Recent Events

Summer is finally upon us and most of it has been a wash out! Typical British summer!

We managed to squeeze in a couple of BBQs in the garden. This was thoroughly enjoyed by our residents. We offered a choice of chicken, sausages, veggie burgers and cheeseburgers with fried onions, salad and potato salad. Chilled prosecco and shandy were offered and ice cream with dessert to cool down.

We have had Polish and Greek themed meals this month. Joanna and Aga brought ingredients from a Polish shop and made a traditional cold soup with a meatball dish, fish, potato fritters, salads and coleslaw. The dessert was very unique with a fromage and jelly type cake. It was very popular! For the Greek inspired meal, we had lamb kofta wraps, Moussaka and a traditional fish dish with hummus, feta cheese salad and meze dips. There were empty plates all around and for many residents it was their first taste of Greek cuisine.

Reminiscing sessions took place in memory of D-Day. This was quite emotive for some residents due to the nature of the event. We discussed important people from this era and the impact D-Day had at the time but also in the future.

It has been wonderful to have lots of visitors utilising the garden, visiting pod and indoor visits.

We celebrated Father’s Day with a leg of lamb roast dinner, later followed by an afternoon tea with some delicious cupcakes made by ex- employee Marie Massey.

June has been a busy month for the sporting calendar, with significant dates in the horse racing calendar, Euro 2021 with England progressing well, and Wimbledon for the tennis fans.

We did a sweepstake for the Euros and are eagerly anticipating who chose the winning team.

Les has been taking great interest in both the racing and the football. He has always been an avid sports fan.

Sylvia keeps staff up to date on the tennis and gives us accurate commentary on who is winning, their performance and her opinion on the match.

We have had all of our usual activities going on including pamper sessions, chair- based exercises, arts and crafts, sing- alongs, cake decorating, quizzes, outdoor skittles and games.

John, Patricia, Audrey and Sylvia have all been playing dominoes and card games together which has been lovely to see. They can get quite competitive at times!

Upcoming events:

On 15th July we have Graham performing a garden show. He has excitedly informed us that he has some new songs to perform for us.

We will have chocolate tasting on 7th July as it is World Chocolate Day. Both Helena and Patricia are known choc-a-holics. Helena says Belgian chocolates are the best which her son often sends her, whilst Patricia loves her Lindt Swiss chocolates.

We will continue with themed meals each fortnight and have asked residents for their input. One will be French cuisine to acknowledge Bastille Day on 14th July.

Weather permitting, we will have a picnic on Bisley Green in recognition of July being picnic month.

In line with July being known as ‘Good care month’, we will have activities to discuss and acknowledge what ‘good care’ is and gather feedback as to how we are performing. We tend to do this formally on an annual basis and with the unprecedented year we have just had with the Covid it has been a different year for all of us.

On the 30th July it is International friendship day so we will do an activity sharing our favorite memories and the importance of friendship.

Staff and resident changes:

On 12th July we welcomed Sylvia Nicholls to Elmfield House. Sylvia has spent her whole life in Bisley and has chosen Elmfield House to remain in familiar surroundings. Sylvia had been in hospital and spend a short time in another came home before moving her. Following her isolation period, Sylvia has settled in amazingly well making friends and always having a giggle with others. It is wonderful having Sylvia with us.

We also have several new faces to our staffing team.

We welcomed Eunice Aidoo to our night team. She has demonstrated eagerness to learn and has a very caring nature. Eunice is currently studying for her Masters.

Audrey Raymond has joined us as a part- time carer on days. She works with children and her skills are easily transferred.

Larisa Danielscu has joined the day team full- time. She is experienced in care and is an asset to our team. Larisa will be moving onto nights at the end of July. Larisa prefers to be called ‘Lala’.

Megan Barthram has joined us as a full- time carer on days. Megan has just finished her level 2 in childcare diploma so again her skills are transferrable to care of the elderly.

We also welcome Emma Cohen to our bank team. Emma has just excelled in her A- levels and in September will be going to Cambridge University to study medicine. Emma has volunteered in care homes before and has good awareness. She will help us over the summer covering annual leave, sickness and vacant shifts.

Sadly, we said goodbye to Naz Khalesi, who has been with us for 12 years and was the longest serving member of staff. Naz has moved onto pastures anew and will be missed at Elmfield.

Birthdays:

John Salter celebrated his 84th Birthday on 4th June. He spent some tie with his family and we had a tea party upon his return.

Other news:

We have received the news that following a government consultation, the Covid vaccination will be made mandatory in care home settings. This means that ALL care home staff, and visiting healthcare professionals coming into care homes such as nurses, physios, chiropodists etc. There will be Parliamentary approval in October and then a period of grace before staff who decline vaccination will no longer be allowed to work in care home environments.

There is an on- going consultation at present to make it mandatory for NHS staff. This decision has understandably caused a lot of discussion and debate within a sector which already has recruitment difficulties, and which will lose experienced staff as a result of this. However, care staff do have a duty of care to protect residents too.

Most of you will remember that in the past 9 months or so, Niccii has been in contact with the MP, Michael Gove, to share our challenges during the Covid pandemic. He was invited to come to Elmfield in the summer to see what happens within care homes. In recent communications, he reiterated that he is still willing to visit us once covid restrictions are lifted.

The sale of Elmfield is progressing well and the ownership is due to change hands at the end of July. We will be having meetings mid- July to discuss ways of working and expectations, and this will hopefully be followed with a ‘meet and greet’ later on in the month prior to the sale completion.

It is very sad that the Findlay’s will be leaving us, but it is the end of an era and time for them to enjoy retirement which is thoroughly deserved! We will be forever grateful for their input, support and compassion over the years and they will be missed by everyone associated with Elmfield.

Elmfield will be in good hands, and we are optimistic that the new owner will continue to support us to help Elmfield prosper. Exciting times are ahead!

THANK YOU to all of our residents, relatives, staff and friends of Elmfield, who have supported us and stayed with us throughout the difficult months we had earlier this year. This really does mean the world to us.

Employee of the month:

Employee of the month for June has been awarded to Holly Randell. Holly joined us from another care home several months ago and right from the beginning, she showed great potential. Holly used her knowledge and experience and applied this to our residents needs in her daily work. Holly has been eager to learn, and has promptly completed lots of training, to a very good standard. Well done! Holly has recently been working additional shifts which is much appreciated. Holly is starting to develop leadership skills and has helped with the induction of new staff. Keep up the great work!