Wellington care home leads the way in end-of-life care
A specialist dementia care home in Wellington has been recognised by a national standards body as an exemplar in the quality of palliative care they provide for residents, scoring full marks in its recent inspection, and now qualifies as a finalist in October’s national awards for Care Home of the Year.
It is the fourth successive occasion that Camelot House and Lodge, part of the Camelot Care group, has been recognised under the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) whose role is to enable delivery of the very best end-of-life care.
Paul Teasdale, director of Camelot Care, said: “At previous inspections in 2013, 2016 and 2019 the home also passed with flying colours, and we were awarded the top grade at the last inspection as well as this one.
“This fourth accreditation is evidence of an exceedingly strong long-term commitment and genuine dedication and is such a reassurance for the families of our residents about the quality of the care we provide.
“Huge congratulations to our home manager Sam Paddon and her team - we are so proud of them.”
The GSF inspector said: “Our visit clearly demonstrated the dedication from all members of staff in the home to use GSF as their guiding framework throughout the pandemic, to give the best care that they could for the residents and the families, whilst also supporting staff through an incredibly difficult time.
“They come back to the framework and reflect and ask themselves again and again - what is the aim of the framework and how can we keep providing excellent care for our residents not only at end-of-life but their quality of life as well for every resident in the home.”
The report especially highlighted Camelot House and Lodge’s strong and supportive leadership at management level, their strong teamwork, the long service records of staff members and the excellent team communication and support they demonstrate.
Acccording to the inspector, staff had spoken passionately about how difficult the last three years had been during the Covid pandemic but said they have demonstrated strength in moving forward and remain focused on providing what matters to residents, families and staff when one of the people they care for is at end of life.
Sam Paddon, manager of Camelot House and Lodge, said: “We are delighted the inspector recognised how our whole team embraces the underlying GSF ethos, which is all about ensuring when any of our residents are evidently approaching the end of their life the experience is as peaceful and positive as possible and that their wishes are observed.
“The report also praised our staff members for being constantly alert to ways they can develop and move forward.
“I know how very hard the team works to provide the very best care for our vulnerable people who live with us and they so deserve this continued recognition.”
Part of the evidence considered by the GSF inspector was this video which the team submitted as part of their portfolio.
Camelot House and Lodge is one of three specialist dementia care homes run by Camelot Care in Somerset and Devon. Further details at www.camelotcare.co.uk
The Gold Standards Framework is a comprehensive, evidence-based quality improvement training programmes run by the national GSF centre. For more details see: www.goldstandardsframework.org.uk
