Recent events
Another month has been and gone and thankfully, we are near the end of 2020 which I am sure everyone will agree, has been a crazy year to remember!
We have kept safe within Elmfield whilst another national lockdown commenced. Staff have been busy supporting residents and ensuring contact is maintained doing video calls and with a range of activities.
Bingo has been played, chair- based exercises have been done, meditation/relaxation therapy, pamper sessions, fun with food, arts and crafts, playing boards games, exercise games, interactive games, jigsaw puzzles, sing- a long’s sessions, film afternoons, quizzes, reminiscing and general chit chat.
We have had Spanish day with Spanish omelette and chicken in a Mediterranean sauce with new potatoes and green vegetables.
Our Greek day consisted of meze and yoghurt dips, lemon and mushroom chicken and lamb moussaka with salad.
The Mexican food was particularly enjoyed despite being quite strong flavors. We had nachos for starters, taco and fajitas with spicy rice and salad.
All of our themed days which seem to have gone down really well with our residents.
Our kitchen staff have also been doing ‘fun with food’ sessions consisting of baking, cake decorating, making pizzas and they have more fun things planned….
On Remembrance Day, there was a streamed service from Bisley Cenotaph which we were lucky enough to view from our porch.
It is a shame that we were unable to attend in person as we have done for many years now, but social distancing and COVID-19 regulations once again prevented this.
Our residents shared their experiences of being evacuated with such a variety of experiences. Patricia was fortunate to stay with a school headmaster who she credits her education to. Vera’s experience of being an evacuee was not a happy time in her life as she missed her family and homelife.
John and Alan Served as soldiers as young men. Alan was lucky enough to experience life in the Far East which was extremely different to life in the UK. John sadly has vivid memories of his time as a soldier and experienced deep losses.
Jean Winfield said that the war years were times she does not wish to discuss.
Helen on the other hand, loves to share her memories of the tanks driving through Knaphill and waving at the troops! She recalls in great detail bomb explosions, the sirens and blackouts.
We missed our usual coffee morning with the Soldiers from Pirbright camp, but we paid our respects with a minute’s silence and shared our thoughts, memories and experiences.
Eyecare opticians came to the home and conducted eye tests for all of our residents. This was a little overdue but they were thankfully able to see all of our residents. I believe that a member of their team will contact relatives as several residents’ prescriptions have changed since previous eye tests.
Rikki our chiropodist also came to Elmfield House as an essential healthcare professional.
Upcoming events
Sadly, Nicky our hairdresser couldn’t come into Elmfield House during lockdown, however we eagerly await her return on 3rd December. We have certainly missed her!
Niccii is in the process of planning Christmas events for our residents.
Obviously, Christmas 2020 is going to be very different for everyone this year with restrictions and the dangers of COVID n 19 for the elderly and vulnerable.
Please be assured, that everyone at Elmfield House is committed to making it special for all the residents in our care.
We have recently purchased a new smart television to enable us to stream events from the laptop onto the computer. We are hoping to have a virtual party and shows for our residents.
Instead of attending the carol services at Guildford cathedral and having Bisley church choir come to us; it is hoped that we will be able to stream these instead and have virtual carol services.
We have a production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ from The Old Vic theatre in London a few days before Christmas.
We will be doing Christmas arts and crafts in the month of December.
We are limited as to what Christmas decorations we can have this year due to the increased risk of infection. Sadly, we cannot have Bisley Scouts come and put up our Christmas decorations this year, again we will keep our fingers crossed that they can do next year.
We are looking forward to having our ‘Winter Wonderland’ display in the garden.
As and when further events are announced and visiting can be safely implemented; all residents and relatives will be kept informed.
Our themed days in December will be German to reflect the Christmas markets, and authentic Nepalese food cooked by Samita, one of our care staff. We are looking forward to this!
Staff and resident changes
It is with a heavy heart to announce that we lost one of our charismatic residents, Alan Nurney, on 15th November. Alan had been poorly on and off since September and he passed very peacefully at Elmfield House. Alan was 93 years of age and is missed very much by staff and residents.
We welcomed Yvonne Holmes to Elmfield House on 23rd November. Yvonne is 91 years old and came from her home in Cobham. Yvonne is currently self- isolating as is care home admission protocol. She found the first few days quite difficult as is expecting when moving into a care home. She is now getting to know staff and vice versa and is adapting well to the change. We hope that Yvonne will be happy with us.
We have two new faces joining our staffing team at Elmfield House early December: Tina Jackson who will be our weekend housekeeper, and also Jenna Gaines- Burrill who is joining our bank staff team.
Welcome everyone to our Elmfield family!
Birthdays
We did not have any birthdays to celebrate in November. However, we will make it up that in December with Helen and Patricia’s birthdays.
Other News
The majority of staff were issued with their winter flu vaccinations onsite at Elmfield House earlier this month.
We were kindly rescued by Fast-heal Pharmacy operating in Woking; after very unsuccessful attempts from staff to obtain the vaccination from their GP practices. THANK-YOU! This really was appreciated.
Staff have been busy with training: the first practical session for emergency first aid was conducted.
We also have medication training, nutritional training, clinical skills training, oral health and practical manual handling sessions all upcoming in the next couple of months.
Some of our new staff will also be doing the Skills for Care, care certificate too.
Several staff have recently signed up for, or are in the process of signing up for apprenticeships.
Well done to Lauren and Niccii for doing operational management level 5 course, Heidi for adult lead level 5, Jess, Sharon H, Julie, Fiona, Lucy, Awa, Nana and Sarah doing adult lead level 3.
Thaddeus, Alisha and Holly are doing adult lead level 2.
Dawna and Joanna are doing professional cookery level 2.
Diane is doing business administration level 3.
Elmfield House is very proud of our staff’s dedication, despite the additional COVID-19 19 challenges associated with health and social care, to be putting additional pressures on themselves in order to develop professionally. Well done all of you, and good luck!
Niccii has been busy recruiting and has more interviews planned for December. We hope to welcome some more new faces soon.
A few months ago, Niccii applied for one of the 11,000 iPads being issued by the NHS to care homes to help keep in contact with relatives during the pandemic. We were thrilled to learn that we are one of the lucky homes to be awarded an iPad. We should receive this in December. Lin Humphries: you can have back your iPad that you ever so kindly lent us earlier on this year.
Employee of the month
Employee of the month for November is awarded to Nana Bonsu. Nana has been wonderful in covering shifts at short notice to ensure the smooth running of the home. She is always dedicated and has demonstrated dedication and loyalty to Elmfield House.
Nana has a wonderful, positive attitude and she often goes the extra mile in her work practices.
Nana has recommended Elmfield House to her friends and this has resulted in positive recruitment.
Well done Nana and keep up the great work!