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Recent events
January was a very quiet month in comparison to December when we had lots going on.
We recommenced the pub lunches over at the Hen & Chicks pub. The landlady is now the cook so there is a different menu to sample. Everyone enjoyed the meal they chose, most people had fish and chips which is always a firm favorite!
We had our first church service of the year which was an extremely good turnout with a full table. Thank- you to Allison and Pauleene the pastoral assistants from Bisley Church.
Residents have been enjoying the year 3 school children from Bisley School. We have had an all- girl group. So far we have done jigsaws, created arts and crafts, done some painting, reminiscence discussions and had an entertaining dance and gymnastics show from them! Their weekly visits are something the residents look forward to.
Seeing the children brings back many memories and the sound of laughter, chatting and giggling can be heard around the lounge and dining room.
We celebrated Chinese New Year (a little early by mistake!) We had Chinese lanterns, a lucky cat, fortune cookies and delicious Chinese food of Chinese curry, sweet and sour chicken, egg fried rice and prawn crackers.
The vast majority of our residents enjoyed the meal and there have even been requests to add such meals to our menu!
In the afternoon, we painted Chinese dragons, had a quiz related to Chinese history, facts and figures and had great fun learning what the Chinese year was when each resident was born and reading what that meant about our personalities!
The hairdresser has had her usual fortnightly visits ensuring that our residents are looking smart.
Upcoming events:
High Kicks and Heels are back each month from February. Her days have changed to the first Tuesday of the month to accommodate for the school children coming on Wednesday afternoons.
We will be celebrating National Marriage Week from 7th-14th February, we will be sharing experiences of each resident’s love lives and weddings. We will have Valentine’s associated activities in the week and days leading up to Valentine’s Day.
We are having a Valentine’s Day party at Elmfield on 14th February, all our welcome! This will be from 3pm.
We also have Shrove Tuesday better known as Pancake day to look forward to!
Staff and resident changes:
We have welcomed Amanda Webster and Judy John, both army wives to our team. Amanda works a mix of days and nights whilst Judy works nights.
Natalie Goodchild has also joined our night team.
All are setting in well.
Birthdays:
January was another month without any birthdays.
However, at the beginning of February we have Jean’s special 99th birthday to celebrate which we are looking forward to.
Other news:
At the beginning of January, we changed our resident’s lunch times so that we have two sittings. The residents who are early risers tend to have chosen the first sitting of 12-1pm, and the second sitting from 1-2pm tends to be the people who get up a little later. The change has worked well; there are more staff around to monitor, support and assist. The table is less crowded and it helps the cook not be overloaded with washing up.
We had our CQC inspection on 23/01/19 and the initial feedback was very good. We welcomed two inspectors to the home and they spent a whole day looking at resident’s care plans, audits, documentation, staff files and training records, speaking to staff on duty, talking to residents and visitors to the home.
The feedback from everyone involved in Elmfield was overwhelmingly positive.
THANK- YOU to everyone who participated in the inspection and well done to the staff who continuously work very hard to support our residents and the values of the home.
Our report should be published within 6 weeks. This will be available within the home to read and will also be published on our website.
A lot of time, effort and hard work from everyone involved in the home goes into maintaining and improving our ratings; hopefully this will be acknowledged by the inspectors.
It is almost time to change our menu again….. our residents will be asked what meals they prefer, be given the opportunity to suggest new meals to be added to the menu and we can add seasonal produce to the menu.
This year we are hoping to bring more entertainers to Elmfield, please check the notice board for what is going on.
Employee of the month:
Employee of the month for January was awarded to Roland Jefferies for his help in supporting the new staff to settle into their job roles and to help teach them the ways of working. Roland also regularly helps with cooking when needed which is much appreciated. Roland has also been one of the staff members using their skills and knowledge to take on the role of shift leader in the absence of a senior.
Well done Roland and keep up the good work!
The quarterly staff incentives have been awarded.
Permanent/ regular staff were asked to nominate a colleague for the prizes who they felt deserved an award and state the reasons why they have nominated the individual.
The results were Niccii with four votes for consistently going above and beyond her job role.
Chris received two votes for exceeding expectations of her job role and being reliable.
Sharon also received two votes for being most improved and hard-working as well as covering lots of shifts in recent months.
Other staff receiving one vote each were Dannii for being good at her job role, Aga for being an excellent team worker, Samantha for helping her colleagues of different job roles, being hard-working and reliable, Roland for his consistency and Julie for being good with the residents. Each name was put into a box and chosen at random.
The fourth winner was Samantha! Well done to everyone and enjoy your takeaway meals.