Barchester Healthcare continue to unveil new care homes in 20th year

Luxury care home provider Barchester Healthcare Ltd celebrate their 20th Anniversary this year, after two decades of growth that have seen the company grow into the UK’s fourth largest care home portfolio, since opening their first accommodation in 1992. Going against the trend, the business continues to open new facilities despite challenging economic conditions, now offering homely and personalised care at more than 200 locations.

October will in fact see Barchester open its ninth new home of 2012 so far, in the shape of Ashchurch View, in Gloucestershire, as the company continues to see demand for its versatile range of care services even as the property market is far from clear of recent turmoil.

The new Ashchurch care home will provide a versatile range of care and nursing provision to older people, while also being ideal for younger adults with a physical disability, and for adults diagnosed with dementia.

Like all Barchester homes, Ashchurch View will feature its own Memory Lane Community, an initiative that has proven of great benefit in establishing on-site reminiscence therapy for adults with conditions like Alzheimer’s. Within each community, individualised memory boxes, that are found to be effective in stimulating cognitive ability, combine with sensory gardens, activity kitchens that encourage independence, and low-risk walkways to enhance the quality and dignity of clients’ daily lives.

Together with Ashchurch View, Barchester has also overseen successful openings at seven other new sites in England; including Wadhurst Manor and Hurstwood View, in East Sussex; Oak Grange, in Chester; Hagley Place, Ludlow; Kingfisher Lodge, Saltford; Worplesdon View, Guildford and Harper Field in Balsall Common.

The provider has also expanded its presence onto the Isle of Jersey, with the opening of the 60-bed Lakeside Manor and Pavilions, which combines residential care with several independent living apartments within a charming property and scenic surroundings.

Company founder and chief executive Dr Mike Parsons was delighted to see the Jersey facility take shape, commenting: “The quality of the design and workmanship reflects the level of high quality care our Barchester homes pride themselves on. Lakeside Manor and Pavilions will complement the existing care we provide here at Lakeside and will create 100 new jobs on the island.”

In meeting the challenges of caring for a diverse range of clients and care needs specific to each individual, Barchester understand that quality accommodations need to be backed up by talented and committed care teams.

At Wadhurst Manor, in East Sussex, general manager Jo Brown believes their recruitment programme worked well to back up the benefits of the new facility, saying: “Bricks and mortar are not enough to make a Barchester home, and I have been fortunate to recruit an amazing bunch of people – many from Wadhurst village itself – who have started to make the place really tick.”

The Barchester philosophy also places great value on a care home’s potential to contribute towards community life – a factor that was praised by MP for Guildford, Anne Milton when she helped unveil a plaque at Worplesdon View’s opening.

“It is fantastic to see a care home that even in its early stages is already heavily supported by its local community.” MP Milton said. “I can see so many familiar faces in front of me today and it is wonderful to experience such community spirit. Worplesdon View has managed to achieve that home from home feel and I wish it a very successful future.”

In Harper Fields, Balsall Common, embracing the richness of local history was further seen as a means of being at one with community affections, in particular through the area’s association with horse racing.

General manager Caroline Ward discussed as the 80-bed home opened earlier this month: “This has been a wonderful occasion and we are glad that we have been able to reflect the history of the site in the name of the building including naming the suites after racecourses. Gwen Meacham’s father Albert Harper built the first equestrian centre in Britain on this site and we are very happy to honour their family name.”

Dr Carter OBE, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), is among those to recognise the quality of Barchester’s latest facilities, speaking at the opening day of Oak Grange, in Chester:

“I am very pleased to have been asked to open this superb home. I am struck by the sense of space, attention to colour schemes and furnishings, as well as the concept of Barchester’s Memory Lane Community. “More people are living longer with more complex nursing needs and we desperately need to adjust, as a country, to better meet their needs. Oak Grange definitely sets the benchmark, which both the public and independent sector should seek to emulate.”

Chief executive Mike Parsons feels the success of Oak Grange reflects on how far the company has come since he founded it 20 years ago, saying: “When Christine Hancock from the RCN opened our first care home in Gloucestershire all those years ago, we were attempting to do something different. I am glad that her successor Dr Carter can see that we are still setting the standard.”

Those standards have seen Barchester prove successful in winning prestigious awards in recent years, including the Residential Care Provider of The Year 2012, at HealthInvestor Awards, as well as being ranked among the top 25 ‘Best Big Companies to Work For’ by the Sunday Times.