Taking care

WHEN widow Joan Little, 91, slipped and fell on the pavement one day in December, just as she was about to post her Christmas cards, there is no doubt that she wondered what on earth would happen next.

As she lay on the cold, hard ground looking up at the grey winter sky, she knew that her life would never be the same.

She said: “It was a very nasty fall, and as I lived in a flat on my own, I realised that from that moment I would need help. After it happened and social workers were involved, I had the option of having carers coming to my home at different times of the day or to go into a home. I didn’t really want to rely on people coming in, so I opted to go into a home that I knew had an excellent reputation.”

These days, Mrs Little lives at The Gardens Care Home, at Pondfield Close, Darlington, and says life could not be better. She still puts her make-up on every day – “the lot, foundation, blusher, mascara and lipstick” – and looks forward to regular trips with carers to buy it.

She said: “I never feel dressed without my make-up and I love having a shop. The ladies at the make-up counters are always so helpful, and of course, the carers are lovely! We have such a nice time. One of the carers came in the other day with a bag of Elizabeth Arden goodies, wasn’t that lovely of her? It’s the kindness and the care that make you feel life is good.

“We have a very busy activities programme, and do an awful lot such as going out for meals, going shopping and on outings to the country or the seaside, and doing quizzes. Oh, I just love the quizzes!”

Senior carer Barbara Foster said: “Joan always looks lovely in her nice clothes and makeup and she really has settled in wonderfully well.

“Thankfully, in this day and age, institutionalised care is a thing of the past. At this residential home, we have a terrific recreational team , always organising events in and out of the home, and we’ve got touch-screen computers so residents can be very much part of the 21st Century.

“We believe in independence and dignity at whatever age. We have one lady who is 100 who goes to lunch every fortnight at a very good hotel in Darlington. She gets the taxi and goes off and has a nice meal, and then comes back.

She and Joan are very good examples of how care at its best can work.”

Social care, looking after people who can no longer fully look after themselves, goes on quietly round the clock, day-in day-out across the North, undertaken by unsung heroes, whose working lives can involve the most menial of tasks or the most specialised. Good care needs access to funding for quality training and upto- the-minute courses. That is what the Tees Valley Alliance provides for its 400 members – who are employers from the care and health sectors – who provide funds to train thousands of staff.

THE alliance has been recognised by the National Skills Academy for Social Care as a provider of quality training in the adult care sector, which is no small feat. The award is given after entrants successfully complete a rigorous review process that assesses its training practices against criteria devised by employers, service users and trainers in the adult care field.

Alliance manager Wade Tovey said: “To receive recognition by the National Skills Academy for Social Care is an endorsement of the hard work, creativity and support of partnership working which characterises the success of the alliance in recent years.”

The alliance’s members come from the five council areas – Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton – and consist mainly of employers in the voluntary and private sectors who are commissioned by the councils to provide services.

Between them, they employ thousands of carers who are keen to improve their skills.

The alliance is hosted by the School of Health and Social Care at Teesside University, where Mr Tovey is an assistant dean and director of the university’s Enhancing Practice and Innovation Centre for Care.

He said: “Thanks to our partnerships, we’ve been able to run a variety of ongoing courses, including Induction to Social Care, a six-day course which is aimed at new staff entering the care sector and meets National Occupational Standards and provides a standardised approach to care worker induction across Tees Valley.

“We also run Safeguarding Adults and End of Life care training. The latter programme provides care staff and others with the knowledge and sensitivity to look after people in the last stages of their lives, and to support their loved ones.”

Last year, the alliance took on Lynda Atter, who was seconded part-time from Hartlepool and District Hospice as senior lecturer in endof- life care.

More than 700 care staff have had training, funded by the Tees Workforce Collaborative, with participants tested and encouraged to go on to further qualifications in this challenging field, complementing national work around a Gold Standard Framework for Endof- Life Care.

Employees can take part in a six-day induction programme that is accredited and recognised across the Tees Valley.

The alliance receives its funding from a variety of groups, including councils, Skills for Care, the health sector and other organisations.

In these days of cutbacks, it is ever vigilant in providing the best value for money.

Mr Tovey said: “We have a small and diligent team which works terrifically hard to organise courses which are often led by national speakers in the field.

“We have also covered subjects at practitioner forums from MS to Stroke awareness, dementia, abuse of the elderly, and Parkinson’s, and more are planned over the coming year.”