Newsletter Caremark (Slough & South Bucks)

April - June 2014

We are very proud to announce that following our recent inspection in January, we passed!! We are fully compliant in all aspects of the Inspection:-

We met all the standards!!

Treating people with respect and involving them in their care.

Providing care, treatment and support that meet people’s needs

Caring for people safely and protecting them from harm.

Staffing

Quality and suitability of Management

The whole inspection report is on our Website, so please feel free to read what our Inspector thought of us! I would like to say a big Thank You to those carers who spent a long time talking with the Inspector in the office or over the phone! I know that she put you through your paces but you all did brilliantly!

CARER OF THE QUARTER JANUARY – MARCH 2014

We are very happy to announce that our first ever winner for our Carer of the Quarter is DOROTHY BROUGHAM. Dorothy has been working with us since May 2013 and works 4 evenings a week, including a permanent Sunday from 5.00pm. Dorothy already has a full time job that she manages and also commits to working with us in the evening. Dorothy’s attendance record is fantastic and her sickness record is remarkable. Dorothy is 100% committed to her clients, never lets us or her clients down is always happy and cheery. Her clients compliment her on her work and carers enjoy working with her.

Dorothy commented “I was very surprised to hear that I had won. It’s so nice to feel appreciated as I only work part-time. I’ll have fun spending my vouchers!!”

Many Congratulations to Dorothy who receives £50.00 of Marks and Spencer’s Vouchers.

As we all know, as carers, each day is different and we all face different challenges. No matter how prepared we may think we are - nothing can prepare us for a natural disaster such as a FLOOD!!!!

Datchet was severely hit by flooding after the water rose by over half a metre in 24 hours, blocking roads and train tracks. Much of the nearby village of Wraysbury was under water too.

We had to evacuate two of our clients and get them to safety with the assistance of the Fire Brigade. Meanwhile, our Care Workers continued to do absolutely fantastic work under very difficult conditions, sometimes it felt like mission impossible. But nothing could stop our courageous Care Workers, it was a normal day for them, doing what they do best - delivering a first class service to their client’s at all hours of the day and night through horrific conditions.

One Care Worker explained –“ When I initially saw the raised water on the Sunday before the floods got really bad, I thought, it’s only a little water, I can drive through that and laughed. It wasn’t until that evening as the water rose and roads started getting blocked, that’s when reality set in. I felt scared! It was the not knowing, what was lurking ahead. But soon, that negative feeling turned into positivity (fight the fear and do it anyway.) My focus was prioritising my clients, the most vulnerable in the community.

With the support I received from my colleagues and management I was able to battle the floods and reach my clients.

With much thanks and appreciation to – Gurdip, Rosie, Ruby, Bex and Manju

How would you

How would you feel how g

May obtain ?

How would you feel if people were talking about you to strangers? How would you feel if people obtained your private and personal information?

YOU WOULDN’T BE HAPPY!! SO WHY DO IT TO OTHERS!!!

Confidentiality is not about keeping secrets. It’s about protecting an individual’s right to privacy. You may obtain private, personal information from your clients, their relatives or agencies as part of your work role. As Care Workers we have a duty of care to keep personal information about clients private. Only to share information about a client with those who have a right to know or when a person has given their permission to disclose information about them.

All Care Workers should be familiar with Caremark’s confidentiality policy that sets out the rules and procedures on sharing information. All information relating to confidentiality is in the Caremark handbook. You should take some time out to read this and make sure that you follow and practice the policy.

PLEASE DO NOT GOSSIP ABOUT CLIENTS TO OTHERS

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 175c/350f. Grease a tube

pan well. In a large mixing bowl, mix together

sugar and oil until blended. Add eggs and beat

thoroughly for a few minutes. Sift together

the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and

add to the sugar mix. Pour the batter into the

tube pan and bake for approx 55 minutes,

check the cake is baked thoroughly you may

want to use a toothpick to check. Let cool and

frost with desired amount of cream cheese

frosting.

Thank you Maria Coutinho for the recipe!!!!

Ingredients

• 2 cup of flour

• cup of sugar

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon

• 4 eggs beaten at room temp

• 3 cups shredded carrots

• 1 ½ cups of corn or

sunflower oil

Frosting:

• 1 Package

cream cheese

(room temp)

• 2 cups

confectioners

’ sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

John’s is 84 and has Alzheimer’s which has progressed, he also had a stroke which affected his speech.

John became more and more locked into his own world. He lacked motivation, withdrew into himself, his desire and ability to hold conversations and communicate stopped.

But all changed when his wife introduced him to a local sing song group, singing has unlocked John’s communication block. John’s personality started to change, he became much as he was before. He is able to hold conversations and is slowly able to learn things again. The singing has helped his slurred speech recovery following his stroke.

Singing for the brain is a music programme for people with Dementia and their carers. People seem to enjoy doing something jointly with other people and there is a lot of evidence that being socially engaged is good for people with Dementia. Part of the brain that works with speech is different to the part that processes music, allowing those who had lost their speech to still enjoy music.

Check out the online video for “Singing for the brain” at The Alzheimer’s Society.

Carer of the Quarter!!!

Who would you nominate as Carer of the Quarter?

Complete the attached nomination form. Post the completed form into the

nomination box located in the office.

NO LATER THAN

16th June 2014.

At Caremark we pride ourselves on the quality of free on-going

training provided to all our staff.

Please contact the office for information on training to enhance your potential!!!!

Telephone Number: 01753 201 116

Email address: slough@caremark.co.uk

Web address: www. caremark.co.uk

Hopefully, you all enjoyed reading the first issue of our Caremark Newsletter sent out in January.

Thank you to the carers that have made a contribution to this edition.

It would be great if you could make any new contributions, as this is

your newsletter!!! Any suggestions of things you would like as a regular

feature or any stories are always welcomed and appreciated.

We are pleased to confirm that we will be holding Quarterly Team

Meetings.

The next one is in July. There will always be an

agenda, which will follow prior to the meeting.

You may want to speak to your supervisor prior to the meetings if you would like to discuss

anything in particular. Please refrain from using

names during the meeting due to confidentiality.

Caremark (Slough & South Bucks)

Address: Unit G1, Ground Floor, Fairacres House, Dedworth Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 4LE

Telephone Number: 01753 201 116

Email address: slough@caremark.co.uk

Web address: www. caremark.co.uk

Mrs I M – Windsor

Mrs E Richardson – Windsor

Rebecca Bancroft

Debra Reeves

Karen Braggins

Maria Coutinho

Joanna Piskorska