Bury St Edmunds care home named ‘Care Home of the Year’ in national awards

A care home in Bury St Edmunds has been named the ‘Care Home of the Year’ in a prestigious national awards ceremony.  

Care UK’s Davers Court, on Shakers Lane, received the National Care Award for the outstanding level of care its team provides through its ‘whole home’ approach to supporting residents to lead independent, active and fulfilling lives.

The annual awards acknowledge and reward excellence and innovation in UK care home management, operation, and delivery. 

Judges commended Davers Court for its commitment to resident wellbeing throughout the pandemic, identifying the team’s dedication to ensuring that residents remained well-connected with their loved ones, while also building and maintaining meaningful relationships within the home. For example, one resident has discovered a love of online shopping, and a team member supports her to purchase and receive her parcels securely. There are also regular virtual activities with local school children, and entertainment in the home’s garden. 

Residents at the home are also empowered to make suggestions and requests. One safety-related meeting led to residents spearheading the introduction of trays attached to walking frames so they could safely carry hot drinks. Residents are involved in all aspects of home life, from recruiting new team members, to choosing paint and wallpaper for home redecorations. 

The use of ‘champions’ at Davers Court also promotes best practice. These colleagues receive extra training in their area of interest and support other colleagues to develop their skills and knowledge in that area. A dementia champion has trained all colleagues at the home – and some relatives – to understand what it may be like to live with dementia.

Commenting on life at the home, one relative said: “The facilities are excellent, and the home was always looking for ways to improve and introduce new initiatives, ranging from a 'shop' the residents could visit, to animals being brought in to add extra interest to the day. Being a number of hours away, the communication and engagement was first class and I always felt informed. I cannot praise the entire team enough…”

Sally Shadbolt, Home Manager at Davers Court, said: “We are over the moon to have won a National Care Home award, not least for Care Home of The Year!

“Providing an outstanding level of care here is the norm, and team members treat each person in their care as though they are members of their own family. Whether it’s doing yoga, adapting meals to people’s tastes, or supporting residents to stay with family for Christmas, the team really do go above and beyond.

“We would not have won this award without their hard work and dedication, and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and every person for all that they do to make Davers Court a wonderful place to call home.”

Davers Court is a modern care home which provides full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. Designed to enable its residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives, the care home has its very own cinema and hair salon, and there is plenty of space both in and outdoors for relaxation and recreation. 

To find out more about Davers Court, please call Customer Relations Manager, Chantal Sencier, on 01284 844640, or email Chantal.sencier@careuk.com.

For general information please visit, careuk.com/davers-court.