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Care home innovation rewarded by Bupa 11 July 2005 The brightest and most innovative talent in Bupa Care Services has been recognised at the health and care organisation's annual 'One Life Awards' held at the Royal Opera House in London. Staff at four care homes, have been named winners of the prestigious 'Ideas of the Year' after being singled out for coming up with the best, most creative business concepts to be adopted by the company. More than 2,200 ideas have been dreamt up by Bupa's creative minds over the past twelve months. Four hundred and sixty of those innovations have been implemented, from which, a shortlist of 34 were drawn up for the awards. Eight winners were then chosen from across all Bupa’s businesses. The winning ideas and initiatives developed by Bupa Care Homes employees are: Margaret Campbell, head of care at Arran View Nursing Home in Saltcoats, Ayrshire developed a 'palliative care ambience box'. This includes different materials such as a touch lamp, calming aromas and soft music. These are used to ensure a more comfortable, peaceful environment during serious illnesses or when death is imminent. The care home team is then able to add to this any items that will provide an extra personal touch. The box idea is now being rolled out across care homes so others can benefit too. Ruth Nuttall, administrator at St Nicholas’ Nursing Home in Liverpool championed the idea of large print invoices. Care home fees are often the responsibility of the resident’s son or daughter. But with many residents in their 80s and 90s, and some over 100, these ‘children’ are often in their 60s and 70s and may have poor eyesight themselves. This idea which can now be produced throughout our 252 care homes ensures people with visual impairment are not disadvantaged. Sharon Westfield, home manager at Rivermead care home in Bedford has helped to improve care for residents and to ensure Bupa complies with regulations. To give care that is personal to resident’s needs, teams at Bupa care homes use a scale based on factors including the person’s memory, mood, mobility and sensory abilities. As these factors can change throughout the resident’s stay this assessment forms part of continuing planning to ensure appropriate care and surroundings. Sharon simplified the system by combining six different forms into one document that tracks change to the resident’s requirements. Celia Allen, sister at Barrington Lodge Nursing Home at Cheltenham devised a user-friendly streamlined form to make it easier for care homes to meet a part of National Care Services regulations. Inspectors require documented evidence of supervision of ‘employees’ working practices, but there was some ambiguity about what information should be given and up to six forms were used. The new concise form will be used to record the required information for around 15,000 Care Homes’ employees. To support this she has also developed a contract to be agreed between the manager and the employee. The National Care Standard’s inspectors were so impressed with this form that they have recommended it to other care homes in the area. Recognition scheme manager Sally Gardiner, who organises the annual event, says: “All these people have made a significant personal contribution to realising Bupa’s vision of ‘taking care of the lives in our hands’. “They epitomise the rich diversity of talent and expertise of Bupa employees and what is impressive is that more than 20 per cent of these ideas have been implemented. This compares with a success rate of just four or five per cent in most other organisations, who like us have more than 10,000 employees.” Also announced at the awards luncheon were the winners of Bupa’s Annual Excellence Awards. Ten individuals were chosen from dozens of employees recognised for excelling beyond role expectations. Bupa employees from all over the world, including people from the UK, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Spain, Thailand and Australia attended the event.
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