Owner of outstanding care home: 'Residents come to my house on Christmas Day'

For the last 10 years, residents and staff from a care home in London which has just been rated outstanding, have been invited over to the owner’s house for Christmas dinner with him and his family.

Aidan Spence’s remarkable generosity means the residents, some of whom have never had a family Christmas, get to experience warmth and kindness during the festive season.

Mr Spence, who is a qualified psychiatric nurse and has worked in mental health since he was 19, is also the registered manager of the home. He says: “My children have never had a Christmas without the residents. Two of my children have worked at the service and before everyone sets off to my house for Christmas Day, the staff check everything, make sure that medicines are packed.

Everyone gets a Christmas present

“We risk assess and if there are any issues, we'll provide one to one support to get them to my house. We have a lot of staff available and the service users know my family, and everyone gets a present. One of my kids will play the piano and there's lots of home cooked food. It replaces what they haven't had and they trust us a lot more. It's not 'us' and 'them'.

"We get feedback from the service users on how much they enjoy it from them and their community mental health team. Some might not want to go to my house and they don't have to, so we accommodate that.”

The Grove care home in Walthamstow has just been given the top rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Currently only two per cent of care homes in England are rated outstanding.

The home which is run by Connifinn Limited, provides care for up to eight adults with mental health needs and had an unannounced inspection in June.

'Person-centred care'

The CQC revealed in its report that a support worker at the home described it as “person centred care” saying: “The registered manager's idea is to make a home for people and it's like a family home. There's nowhere else I'd rather work”.

In addition, the report said the entire staff team go on social events to keep them motivated and engaged. "We have staff nights out. We recently went to the opera, we go to the pub, the cinema, have Christmas parties. It's fantastic to have a manager like him. He recognises our strengths and weaknesses and encourages people in their careers. He's an exceptional person,” said the deputy manager.

A support worker is also quoted in the report, saying: “Every year we all go to the registered manager's house for Christmas dinner, including the residents. The guys here never had a family Christmas and we've been going to the registered manager's home for Christmas for 10 years.”

There is a strong person-centred culture at the home and residents spoke very positively about the manager and deputy manager saying: “The manager is cool” while another said: “Both the manager and the deputy manager are approachable”. A third added: “The manager, to be honest, is very good” and a fourth resident said: “The staff work well together. They are strong.”

Inspectors found the care home went the extra mile to find out what residents had done in the past by way of hobbies and were proactive and innovative in supporting people with their interests. One person's care plan stated they were artistic and enjoyed painting and that they had done this in the past and whilst in hospital. Staff encouraged the resident with this hobby and the person's art work was displayed around the home. The resident was also encouraged to display their art at a local art show.

Skilled at end of life care

Another area where the care home excelled was in its end of life care, with the CQC saying ‘the service was particularly skilled at helping people explore and record their wishes about care at the end of their life and plan how these wishes would be met. The service was very responsive in enabling people to have a comfortable and dignified death’.

Mr Spence revealed: "Our last loss was at the beginning of last year, a long-term resident and real character spent some time in an induced coma before leaving us. In his dying hours, a member of staff held his hand while playing his favourite music which he had downloaded to an iPod.

“None of our residents has died in the hospital or in the home without the comfort of a close member of staff holding their hand. He verbally expressed that he wished to be buried in an Elvis coffin and having no family, for staff and residents to arrive via stretched limo. After the funeral, a celebration of his life was held at the home, with a photo-collage and alcohol-free wine."

'Exceptionally responsive' care home

Inspectors called the care home ‘exceptionally responsive’ and said it used innovative ways to ensure it was providing care that was tailored to meet people's needs.

Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care, said: “The Grove is providing its residents with outstanding care and I was extremely impressed with the inspection report, which highlighted the work of staff going the extra mile in a number of areas.”

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