Nettlestead, Priors Mead and HomeCare are all at Implementation Level Two.

Apologies that the newsletter is a day late. We had to respond to some sad family news, which meant we ran out of time.

Employee Ownership

In part as a thank you to the Staff for their fantastic efforts during the Covid Outbreak, we have decided to bring forward Employee Ownership, and will be giving 20% of Nightingale Retirement Care to an Employee Ownership Trust with effect from 1st June 2021. To help steer the rules for this trust, we are asking for new elections to select a Management Representative, and Employee Representatives for each service so please put your name forward if you feel this could be you.

Care Home Visits

We are delighted that In-Home Visits have now begun and are going well. Pod Visits continue also, and we understand why people may be getting confused as to which rules apply to which types of visit. May we therefore take this opportunity to clarify a couple of areas:

• Pod Visits are strictly separated so please avoid the temptation to touch your loved one or pass things around the barrier; the Staff Member assisting the visit will be pleased to pass over any gifts once they have been disinfected.
• Please limit In-Home Visits to holding hands only. We know this is hard but, having been through an outbreak, we are very anxious not to inadvertently trigger another one.
• In regard to Declarations, you only have to complete the In-Home Declaration once, but we do need a Declaration completed for each and every Pod Visit please.
• Finally, it is essential to pre-book any type of visit to ensure we have the capacity to manage it safely.

Staff Fund

We had hoped to be in a position to tell everyone how the Staff Fund was being applied, but we are afraid we are still a week away from being able to do that; sorry.

Nettlestead

• Jane has been focusing on physical exercises this week alongside the support of St Christophers, keep your eyes peeled on Facebook for some pictures.
• We welcome Patricia to the Nettlestead Family, we look forward to her meeting us all once her isolation is over.
• Jane has been keeping all Residents’ minds working this week with a planned schedule of Mind Activities including Word Searches, Pub Quizzes and Crosswords.

Priors Mead

• Most Residents will be receiving their Second Vaccine on Wednesday and we will be celebrating afterwards with a glass of bubbly and a Vaccine Party! The majority of our Team have had their second vaccine now also.
• We received a huge tray of Sweet Treats which was put together for us by two local girls Scarlett (6) and Lola (9) who raised money from the community by walking 20,000 steps each. Thank you for thinking of us and Well Done!
• Our Residents had fun decorating biscuits for Red Nose Day followed by our Weekly Quiz with Eshal.
• Our Caterpillars have settled in well and are starting to turn into Chrysalides.
• Our regular Yoga Session will be taking place on Wednesday morning.
• Well done to Kirsty, Kelly, Michelle, Nikki, Zoe, Kay, Kayleigh, Marta R, Marta N and  Edna who are still going strong with their 11,000 daily step challenge! We have raised £496 so far for the Alzheimer’s Society so are feeling pretty pleased. We particularly enjoyed dancing to the Cha Cha Slide with residents June (92 yrs) and Charles (100 yrs) – both great dancers!
• There are ten days left of our Walking Challenge, so please donate if you would like to; https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/priorsmeadmarch
• Spirits are high as the weather has brightened up and the garden is full of Spring Flowers; we’ve really enjoyed time spent strolling in the garden and taking tea on the patio.

HomeCare 

• We have had all the Nominations back for the Employee Rep.
• Carers are still having their Weekly Covid Tests.
• The service continues to grow and we have another four employees starting with us:-)

Suggestions

Suggestions continue to be welcome. Please share them with us by emailing covid-19@nightingales.co.uk.

Thank you all for your continued support and understanding.

Nick & Sarah Bruce

nick.bruce@nightingales.co.uk

sarah.bruce@nightingales.co.uk