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• Ensuring we provide care to all our residents to a standard of excellence which embraces fundamental principles of good care practice.
• Ensuring we provide care to all our residents to a standard of excellence which embraces fundamental principles of good care practice.
• Ensuring we provide care to all our residents to a standard of excellence which embraces fundamental principles of good care practice.
• Ensuring we provide care to all our residents to a standard of excellence which embraces fundamental principles of good care practice.

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Halcyon Days Previous Newsletter

Halcyon Days
Newsletter
November 2009

Hi everyone,

Well it feels as though winter is here. Christmas is on 42 sleeps away (as my daughter tells me) so now comes the busy and most expensive time of the year. Are you going to be on Santa’s naughty or nice list?
I will be putting posters up for our Christmas party shortly when I have confirmed the date so keep a look out for it.

Environment

Please feel free to use the library area in the small lounge. The TV aerial is working well. I hope everyone is enjoying the additional free view channels. If anyone is having problems with viewing please let us know so we can rectify the problem
The corridors in Nightingale unit are due for a face lift too. We are in the process getting the new carpets booked in for lying, painting has started and our residents have started painting to replace the pictures that we currently have on the wall.
The installation for the new bath on Nightingale unit starts on the 16th. I’m sure it will be worth the wait. I thank you for your patience in this matter. Who would’ve thought having a new bath installed would have caused so many problems!
The kitchen on Nightingale is getting a makeover. We are currently getting quotes so hopefully early next year we will have a remodelled kitchen.

I’m looking for inspiration for our hair salon. As you know the flooring has been taken up but before I put something back down I want to be sure it’s what we want. I would appreciate your suggestions on colour schemes and styles. If you have any thoughts let me know. Many thanks.

Activities

Liz is our activities organiser on Nightingale and Kelly on Kingfisher. You are more than welcome to attend activities on either unit. Please speak to the staff and they will be able to let you know what activities are going on and arrange for you to attend if you need assistance. We have a variety of activities available- painting, cooking, craft making, quizzes, bingo, cards, flower arranging with our resident florist, Jessie, reminiscence mornings, stimulate your senses, armchair
aerobics, cinema afternoons, sherry mornings/evenings to name just a few. If there is anything you fancy having a go at but you are not sure if it is available then please ask and I am more than happy to arrange the necessary things to make it available.
The Halloween party was great fun; I think you’ll all agree the house looked scary so I guess that means the team did a great job. Not sure I liked the plastic spiders though! I didn’t realise so many of you had such talent when it comes to carving pumpkins. ?
Philip continues to come monthly for the exercise class, Jim the entertainer comes to get us all singing twice a month. We recently had the duet “Somethin’ Else” in one evening which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. They are coming back again at Christmas.
A group called “Musicality” are also booked in for the end of this month.
Also, just a reminder that in the village on a Wednesday afternoon there is an over 60’s club in the village hall. If anyone is interested we will arrange transport.  
The mini bus has been a huge benefit. We have had several outings including Woburn safari park, the museum, garden centre, shopping, and strawberry picking and there are many more planned. Suggestions for outings are welcomed, if there is anything you fancy doing please let us know. If any relatives or visitors would like to come along please let me know or volunteer to help out then please see me or Ashling. We will need to do a CRB check which we will organise.
We are still planning on arranging a fundraising ball. Posters will be put up when we have a firm date.
An allotment is planned for the top of the garden; let us know if you’d like to be part of it. Currently the weather is a bit grim so will possibly be on hold until the spring.
Starburst and Skittle, the resident guinea pigs, continue to do well. Charles is doing a fantastic job as their main carer but please feel free to spend some time with them, they like to be cuddled. They are located on the kingfisher patio.

Please remember to pass on any ideas for the activities programme to Liz or Kelly.  We keep a detailed record of activities and who participates or refuses. As relatives if you would like to know a bit more about your loved ones involvement with activities please see a staff member and they will be able to check for you.

Residents committee

The committee are due a meeting. The date of the next committee meeting will be posted on the board when arranged so keep your eye out should you wish to attend or wish to have an item added to the agenda. Liz is arranging this so please see him if you want to join the committee, take part in the meeting or have something you wish to be discussed at the meeting.

Birthdays

I would like to wish a belated happy Birthday to Jean L, Jean C, Peggy D, Mary, Enid who celebrated their Birthday in July, Elsie E and Reg who celebrated in August. And to Eileen, Morwen, Stella, Doris, Steve, Elsie R who celebrated in September. Happy Birthday to Alice c, Lucy M, Gladys M, Lucy S, Helen & Doreen who celebrated in October and Violet, Dorothy P, & Rosemary happy Birthday for this month, also our wonderful cook, May, celebrated a milestone birthday too. December brings many happy returns to Freda, Alice m, Charles & Ben.

Inspections

We had a mock inspection in September to basically go through all our paperwork, procedures and practice to see if there were any areas that needed attention. The mock inspector gave us a view ideas on how to maintain our standards particularly as we are now much bigger and we have more than doubled our staff. I thank you for your patience and understand through what has been a challenging 11 months.

Fire safety

Just another reminder, please do not prop open your bedroom doors with slippers, tables, bins. Due to current legislation and the safety and welfare of our residents, doors must be kept closed unless you have a door guard fitted. A door guard allows a door to be kept open as it automatically closes if the fire alarm sounds. Anyone who wishes to have a door guard fitted, please see me. Many thanks for your co-operation.

Dining

As always, family members or visitors are able to join you for a meal. Please let the cooks or senior know if you would like to do this.
We appreciate your input so any suggestions for the menu let me know. Or see either one of our cooks, Nok, Leigh, Claire, Angela or May. Please remember if anyone fancies another drink or anything to eat, day or night, please ask. Snacks are always available in between meals and evenings so please ask if you fancy something and staff will be happy to get you something. Alternatively please help yourself to snacks that are out around the house. A cooked breakfast is also available.

Visiting

Visitors are always welcome and we are happy to provide you with refreshments if you wish. There is tea/coffee making facilities available for you to make yourself a drink should you wish. They are situated in the dining room in Nightingale unit. Please ensure you always sign in when you arrive and out when you leave for health and safety reasons. Many thanks.

Laundry

Please ensure that all clothes continue to be labelled. If anyone needs a hand please let us know and we are happy to help but will need to charge an hourly rate to sew in labels. The new laundry has been installed and is working well however we have found the volume of the washing quite considerable so we have added extra hours to the laundry. Shirley will be joining Christine and Mercedes on the Laundry team.

Care

Care plans continue to be reviewed each month and in between if needed. They are designed and written in such detail that they promote a person centred approach. By this I mean all personal wishes, choices and requests are being respected and adhered to.  Relatives may only read a residents care plan with the residents permission so many residents have now signed a consent form if they wish for their relative to be involved. We value relative input so key workers approach the residents named relative at the time of review. Your comments are important to life history and continued care. If you wish to make comments or be involved with a care plan review, we will ask you to sign the review too.
The unit managers system is working well. Karen Bottazzi is heading up Nightingale Unit and Laura Aylott is heading up Kingfisher unit. The staff are set to each unit for continuity purposes so this means some of the key workers may have changed. I plan to discuss the current issues around key workers and their revised roles and responsibilities at the residents and relative meetings, on 23rd November for Nightingale & 26th November for Kingfisher Unit.
Annual review meetings are currently being arranged for those of you who have been at Halcyon Days more than a year. I have sent letters out but will follow up with you next week if I haven’t yet booked you in.


Final Thoughts

Residents meetings will continue to be held monthly, relatives meetings 3 monthly.

A reminder that our up to date complaints policy and forms is in a folder on the front desk should you have any concerns, complaints are problems that you wish to address formally.

If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me and I am sure I can help, my door is always open. If I’m not here when you normally visit, please give me a call or leave a message for me to call you and we can arrange a time convenient to you.  I hold a managers drop in session on a Tuesday afternoon so you can pop in without needing to make an appointment. If I’m not available due to annual leave or unavoidable absence for whatever reason, Ashling will step in.

From January I will be working Monday to Friday instead of a Saturday morning.

Dawn Richmond-Cook
Registered Manager