Social Care Awards 2021

GHP / Social Care Awards 2021 15 , Jan21317 Located in a sleepy seaside town and operating with a familial mentality, West House residential home seeks to provide the highest quality of care for its residents. West House is a small, picturesque residential home located in the peaceful seaside town of Westcliff-on-Sea that cares for people over the age of 65, both with and without dementia. It has 26 beds for its residents and is a family owned business, having been operated in this way for over 30 years now. Above all, it prides itself on offering a home away from home atmosphere for its residents; ensuring each person who walks through its doors feels safe and comfortable there. Furthermore, it works towards providing an environment that supports them to be as independent as possible, all the while reassuring them that West House’s support network is there. It believes in a familial attitude that permeates all aspects of its business. Whether a resident’s stay is permanent or just a respite away from their usual environment, they become a part of that family, and are fully embraced into West House’s person-centred care with an emphasis on privacy, dignity, and respect. This individually focused attitude allows it to truly tailor its services to their needs, catering to each person with diligence regarding their preferences. Some of its residents like to take their breakfast in their rooms or at exact times, for example, and in such cases West House will do everything in its power to accommodate such needs. Its aim is a simple one at the heart of its operation. It wishes to provide the highest standard of residential care facilities possible, facilitating its resident’s abilities to continue with life and make the most of it, with West House providing them with a happy and homely living space. It takes pride in its high staff to resident ratio which allows it to provide excellent care on a 24/7 basis. The personal centred care plan it provides is developed with input from the service user, their friends, their family, and their support workers to ensure it is truly fitting for them. These programmes also undergo frequent and intensive review to ensure that every aspect is working, and when there are elements that require change or reworking, it is dedicated to making those alterations. It also welcomes and encourages its users and their relatives to open a dialogue with West House at any time if they have questions, comments, or concerns. At West House, it has a commitment to not only providing this intensive care with no sign of scruples in sight, but to providing fun. It believes that when one moves into residential care, the experience should be an enriching and fulfilling one. To this end, it has developed an extremely varied and exciting activity plan that once again is tailored to each resident. It is especially proud of its wishing tree, which is a display in the main house where each resident can let West House know what their wish for a day is. West House will then take these and try its best to make them Leading Activity Organiser of the Year - UK happen – over the course of the pandemic, to keep its residents spirits up, it has run everything from a Parisian themed evening and high tea to a poker night, all within the house itself. In terms of staff culture within West House, it approaches the hiring process with the familial approach to its operation in mind. During the stages of vetting a potential candidate, it asks the question of whether they would be happy if this person were taking care of their loved one. In this way, it puts the wellbeing of its residents first, and looks for individuals who will do the same. It cultivates an environment that encourages its team to go the extra mile for its residents. Of course, during Covid-19, this has been especially prevalent; West House has had to find innovative ways to pivot aspects of its operation to keep life as normal as possible for its service users. In response, it implemented virtual visits and purchased a Covid-19 safe visiting pod that allowed relatives to see their loved ones in a way that would not jeopardise their health. It also set up a pen-pal programme to allow residents to send and receive letters from members of the wider community. Once lockdown is lifted, it looks forward to once again welcoming resident’s friends and families back to visit, as well as being able to go back to arranging trips and outdoor excursions for its residents. Company: West House Residential Home Contact: Elvisa Gambrill Website: www.west-house.org.uk