Parkhaven Trust is an investor in its people

Last week the Trust was reassessed to confirm its status as an investor in people. The Trust was first assessed three years ago. The assessment confirmed that it does invest in its staff and generally achieves standards well in excess of the basic award. We hope that we will shortly receive additional recognition for that investment. Social care is about its staff, if the Trust wants to provide an excellent service then it does need to invest in its staff at all levels. This we do.

Staff who are appointed to work at the Trust do so after an interview, references are taken up and then subject to a criminal records bureau check before appointment is confirmed. Once appointed, there is a three day induction checklist which the manager goes through with a new member of staff to ensure that new staff are made aware of, and become familiar with, the important things in the their first days. Then the member of staff attends a two day induction and is given an induction handbook which she/he has to complete. Staff are appointed for a three month probationary period. Each month a probationary interview is undertaken, only after successful completion of the probationary period is a member of staff considered a substantive appointment. Subsequently most of our staff are then enrolled on to NVQ 2 or 3, or now the apprenticeship courses. Annually all our staff have to attend the mandatory training, which following staff feedback we will be changing each year. The purpose is to freshen up and reflect changing priorities of the Trust. In addition other staff have the opportunity to attend other training to ensure their needs and the needs of the Trust are met. Regular supervision and annual appraisal ensure standards are maintained and staff are supported.

We are determined that all staff that work at Parkhaven Trust should be clear about their role, have a job description, have regular supervision and support, have the training to do the job and receive feedback from their Manager to ensure they know how they are doing. It is only in this way will the Trust be able to deliver excellent services. We are, we believe, an investor in people for the people who use our services.

Hilary Rowland

Chief Executive

16.12.10

Quality not Quantity

A briefing published last month by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Market profile, quality of provision and commissioning of adult social care services (November 2010 http://www.cqc.org.uk/), summarised the improving quality of adult social care services assessed by CQC. Several headlines emerged.

They noticed that smaller homes performed better, although all homes had improved between 2008 and 2010, and those that were run by the voluntary sector had the highest percentage of good and excellent services.

The paper provided a profile of the changing provision between 2004 to 2010. The report noted that the number of residential homes had reduced during this period but the number of overall places had increased, which reflected a shift from the smaller residential homes to larger nursing homes. The increase in the number of nursing homes reflects the growing demand, as people with complex needs are living longer.

The paper also noted that there was an increase in the number of home care services year on year, reflecting government policies aimed at supporting people to live in their own homes for as long as possible.

It is interesting to see how Parkhaven Trust is a microcosm of this report. The Trust, a registered charity, has reduced the number of registered homes it runs from 11 in 2004 to 6 on 2010. It has also reduced the number of places. All these homes have been assessed as good or excellent. And consistent with the national trend, the Trust developed its own domiciliary (home care) service, Parkhaven@home. Although not subject to the inspection and regulatory process and therefore not mentioned in this report, the trust developed a day service during this period for adults with dementia, a valued service which impacts on the lives of approximately 100 people a week. So changes at Parkhaven are definitely mirroring those observed nationally.

Hilary Rowland
Chief Executive
9.12.10

Kyffin Taylor House

The joy of the outdoors

Parkhaven Trust has the immense gift of acres of Parkland. Thus many of our services are located in a beautiful setting which undoubtedly rubs off in a positive way on our service users, whether by having a green expansive outlook or the opportunity to walk the grounds, or enjoy some gardening within the grounds.

Part of the vision for the Trust is to develop a health and social care park and a crucial component of that is our one mile path. This path meanders through our grounds and is open to the general public. In an article in the Times on the 17^th November 2010, its headline claimed that ‘a brisk half hour walk each day will keep you healthy and sane’.

Contributors to the article remarked on the creativity that is unlocked with walking, the sense of well being that is felt. It was said that you never come back from a walk feeling worse. ‘Walking restores awareness’. As a regular walker myself, you never get bored even on the same routes; the light may be different, the birds will be different, the trees will be different and underfoot will be different, whether it is the crisp snow or the leaf strewn paths. Walking can unblock blockages; it is a time for thinking and reflection.

Exercise is recommended as one of the activities to try and prevent, stave off dementia. Thus our one mile path is part of our array of services both to support people with dementia, but also as part of the prevention.

Hilary Rowland

Chief Executive

2.12.10

The Parkhaven Mile Path

Parkhaven Court – another new venture

Next month, Parkhaven Court opens on our Liverpool Road site, in Maghull. Parkhaven Court is a 24 apartment extra care housing scheme. It is a joint venture between Arena Housing, Sefton Council and Parkhaven Trust. This is another plank in the modernisation programme for the Trust and another first for us. Now the Trust will provide care to these extra care apartments.

An extra care scheme is a housing arrangement with 24 hour care available. There are 12 one and 12 two bedroom flats, all on the ground floor all with French doors on to a small garden area. There is also a large enclosed court yard, a communal lounge, kitchen and a small IT and library area. There is a hairdressing room and a bathroom with a special bath. Weekly activities such as coffee mornings, afternoon tea and shopping trips will take place. Our hope is that it will be a happy and safe place to live which will promote people’s independence and choice for longer.
It is a scheme specifically for older people with dementia. It also has the great gift of being in a beautiful parkland setting.

If you want to find out more, visit the Parkhaven Court page of the website, or email us at care@parkhaven.org.uk.

Next week the joys of walking!


Hilary Rowland
Chief executive
29.11.10

Beautiful surroundings of

Parkhaven Court

New Website Launched

This week we launched our new website. We hope that it provides all the information someone accessing the site would want. We hope it is easy to use and clear. So if you want to find a service for you, or a relative, it should tell you who to contact. Or if you want to work for the Trust, it will tell you the jobs that are currently vacant. The site also has new a volunteer page. Read what Jenny has to say about volunteering at Parkhaven.

Parkhaven Trust is a rapidly evolving organisation so the site will be regularly updated. However, if there is information that you would like to be on the site, that is not currently incorporated, please email care@parkhaven.org.uk and we will do our best to try and include it.

Next week we will report on the progress of Parkhaven Court, the new extra care housing for people with dementia.

Hilary Rowland
Chief executive

18.11.10

Parkhaven Court

World Mental Health Day: 10th October, 2010

As previous blogs have mentioned, Parkhaven Trust has developed an array of services to support the increasing numbers of people with dementia. We take great pride in the personalised and innovative services that have been developed. The latest contribution to this menu of services is an extra care housing scheme specifically designed and developed for people with dementia.

The building is nearly complete and now we are in discussion about the number of hours required to support the new tenants and what the cost of those hours will be to the local authority. The number of hours was a fairly amicable discussion resulting in a high degree of agreement which was reassuring. Although there was a discussion as to whether one member of staff on at night would be sufficient. I am absolutely clear that this is not acceptable and certainly to begin with social services accepted this view. The most interesting facet of the negotiation took place when we were discussing rates. We indicated that the rate would be the same as that which had been agreed to support people with learning disabilities. The social services representative suggested that this was possibly too high because the needs of older people with dementia are not as complex as those for people with a learning disability. The Trust is clear that this is a misguided view. People with dementia need a skilled and committed staff team to support them. People with dementia need continuity. Staff need to know how to support and enable people, what their backgrounds and interest are. Not just anyone can go in and support someone who is not able to articulate their likes and dislikes. People need to be respected and treated with dignity. People with dementia need to be accorded the highest respect and skill and this requires employers to pay staff good rates and in turn commissioners of services to pay acceptable rates for the domiciliary support of people with dementia. This cannot be bought on the cheap. It would seem that yet again people with mental health problems are not being afforded the priority they warrant.

The World Mental Health day is to raise the profile and priority of people with mental health problems and our recent local discussion would indicate that there is still work to do.

Hilary Rowland
Chief executive

The social care economic balance sheet

The admin team here at Parkhaven Trust has been keeping a tally of the impact of the constrained financial times on our services. It feels very diffficult at the moment. All discussions with our purchasers seem to result in very depressing financial outcomes; for example no uplift on the fees that have been received. No acknowledgement for some very specific financial pressures in one particular service. These pressures are very real. A reassessment of a service user at our nursing home who has been residing at the home for years.

However on the positive side, the turnover of staff has reduced by 4%. This reduced turnover is encouraging. Lower turnover provides greater continuity of staff, retention of skills, knowledge and experience and less pressure on the advertising budget and those responsible for recruiting staff. We are also hopeful that as we go out for tender for our new dementia centre, pencils will be sharpened and we will receive some competitive prices

Thus all is not gloom. It is important in these tough times that we do hold onto what is important and that is providing the best possible services for those that choose to use us. Hopefully these constrained times will prompt our creative juices into action! A further positive outcome!

Hilary Rowland
22.07.10

Personalisation agenda


The personalisation agenda is much talked about in social care. It is rather a mouthful. In doing the annual review of our year it became very evident that what we now provide has changed markedly and is a manifestation of the personalisation agenda. So how does it manifest itself in the services we provide? Six years ago Parkhaven Trust had 12 registered homes and all that we offered was the opportunity of residential care. Now an innovative array of services has been developed in response to the different individual needs.

For example our dementia day service continues to grow. 116 people used the service last year some coming daily, some twice weekly, it varies according to need. People enjoy a range of activities including gardening, yoga, baking and singing and dancing. Building on this the Trust developed its domiciliary service, Parkhaven@home which in its first full year provided over 1600 hours of care. The philosophy of this service is that staff from the centre will support people in their own homes; familiar faces in familiar places. A special gardening service was then developed for people with dementia and this has grown (pardon the pun)! A weekend away for people with dementia proved so popular we have done more and more. These services are personalisation in action!

If there are special personal services that you would like, then do let us know at care@parkhaven.org.uk. We will do all we can to respond to your needs and interests.



Hilary Rowland

09.06.10

March blog

I write this blog looking out on the early spring flowers in our beautiful parkland setting. Spring is a time of renewal and reflects our own business cycle of renewal. We are currently working with our managers to plan for the year ahead. Like nature who uses the autumn leaves to feed new plants, we ask managers to reflect on what they have done, what they have achieved and use it to inform their plans for the coming 12 months. It is a time to reinvigorate, refocus and renew our efforts in providing excellent services.

This coming year will be particularly challenging as local authorities have offered no uplift on the fees that they pay us. Thus we will have to provide the same but improved services but in essence for less money. This is a challenge. But we will not be daunted we are passionate at the Trust about providing excellent, innovative and bespoke services because we are all different, have different interests and feel comfortable in different settings. Thus like the spring cycle of renewal, we are also renewing and reinvigorating our services for the year ahead.


Hilary Rowland
Chief executive
24.03.10

Disraeli comes to mind

I was at a meeting recently when Disraeli was quoted. Benjamin Disraeli was twice Prime Minister (1868, 1874- 80) and is oft quoted. The quote that was used seemed particularly apposite to our recent experiences during the cold weather. The thrust of what he said was that what we anticipate seldom occurs and what we least expect generally happens.

In our organisation, probably like many others, we have developed over the past 6 months robust contingency plans in the event of an outbreak of swine flu. We have met monthly sometimes weekly developed a range of plans for different situations and most recently arranged for the vaccination of all our service users and staff. We believed we were as prepared as we could be. However the recent cold snap and resulting snow and ice did catch us by surprise; hence Disraeli. We will ensure next time that we do not run out of salt and grit next time. It could have been that the planning we did to ensure our services would continue in the event of staff shortages during the flu outbreak would have been required but it was not the case because our staff made it in through the snow and ice, setting off early to ensure that the services were well covered. It is a real credit to them.


Hilary Rowland
28.1.10