Saturday 15th November saw over 300 of the very best in social care attended a glittering awards ceremony at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London, for the finals of the Great London Care Awards, where the category winners were announced.
The Great London Care Awards, sponsored by Specsavers Healthcall, in association with Access Health & Social Care and the Royal Bank of Scotland, brought together the category finalists from across the London region.
The awards are part of the Great British Care Awards, a series of 9 regional awards celebrating excellence across the care sector. The purpose of the awards is to promote best practice within both home care and care homes sectors, and pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.
Sector support includes the Department of Health, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), Alzheimer’s Society, National Skills Academy for Social Care and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) as well as local authorities and commercial organisations.
There are a total of twenty award categories available for nomination, which represent all areas of the care sector,whether it be older people or specialist services and from frontline staff such as care workers and care managers to people who have made an impact in other ways such as training, and specialist care in areas such as dementia and innovation.
The gala awards evening started in style with a drinks reception, followed by a superb gourmet dinner with some surprise entertainment throughout. The awards were presented by entertainer Steve Walls with a surprise appearance of Stavros Flatley from Britain’s Got Talent fame.
The awards support a chosen charity, The Care Workers Charity, the registered charity for the care sector that support current, former and retired care professionals by providing assistance to relieve financial hardship or sickness and also provide advice and guidance on the availability of state support and links with debt counsellors.
Jayne Rawlinson, director of business developmentof Specsavers Healthcall said:
“Specsavers Healthcall is proud to support the Great British Care Awards. It’s important to recognise and celebrate the incredible dedication of people working in the social care sector. Without them some of the most vulnerable people in our society would be far worse off.”
Paul Patarou, divisional manager, Health & Social Care Division, Access Group, said:
“As sponsors of the Great British Care Awards, it’s a great honour for Access Group to be involved in the judging process. With so many fantastic entries it’s clear to see the talent that abounds in the health and social care sector. The Awards provide an opportunity to recognise the hard work and dedication of everyone in the industry from volunteer carers and front line care staff right through to their colleagues who administer and manage the organisation. Working within Access’ dedicated Health and Social Division I often see first-hand the passion and commitment displayed by these incredible individuals; they’re truly are a credit to their industry.”
Bryn Bates, healthcare relationship director at Royal Bank of Scotland said:
“We are delighted to continue our support for The Great British Care Awards in 2014, a great avenue of celebrating the hard work and successes of care across the country. Our support for these Awards is just one way RBS reinforces its’ commitment to the Care sector and those that work within it.”
Lisa Carr, director of the Great British Care Awards said:
“The Great British Care Awards are now in their sixth year and are continuing to go from strength to strength. We never cease to be amazed with the quality of nominations and this year is no exception. The two new categories, The Good Nurse Award has also proved very popular, demonstrating the significance of integration between health, housing and social care.
“This evening was a true celebration for the unsung heroes of social care, without whom quality care provision in our communities would fail.”
Winners of the Great London Awards will go through to one of two national finals for both care home and home care. The finals will take place at The ICC Birmingham in April and June 2015.
The winners of the Great London Care Awards, together with the judge’s comments are detailed below:
Care Employer
Carebase
Care Base demonstrated a focus on a quality service and a passion for valuing their workforce that in the judges opinion was second to none. They provided a truly personalised service geared to achieving great outcomes for the users and always went the extra mile. The judges were particularly impressed with their “hearts of gold” scheme that recognised great social care
Care Home worker
Raphael Akinwuni – Voyage Care
Raphael was the unanimous choice of the judges. His commitment, passion, dedication and enthusiasm means that his service users well have the best care possible.
Home Care Worker
Santosh Kaur – ASK Care Ltd
Santosh is a dedicated care worker who has overcome language barriers to provide a care service that is well loved by the people she cares for.
Care Home Manager
Andrea Cully – Regard
A genuine, big hearted care manager. Constantly striving to get the best out of everybody. Always looking at what can be achieved rather than what can’t.
Home Care Manager
Mohammed Gbadamosi – Octavia Housing
8 years from being a part time care worker to becoming care manager. He transformed the service the care provided and his greatest pleasure is to leave a resident with a smile on their face. He strives for excellence.
Newcomer
Chalinee Seebauth – Home Care Preferred
A Delightful empathetic new caere clearly understanding the importance of getting to know clients to be able to deliver person centred care.
Nutrition and hydration
Nicolas and Diane Collins and the staff of Bayfield Court – Bayfield Court
The Passion and enthusiasm that the staff from Bayfield Court showed towards the health and wellbeing od it’s residents shone through. Their innovative methods to encourage healthy eating and their clear desire to improve the lives of the residents makes them worthy winners of this award.
Dignity in Care
Zoe Elkins – The Good Care Group
Zoe impressed the judges with her passion for service users with dementia and the model she has developed for ensuring they have the best care possible. Her commitment to see that her care staff were also treated with dignity was remarkable.
Dementia Carer
Karen Cullis – Four Seasons Health Care
The judges were impressed with Karen’s honesty and the progress she has made personally. She has worked tirelessly to develop her staff and their knowledge of living well with dementia. This is clearly seen in the positive impact on the quality of life her residents enjoy.
Care Team Award
Carlton Centre Staff Team
A team that has taken opportunities of new building to create services that improve the people they support and to focus on outcomes. The team clearly expected strong leadership and they have got exactly that. There is excellent purposeful communication within the team around a shared culture of innovation with capacity to make real positive contributions to people’s lives.
Care Home Activity Organiser
Jacqui Beyer – Nightingale Hammerson
“people need to feel like a person every day not just once a month” This is Jacqui’s inspiration to make a difference and to bring amazing people together.
Ancillary Worker
Monica Gayle – Cambridge Nursing Home
Monica goesout of her way to ensure that each individuals personal dignity is respected. Monica uses her empathetic skills and music to make the residents smile.
Care Trainer
Natelie Bessey – Outlook Care
Natelie’s innovative approach to learning shone through, her enthusiasm for involving the people her organisation supports was abundantly clear from the achievements she shared.
Care Innovator
Dominique Kent – The Good Care Group
Dominique put her job on the line introducing a new innovative approach to recruitment in her business. She showed a real passion and commitment to both service users and her staff. Dominique used evidence to show the outcomes of her innovation which was truly impressive.
Frontline Leaders
Marie Hill – Equicare Services
Marie Shone in a tough category – the judges agreed that they would happily leave their family members in her capable hands. Marie’s passion is making a real difference in care delivery.
Home Care Co-ordinator
Ritah Kavule – MiHomecare
It was a unanimous decision. Riatah is a motivator! Ritah has taken her passion as an experienced carer to improve the quality of service for her staff and service users.
Putting People First
Hayley Jones – London Care
Hayley Came into care following the sad death of her daughter at Great Ormond Street hospital. This experience of care has driven Hayley’s passion and commitment in social care and putting people first.
Good Nurse
Renata Kindereviciene – Barchester Healthcare
Renata has made an amazing journey over the past 7 years and has achieved so much in her personal and professional life. She is clearly a good nurse who measures success against how she would want her family to be cared for.
Outstanding Contribution to Social Care
Maggie Candy, Four Seasons Healthcare
Maggie is an outstanding example of all that is good in social care – as a nurse she upholds her profession with complete integrity and demonstrates boundless enthusiasm and commitment to improving standards at all levels.
Maggie has used her time at Marlborough Court Care Home, where she currently works as a registered manager, to completely transform this failing home into a centre of excellence within three years.
Throughout her career Maggie has worked in a variety of nursing roles, always giving the very best of her abilities. She has also worked tirelessly for the national charity – Prevention of Young Suicides
Maggie remains very inspiring – she has a passion for care, and will always challenge poor practice and continues to be a great ambassador for social care.