Whisperer Inside this issue Wi-Fi arriving at Congratulations to the Chefs! St George s Day celebrations. Date for your diary Relative & Resident meeting and meet the team 6 th May at 6pm Hello and Welcome! Welcome to the 2 nd edition of our newsletter. I hope that this newsletter finds you all well. We welcome the Spring season and are enjoying the sunshine at the momentlet s hope that it lasts. We will be seeing most of you on the 6 th May at the resident & relative meeting which Elena Alexe (Regional Director) & Helen Gidlow (Divisional Director) will be attending. This will give you all a chance to meet with both ladies and ask any questions. If you are unable to attend this meeting but would like a certain topic discussed please e-mail me your questions and I will pass it on. General Manager Stella Bernatek House Care Home Hill Sydenham SE 6 6BQ 2 nd Edition 27 th April 2015
News in and around Memory Lane We have now ordered the new uniforms for the staff who work on Memory Lane. These are colorful polo shirts to enable us to step away from the formal uniforms and promote a more homely relaxed atmosphere on that floor. Eve will now be wearing a bright yellow top, the Registered Nurses will be wearing purple and the others will be wearing a lovely Magenta. Wi-Fi I am delighted to announce that on 27 th April we will be having our Wi-Fi installed finally! This will take 3 days and will cover the ground floor but will be very welcome to all of you I am sure. This will also help the GPs who will be able to access their records more directly and create a more efficient service. New Staff We all welcome our new team members. Gbeye (pronounced Bay) - a full-time registered nurse with lots of Dementia experience. Welcome! Robert -our Host. Robert is a great addition to our team and he ensures that Barchester s high standards of hospitality are maintained when laying the tables in both dining rooms, ensuring refreshments are distributed and that all visitors to the home are greeted and offered a welcome drink. Dalton-our 2 nd Chef- Dalton has worked for many years in a similar environment, is very knowledgeable and is a welcome addition to our team. St George s Day -23 rd April On the 23 rd April we celebrated St George s Day with a fish & chip or pie, mash & liquor lunch. All the residents who were able to participate seemed to enjoy this and we will hopefully repeat this later in the year. Thank you to Eve (and Ken)for organising this event-i am sure that everyone appreciated the meal!
News in and around Regional Director Quite a few of you will have now met Elena (Elle) Alexe our Regional Director. Elle often visits the home (sometime unannounced) and is always happy to meet with you and hear your feedback. Elle audits the home to ensure that care is being delivered to the highest standard possible. Congratulations! Congratulations to Mel & Dalton who passed a recent Safety Audit with flying colours! Catherine Kidd our Hospitality Manager and Elle both pass on their congratulations for an excellent job! Website We have now updated our website with all the new staff [and refreshed some older photos that were on there!]. Please do visit the meet our team page and check us out. Easter We hope that you all had a lovely Easter and holidays. The residents all enjoyed their Easter eggs from Barchester. We also celebrated Mother s Day with flowers and cards on both floors for all the Mothers who live here from all the staff at House.
News in and around Training: Tracy is our new dedicated Home Trainer. Her role is to oversee the training required and ensure that the staff are maintaining their training requirements. Once fully trained up herself Tracy will be delivering some of the training in-house to the staff herself. Garden We are starting to get the garden ready for everyone to use and enjoy the sunshine. I am sure you will all agree that it looks better and is already being well utilised. The large raised planter has been planted and the resident s plants that they planted with the gardening club will also soon be planted with Eve & David. Doctor s Dr Ranti now carries out his weekly rounds on a Wednesday Morning. He is always happy to speak to relatives with any queries but please do check with Catherine first so that he is not inundated. National Care Home Open Day 2015 10am-4pm On Friday 19 th June we are joining in with this national initiative. We will be having entertainment throughout the day and refreshments on offer. In the afternoon we will be having a finger buffet. There will also be a raffle so do come and support us as all proceeds from that will go into the Resident s fund and used for the little extras and trips out etc.
A few words from Barchester Nominate someone amazing for a Care Award! Nominations are now open for the 9 th Barchester Care Awards, so if you know a Barchester staff member who does an outstanding job and goes above and beyond their normal day-to-day duties to help residents and their families, let us know! This year there are 12 categories ranging from Carer/Support Worker of the Year and Registered Nurse of the Year to Volunteer of the Year and Home Administration Champion. Carehome.co.uk Carehome.co.uk is a website that lists recommendations for care homes across the UK. If you are pleased with the care you or a relative are receiving at a Barchester home, please consider sharing your experience with others who are looking for good quality care by submitting a recommendation. You can pick up a recommendation card to fill in at any Barchester care home or you can go to www.carehome.co.uk to submit a recommendation online. Tea Break Fill in the blank squares so that each row, column and each of the nine 3x3 grids contain one number from 1 to 9. Good Luck! To nominate a member of staff in any of the 12 categories from any of the homes and hospitals around the UK, please complete the nomination form on our website or pick up a paper form from any Barchester care home. Nominations close on 30 th April. The online nomination form can be found here: www.barchester.com/ourpeople/barchester-care-awards-2015
Barchester in Bloom 2015 Barchester homes across the country have their pruning shears and gardening gloves at the ready as they gear up for this year s Barchester in Bloom gardening competition. Homes have until the end of May to enter their gardens into the competition and the judging will take place during June when the gardens are in full bloom. There are so many talented gardeners living and working in Barchester homes that the judges are expecting another year of tough competition. The categories for this year s competition are: Most Innovative Garden, Most Improved Garden, Community Garden and Garden of the Year 2015. Spring Recipe Strawberry Shortbread Ingredients (makes 10) 100g (3 ½ oz) plain flour 50g (2oz) semolina 100g (3 ½ oz) butter 50g (2oz) caster sugar 25g (1oz) flaked almonds A little caster sugar for dusting 125ml (4fl oz) double or whipping cream 25g (1oz) caster sugar A few drops of vanilla extract 250g (8oz) fresh strawberries (sliced) Method 1. Preheat the oven to 170 C (gas mark3) 2. Mix the flour with the semolina in a bowl. 3. Add the butter and sugar and rub together with your finger tips, until the mixture is just beginning to bind together. Knead lightly until the mixture forms a smooth dough. 4. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 5mm. Cut into 20 rounds with a biscuit cutter and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, 5. Leave to cool and sprinkle with sugar. 6. Whip the cream with the vanilla extract and sugar. 7. Sandwich the shortbread rounds together with the cream and strawberries.