Reflections 2018 SUMMER EDITION
Our CEO’s message to you Welcome to the Summer Issue of our Reflections Newsletter. Close to reaching the end of another year, I again find myself marvelling at how quickly 2018 has passed and look forward to catching up with many of you over the next few weeks at the numerous events we hold to celebrate the festive season. It’s certainly been an eventful few months! Work continues at pace on our C A Brown development at Booragul. The demolition works are now complete as are the piling works. At this point I must thank the residents and staff at our C A Brown site for their ongoing patience, particularly our Retirement Living residents. The noise during the piling works in particular has been quite disruptive. We can now look forward to watching the construction of the facility take place and eventual completion of this state-of-the-art development in early 2020.
WHO ARE WE? Anglican Care is dedicated to enhancing the lifestyles of seniors by providing exceptional Residential Aged Care, Retirement Living, and Community and Home Care services to the Newcastle, Central Coast and Mid Coast regions. Anglican Care is the Aged Care Ministry of the Anglican Church of Newcastle. Front cover features Edward Jayne, Karen Knowles and Donna Thomas at our Hunter Sensational Seniors Concert.
As always, over the past few months we have had many fantastic events across our vibrant Anglican Care community. Our Sensational Seniors concerts in particular are a stand out event and very much provide a tangible demonstration of how we are committed to the principle of making ‘every moment matter’ for our residents and consumers.
GET IN TOUCH
From the perspective of the broader aged care industry, there has been a significant focus on the aged care sector in the media which I expect will continue during 2019. Particularly given the announcement by the Federal Government that they will be holding a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, with an interim report to be provided by 31 October 2019 and the final report no later than 30 April 2020.
www.anglicancare.com.au
We at Anglican Care fully support the Royal Commission and the opportunities to strengthen and improve the aged care system to ensure that the services provided to older Australians are safe and of a high quality. As I discussed during my recent forums with residents, families and staff at our sites, any organisation where public and private funds are being used to provide care and services to potentially vulnerable people, needs to be prepared to be accountable for the way in which they operate. We will need to continue to improve our processes to ensure we are delivering an exemplary level of customer service in a responsive and flexible way. On that note, I want to reiterate how much we value any feedback, suggestions, comments and concerns that our residents, consumers, families, staff or volunteers may have. We want to work together with family, friends, carers, medical and allied health professionals to really make a difference to the lives of those entrusted to our care. There are a number of ways that feedback can be provided: completing a feedback form (there are feedback boxes at our residential aged care homes) or providing verbal or written feedback to senior staff or a manager. If concerns remain unresolved we encourage you to contact the General Manager of your service or provide confidential feedback to me either in writing or via the feedback form on our website, www.anglicancare.com.au. We want to hear from you! On a final note, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy, happy and safe Christmas and New Year. I look forward to another interesting and exciting year in 2019, working in partnership with you all to provide the very best in care, support and services to our residents and consumers.
P 1800 733 553 E admin@anglicancare.com.au
Anglican Care Corporate Administration 87 Toronto Rd, Booragul NSW 2284
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK /anglicancarelifestyles
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Looking for a career in Aged Care? We employ a huge range of roles across many fields of employment. To find out what jobs are available, go to our Careers page on our website.
Colin Osborne, CEO
WANTING TO VOLUNTEER? We have an extensive volunteer program that is vital to supporting seniors in our community. You too could become a valuable volunteer, discover new friendships and sense of community. To find out more, give our office a call or go to the Volunteer page on our website.
BISHOP TYRRELL PET DAY Another fantastic Pet Day featuring feathers, fur and plenty of fun was held at Bishop Tyrrell Place in Cundletown on 9 October. The Pet Day is the brain child of local Damian Grauls, who works with Sudexo who are contracted to provide hospitality services at Bishop Tyrrell Place. Damian and his family, together with other staff and family members, bring in everything from horses to guinea pigs, snakes to lambs and even a few babies of varying species for everyone to enjoy. The interaction between animals and residents is nothing new for Bishop Tyrrell Place, having established the first “Care Farm” for residents in NSW in 2010. For many of the residents who have come from a rural life of living on farms, this has played an enormous role in helping them to live a happier, healthier life.
“The research on regular interaction with animals shows that it improves cognitive functioning, balances emotional concerns and increases enthusiasm and interest.” said Kylie Jacques our Marketing Manager. “What’s not to love about a function which combines the opportunity for our residents to not only interact with different animals, but younger family members in a relaxed atmosphere! We look forward to many more successful Pet Days in the years to come.”
ACKNOWLEDGING OUR STAFF A week of celebration was held in September in recognition of our dedicated and caring staff. Together with acknowledging those staff that had achieved significant years of service, we celebrated the newly introduced “Thank You for Working in Aged Care Day”. “This is a great initiative introduced by the Health Services Union and is the first
ever national day to celebrate and recognise the important work all staff in aged care do. It is not always the easiest of professions and it takes a caring, empathetic and dedicated soul,” said our CEO, Colin Osborne.
meet our staff Adrienne We recently welcomed Adrienne Baker to the position of Residential Care Manager of Jesmond Grove. Familiar to many of us at Anglican Care, Adrienne is an experienced Registered Nurse who has worked in both management and Registered Nurse roles over the years at C A Brown and more recently at Toronto Nursing Home. With a passion for people and quality outcomes for residents, Adrienne’s high level clinical and management skills will be a great asset. Her thorough and systematic approach will ensure the ongoing governance of Jesmond Grove and will assist in maintaining its wonderful reputation in the Community. “For me, the satisfaction of being part of a great team has been one of the most rewarding aspects of working in Aged Care. I have been privilleged to work alongside many amazing people whose focus has always been the wellbeing of the residents in their care and enhancing the environment in which they live. The dedication of staff in Anglican Care is in abundance. I join these dedicated staff members in the journey each day and each day I am immensely rewarded.”
2018 SENSATIONAL SENIORS CONCERTS Our ever popular annual concerts celebrating the wonderful diversity and life experiences of our seniors were bigger, louder and more fun than ever in 2018! Our Mid Coast concert goers enjoyed the talents of much loved local musician Mick Fetch together with the very gifted students from Taree High School whose line up included dancers, singers and their indigenous dance troupe. While our Hunter and Central Coast attendees enjoyed a concert by Young Talent Time legend, Karen Knowles. Karen enjoyed an extra special support cast on the day with some of the clients from our Alkira Respite & Day Therapy Centre joining her up on stage for a couple of songs. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for our 2019 celebrations!
INTRODUCING OUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM Improving the Customer Experience was identified as the number one priority in our “Heading Towards 2020 Strategic Plan”. A major step in achieving this goal has been the introduction of our new Customer Support Team. The team’s role is to better understand our customers’ needs and help them to access services that will provide them with a personalised solution. We are very excited to introduce our team members to you. Brian Munday, an employee for over 20 years, is well known to many of our customers and staff. In the past 4 years Brian has assisted our customers to access Residential Care. Previous roles within residential homes has given Brian an excellent understanding of the benefits Residential Aged Care can provide. His warm and friendly personality helps to ease the stress often experienced by our customers when care needs change and additional services are required. Donna Kennedy, an employee for over 4 years, joined the team at the beginning of this project in February 2018. Her previous
roles have given Donna an excellent understanding of meeting customer expectations and improving the customer experience. She is passionate about understanding customer needs and providing outstanding customer service. Her compassion, dedication and enthusiasm helps our customers to explore a range of different solutions. Michael Bale is newly appointed to the team, he brings extensive experience in sales and customer service roles, having worked in aged care over the past 3 years. Michael’s experience as a Service Co-ordinator for a large Community Care provider has helped him to develop strong advocacy for customer service solutions. His calm and compassionate manner helps customers to consider the wide variety of different options that we can provide. Kathy Hartigan is the Team Leader and has been employed by Anglican Care for the past 11 years. She has been guiding the project to ensure that we deliver on the Project Principles, and is committed to ensuring that our processes, systems and behaviours enable urgent response times for our customers. Kathy believes in putting the customer at the centre of everything we do. Call our team today on 1800 733 553 and we can work together to understand your aged care needs and tailor a personalised solution to help you or your loved one.
ENSURING A QUALITY WORKFORCE Our population is ageing and people are living longer. That equates to a rise in the complex health needs of our elderly community, and an industry that needs to prioritise a strong foundation of training and knowledge for its care givers.
The new starters are also paired with a ‘buddy’. “Our buddy system is there to provide our new Care Assistants with a peer they can turn to for any questions related to their work and provide an orientation of their service. We provide this level of support to our newcomers until they feel they can work autonomously as part of the team. We want our staff to be set up to succeed in their roles”, says Sykes.
Each year Anglican Care staff attend ongoing education in personal and clinical care, as well as compulsory workshop training sessions and industry forums on topics such as Palliative Care and Dementia. Further educational support is also provided to staff In recent media reports, the industry has been via online training and online education under scrutiny for employing staff who have materials. Those wishing to further their areas completed short courses of 6 weeks, such as the Certificate III in Aged Care. Many are stating of expertise are encouraged to do so, and as a result many of our Care Assistants continue these courses lack practical training and that some newly hired aged care staff don’t have the their studies and become Enrolled Nurses, Registered Nurses and in some cases, Facility basic skills that are required to do the job. Managers. Sykes confirms, At Anglican Care, we work in partnership with reputable and competent Registered Training Organisations to provide work placement for students to ensure Personal Care Assistant (Care Assistant) students are qualified and competent to provide quality care. Janet Sykes, Anglican Care Nurse Educator states “We recognise there is a great need for our aged care staff to have specialised skills that meet the complex health needs of our elderly, beyond those learnt during their initial Certificate III and IV training courses. Our Care Assistants are not placed into a role and forgotten about. We make it our priority to support their new role by providing ongoing clinical training in topics such as clinical indicators and infection control, amongst others.”
“It’s important our families, residents and consumers feel confident that we are providing the very best of care. To do this we remain committed to our ongoing staff training and support which we believe underpins the excellent quality of care given to our seniors.” To discover more about our Residential Care Homes and HomeLife services simply call 1800 733 553 to speak to one of our friendly staff or download one of our Fact Sheets from our website today.
BISHOP TYRRELL ANGLICAN COLLEGE iTEA Another successful ‘iTea’ afternoon was held on 26 September as our residents went back to school to learn how to navigate the internet over high tea. “Our residents love the opportunity to meet up with the students for a chat as their world is so different to that which they grew up in. And just because our residents are older doesn’t mean they can’t and don’t use the amazing technology available to us all,” said Jane Meldrum, our Lifestyle Wellbeing & Diversity Manager. A big thanks to the students and teachers who were all wonderful. We look forward to our future events!
CHRISTMAS IS A GOOD TIME TO PLAN AHEAD At Anglican Care we understand it can be difficult to discuss future health decisions. That is why all of our staff across all our residential homes and community services have been trained in discussing advance care planning. Advance care planning is the process of thinking and talking about what care and medical treatments you would want to receive before you might need them. It involves considering what options and choices are available to you. An Advanced Care Plan can record things such as your wishes, choices and preferences about future medical care and treatments, as well as document your values, beliefs, goals of medical treatment and specify your end of life care choices and preferences. If you would like to know more about Advance Care Planning request a brochure today by calling 1800 733 553.
WANTING TO COMBINE LIVING IN A RETIREMENT VILLAGE WITH HOME CARE? For those ACAT approved, we can provide home care packages to assist you to live independently whilst enjoying the benefits of retirement living. Your HomeLife Care Advisor will sit down with you to develop a care plan that’s as individual as you are, taking into account everything that matter’s most to you. Whether that be support with housework, high level nursing, cooking, social outings, trips to health appointments, gardening and more. It’s your choice. We have eight retirement villages across the Hunter and Mid Coast, including a new village Northwood Retirement Village at Tenambit. Northwood is just minutes from Maitland shops and cafe’s. Why not call Peter’s Real Estate, Maitland on (02) 4933 7899 to book a tour.
What’s NEWS? EVENTS JUST GONE 2018 OSCAR HOSPITALITY AGED CARE AWARDS Congratulations to our staff members, Denise Longworth from Toronto Nursing Home and Jacqui Carr from Kilpatrick Court who were named as finalists in these prestigious National awards. Both Denise and Jacqui work as Hospitality Services Team Leaders and were recognised for enhancing the lives of our residents through the provision of excellence in hospitality services.
VOLUNTEER UPDATE
UPDATED PRIVACY POLICY RELATING TO: CCTV, social media, photography and video.
View the new policy via our website.
THANK YOU We would like to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of all of our volunteers throughout the year, without which Anglican Care would simply not be as great as it is. Your valuable dedication and support helps us to make ‘every moment matter’ in the lives of our residents and consumers. Thank you and may you have a happy and healthy holiday season. Looking forward to 2019, we will be introducing some new programs for our residents and consumers. Keep your eye out on our website for new volunteer roles to assist with these new programs.
CELEBRATIONS
MELBOURNE CUP SHENANIGANS We love any excuse for a good party and the Melbourne Cup is highly anticipated each year with fun events across Anglican Care. As you can see, Residents and staff at Toronto Nursing Home had a blast!
SPECIAL THANKS ART & CRAFT FAIR The creative and talented members of our Hunter Auxiliary held another successful fair in October featuring talented local artists and crafts people. Our Auxiliary members, both in the Hunter and Manning regions, are such a special part of our organisation and we sincerely thank them for their ongoing support.
DEMENTIA & THERAPY BASED STRATEGIES DART PROGRAM Our innovative DART program is all about improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers. The program is highly individualised and utilises therapy based strategies such as music, exercise and reminiscence. Call Jane our Lifestyle, Wellbeing & Diversity Manager for more information on (02) 4958 0018.
The number of Australians living to the age of 100 and beyond is higher than ever before! We’re certainly noticing the trend with quite a few centenarians in the Anglican Care family. In the past few months we’ve celebrated a number of 100th birthdays including Pearl Haigh from Storm Village and Freda Priestly who attends our Alkira Respite & Day Therapy Centre (pictured). So what are the 5 tips on how to live longer we have learnt from our centenarians: avoid smoking; eat a balanced diet; work in a physical occupation; maintain a healthy weight range; and remain positive about life!
FRIENDS MATTER CENTRAL COAST FRIENDSHIP GROUP We’ve recently commenced a fantastic new ‘Friendship Group’ for people on the Central Coast that receive a Home Care Package from Anglican Care. Held every Wednesday, there are lots of games, exercises, singing, artwork and bus outings!
NEWCASTLE HAS A NEW DIGITAL RADIO DO YOU ENJOY 60’S, 70’S & 80’S MUSIC? 2UW is a newly launched radio station aimed at people that love local content, news, music, talkback and hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Keep an ear out for our regular Anglican Care segment as part of the Tracy Mac Morning Show at 11.45am every Tuesday. The easiest way to listen is to download the app onto your phone!
SUSTAINABILITY SPECIAL
Let’s talk all things sustainability. Anglican Care has recently become a member of a program called Sustainability Advantage which is run by the Office of Environment & Heritage. But what exactly does this mean? In addition to implementing improved environmental practices, the program will also look at how we can: Save money and improve productivity. Use resources more efficiently. Engage and train staff, and Enhance our relationships with our customers, suppliers and the community.
Sounds pretty good doesn’t it!
So what are we working on so far as an organisation? We now have a Sustainable Environment Policy and Sustainability Framework which articulates our commitment to achieving economic and financial viability, environmental preservation and social responsiveness. It outlines our goals and exactly what we want to achieve over the next few years. Our Hospitality Services staff are involved in a pilot program which aims to minimise food waste. Warnervale Gardens are participating in the ‘Bin Trim Assessment’ to help businesses reduce waste and increase recycling on the Central Coast. We recently applied for funding as part of the 2018 Aged Care Regional, Rural and Remote Infrastructure Grant to implement a number of initiatives for our Mid Coast facilities, including solar infrastructure and solar battery backup lighting systems in the event of emergency situations. We will hear about the outcome of our application early next year.
”These are just a few of the projects we are working on”, said our CEO, Colin Osborne. ‘It’s a huge undertaking and can be overwhelming so we are pleased that our very own environmental warrior, Deb Matthews, our Contracts & Procurement Manager, will be leading this vital project. We will also be appointing sustainability champions across the organisation - employees with a passion for the environment and sustainability. We look forward to keeping you up to date with our many initiatives in future issues of Reflections.”