Shrewsbury care home up for national award

A care home in Shrewsbury is celebrating after making it to the finals for a prestigious national award.

Care UK’s Oxbow Manor, on Oteley Road, has been shortlisted for the ‘Care Home Design of the Year’ category at the Leaders in Care Awards 2023. 

The Leaders in Care Awards recognise and reward excellence and innovation in UK care homes, celebrating the achievements of care providers and the suppliers that serve them. The award category that Oxbow Manor has been nominated for recognises the team’s efforts to create communal spaces for everyone at the home.

The home was recognised for promoting independence through its communal areas, as well as its impressive landscaped gardens. 

Judges praised the amount of thought that has gone into the home’s expansive front of house interior space, which includes a hair salon, cinema, bar and café. Smartly designed, each facility has a shop-window effect, which allows those in the home to feel as though they could be walking into a high street salon, or even a restaurant.

It was also observed how this layout encourages independence for those living in the home – with residents able to meet loved ones in the home’s coffee shop, before making their way to a pamper session in the salon.

The 80-bed home is divided into different suites, each with a collection of bedrooms, a dining room and a lounge, to help to create smaller and more tightknit communities within the home and allow residents on each floor to get to know one another better. 

Judges also praised Oxbow Manor’s design for providing direct access to the outdoor landscaped gardens and level access paths, enabling residents to more easily take part in outdoor exercise and activities. This activity-considered design has enabled residents living on the ground floor to be able to greet alpacas brought into the home, in the garden from the comfort of their room, for example. 

Emma Tillyer, Home Manager at Oxbow Manor, said: “Oxbow Manor is a state-of-the-art care home specifically designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. 

“We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for ‘Care Home Design of the Year’ category at this years’ Leaders in Care Awards, which recognises our efforts to design communal spaces that encourage independent and social living. 

“I am really proud of all the team for their efforts in creating a warm and welcoming environment for everyone at the home – we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a win at the awards!”

Winners will be announced at the Leaders in Care Awards ceremony in October.

Oxbow Manor is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. Designed to enable residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives, the home has its very own cinema, café and hair salon, and there is plenty of space – both indoors and out – for relaxation and recreation.