Purley care home nominated for national award

 

A Purley care home is celebrating after being shortlisted for a national accolade.

The team at Care UK’s Amberley Lodge, on Downloads Road, has been nominated for ‘Care Home of the Year’ award at this year’s National Care Awards, which celebrate and recognise the very best in the social care sector.

The home prides itself in having a very low turnover of people at the home and a healthy culture within the team. With many of the team working at Amberley Lodge for over 25 years, residents and team members have been able to get to know each other and have built trustful and meaningful relationships.

To ensure positive relationships are created with residents and their relatives from day one, the team go beyond clinical requirements during the pre-admission stage and ask about a wide range of topics, from dietary preferences to hobbies and past experiences. These are then logged to tailor the care received by each resident and updated as preferences and requirements change.

A relative of a resident, said: “My mum has been a resident at Amberley Lodge for over six years and I can genuinely say that she receives exceptional care from all the team. There is a real sense of being part of a wider family within the home.”

Judges also applauded how the team understand the importance of open communication with relatives and have put initiatives in place to implement this into different aspects of the home. As well as online forums, the home encourages conversation with the team regularly and relatives know if they make a suggestion or a request, it will be acted on. This has helped to create a homelike environment for the residents.

Judges also praised how helping residents to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives is a key ethos of life at Amberley Lodge, with the team working hard to ensure all residents are included, regardless of their care requirements. This recently involved a resident living with advanced dementia who wished to have all her family under the same roof for her 97^th birthday. The team quickly put this into action, and arranged a special family party where 48 members of the resident’s family joined, and the Head Chef made a personalised cake.   

Where able, team members encourage residents to connect to their past. For example, a resident who was a former secretary helps the team in the office, while another resident who loves baking works with the kitchen team to arrange baking competitions.

Azalea Moses, Home Manager at Amberley Lodge, said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted at this year’s National Care Awards in the ‘Care Home of the Year’ category.

“The whole team here at Amberley Lodge works incredibly hard to build strong relationships with residents and relatives and this award shortlisting is testament to that. We strive to support residents to lead fulfilling lives through compassionate, person-centred care and are so pleased to have been recognised for our hard work and dedication.

“We want everyone who steps through the doors to feel heard and like a part of the family we have grown here at Amberley Lodge. I couldn’t be prouder of what the team has achieved and for their efforts to be recognised is fantastic – winning would be the icing on the cake!”

Amberley Lodge has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The home provides residential, nursing and specialist dementia care, as well as respite, and end of life care.