner and head of private client at Slater Heelis Some elderly and vulnerable people’s health and welfare requirements are decided by a lasting power of attorney (LPA)….

Regular building maintenance has and always will be a fundamental part of a facilities manager role. Work can sometimes feel continuous, ensuring everything from ventilation to water systems are in good working order and all while making sure health and safety standards are maintained along the way.

A care home is a place where residents can feel safe, comfortable, and cared for. But, for the facilities team, it’s also a business that needs to operate efficiently and effectively, often on a 24/7 basis. Heating, hot water, and power are essential elements in any business, but nowhere more so than in care homes where people can be frail, with complex health problems.

The rapid growth in the use of algorithms-based recruitment, has led to discrimination claims. Employment law and enforcement must consider this.

By Eleanore Robinson One of the fundamental problems in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in care homes has been their design.  Most homes have been built for communal living, not to…

“There are many lessons that the Government must learn”, was the conclusion of a scathing report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published in July into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on care homes.

As the UK grapples with the ‘new normal’ of life with COVID-19, it’s possible to look back over the past few months and think about the many changes we have had to make in our lives.

The excessive negative coverage of care homes by mainstream media during COVID-19 has hit the sector hard. The general public’s perception towards the safety of care homes is not as…

The editor’s welcome from the July/August issue of Care Home Management has been published in the July Care Briefing, published by the organisers of the Care Forum.

Getting national social care statistics on Coronavirus has been a challenge. So why was it initially so difficult to produce an accurate, up-to-date picture?

While so far we have seen great examples of digital technologies being used to provide support, comfort, safety and protection, digital health is now being called upon to take clinical care beyond what has been previously achieved.

On Friday 1 May, CQC published details of what it calls its “Emergency Support Framework (ESF) setting out how it will interact with providers and managers during the pandemic and for an undefined period thereafter. So, what does it involve?

Loneliness and social isolation are two potential consequences of the Coronavirus outbreak, and the shielding restrictions imposed on the most vulnerable people. But providers are rising to the challenge of…

With minimal fee increases and rising costs, making sure a care home is eco-friendly is often not at the top of providers’ to-do list. But some operators are grasping the…

The relationship between the NHS and social care providers has traditionally been problematic. But could new initiatives to share data help bridge the gap between the two sectors, asks freelance…

Care providers are increasingly looking at their pay scales as they mind the gender pay gap, says social care writer Eleanore Robinson A gender pay gap exists in residential care….

By Eleanore RobinsonAs local authority care home fees remain frozen in many areas, the prices paid by self-funding residents are sharply rising year-on-year. According to analysis of LaingBuisson figures published…

The administration of Four Seasons has some important lessons for staff managers. By CHM resident freelance journalist Eleanore Robinson With Four Seasons Health Care entering administration and then being put…

Not in my laundry room, if you please, says John Middleton, managing director of  commercial laundry company JTM Service, who offers these top tips to an effective laundry service Clean…

By CHM Online freelance journalist Eleanore Robinson Public perception of the quality of care services remains stubbornly low, despite the fact that the actual users of care services are generally…

By Nick Mellor, MD of the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA)  There have been several serious accidents, and at least one fatality, over the past few years involving opening…

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that there are 866,000 potential workers between aged between 50 to 64 years old, just under half of whom have caring…

Around half of care workers feel they are not treated as professionals by their employer and only a third feel their job is respected by the wider public, according to…

We are used to hearing about the challenges care home operators are facing in terms of frozen local authority fee rates, the recruitment crisis and lack of long-term Government strategy….

By Eleanore Robinson Imagine entering a care home and being unable reveal your sexuality, talk about past relationships, and be scared of the prejudices of staff and fellow residents. This…

By Laura Barnsley, manager at MHA Willersley House Volunteering plays a crucial role in all MHA care homes. It has always been the culture and it always will be.  Let’s…

By Karen Banfield, contact centre director at customer contact service, Echo Managed Services Have you ever stopped to think about how effective you are at handling initial enquiries from prospective…

By CHM publishing editor Steve Hemsley Traditional face-to-face training allows learners to ask questions, network with others, physically participate in activities and receive live and appropriate feedback to build their…

By Carole Johnson, chartered physiotherapist and publications officer for the National Back Exchange A great deal has changed in manual handling in the past 25 years. Gone are the days…

By Eleanore Robinson It may sound like science fiction but it is increasingly becoming science fact – robots are now an integral part of the care home environment. As the…

The solution is wireless, user-friendly and already trusted in residences all over Europe Care homes present many unique security challenges. Above all, a residence needs to feel like an open,…

The harsh financial climate is making some of the major players in the care home industry closely examine the finances of prospective residents. Are future residents rich enough to meet…

William Laing, looks at whether this model could solve some of residential care’s woes. Franchising works well in homecare. A prime example is Bluebird Care, which pioneered homecare franchising in…