Care minister chats with war veterans in tour of West Midland care homes

Care minister Caroline Dinenage undertook a whistle-stop tour of care homes across the West Midlands this week and met with residents, war veterans and care staff to gather their views.

Caroline Dinenage's care home tour, organised by the National Care Forum this week, included a visit to Castle Brook care home in Kenilworth, run by WCS Care. Ms Dinenage checked out the care provider’s 'innovation hub' in the 84-room care home, which uses technology to deliver better care.

WCS Care was the first in the country to use acoustic monitoring - which resulted in a 34 per cent reduction in night falls. The care home’s night-time acoustic monitoring automatically alerts staff to unusual sounds at night so they can respond quickly to check on residents.

Ms Dinenage said: “I was particularly inspired by their innovation hub and their commitment to harnessing the power of innovative new technologies to improve life for residents and allow carers to spend more time with them.

“Technology plays an increasingly important role in helping us stay independent and healthy as we grow older, and they are setting a great example for the sector.”

‘Not rocket science’

A nurse call system alerts staff through handheld devices rather than by disruptive call bells. Electronic care planning also means carers spend more time with residents instead of doing paperwork.

WCS Care has also installed circadian rhythm lighting into the hub to mimic daylight in the day and create biological darkness at night to keep residents’ bodies in a solid circadian cycle. This helps improve residents’ sleep and daytime alertness, which has a positive impact for people with dementia.

Ed Russell, WCS Care’s deputy chief executive, said: “Our approaches and use of technology are designed to provide people with the opportunities to enjoy what they’ve always done, as well as have plenty of chances to try new things. “However, what we’ve shown the minister is not rocket science and could easily be achieved by other organisations in the care sector".

Caroline Dinenage also met war veterans and care staff at The Royal Star & Garter care home in Solihull, which provides specialist dementia care to militray veterans and their partners. The care minister had plenty of time to chat with residents about the 50 activities happening each week and the impact of its children’s nursery.

Ms Dinenage said: “It was a great pleasure to visit The Royal Star & Garter Home in Solihull and see first-hand the excellent, specialist care they provide to our military veterans living with disabilities or dementia. Their new day care service is a real asset to this community and will enable more veterans to benefit from their quality care.”

Resident Joan who had chatted with Ms Dinenage said: “It was very nice that she came down to see us. She’s a lovely lady. She was very approachable and easy to talk to.”

At Arden Grove care setting in Coventry, the minister got some knitting tips from resident Rhona. With 33 apartments, it is run by Accord Housing Association, and is a housing with care complex for people with dementia. The care provider uses virtual reality software Virtucare to let residents do things and go places they might not otherwise be able to go to without physically leaving their home.

Ms Dinenage said: “There are more people than ever living with complex health conditions like dementia and Arden Grove sets a brilliant example of what specialised care and support should look like.”

The minister went on to ‘sing the praises’ of care staff at the homes she visited this week, in her speech at Brighton's 2018 Dementia Congress.

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