All Seasons 0910

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All Seasons supports dignity and independence through quality services

Company Registration No. 6136630

1 www.allseasons.org.uk 01227 265899 [email protected]

All Seasons supports dignity and independence through quality

services

01227 265899 www.allseasons.org.uk


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Message from John Bland, Chief Executive Officer

All Seasons are passionate about supporting

clients to live in their own homes and

retaining their independence.

John Bland, CEO ” “

All Seasons has undergone some amazing changes in the past 12 months.

Moving to our new offices, Kent Enterprise House, has provided us with a new venue to work

from.

We have been working very hard on personalised home care this year ensuring the client, or

relatives/representatives of the client are involved

in all decisions concerning the type of service

required.

I would like to thank everybody at All Seasons for

their hard work in this exciting period of positive

change.

John Bland meeting the mayor at the

launch of Kent Enterprise House

John Bland

Chief Executive Officer

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David Stone

Registered Manager

Message from Registered Manager, David Stone

All Seasons continues to

strive for excellence, offering

high quality, value for

money services for our clients.

David Stone, Registered Manager

“ ”

This year‟s main aims were to grow the number of carers and clients. We have won many

contracts with Kent County Council and are very proud of the work we are doing at All

Seasons. The staff have maintained and exceeded the quality expected of them and this has been

noted by clients. In the past year we have moved offices and implemented a new organisational

structure, all without disruption to our clients, due to the

effort of the staff at All Seasons.

1. Maintaining 3 star (excellent) service—the highest rating possible from Care Quality

Commission.

2. Ensuring our staff receive a high standard of training.

3. Successfully expanding employment opportunities including employment of 23 more

carers.

4. Successfully tendering for the hospital discharge contract Active Careforce Domiciliary

Care (KCC/PCT).

Through our wide range of projects

and activities, I have compiled a list of

the top 4 achievements I am most

proud of...

David Stone, All Seasons

Registered Manager

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All Seasons has been providing care and support to

people in Kent since 1983 and is a long established

and trusted organisation. The team of

approximately 250 carers provide over 800 clients

with quality, professional assistance enabling them

to remain independent in their own homes.

All Seasons also provides a range of services from personal assistance to help

clients enjoy hobbies such as attending football matches or going shopping right

through to palliative care.

The regulatory body, Care Quality Commission (CQC) has awarded All Seasons

with the highest possible rating of three stars, which means that „people using this

service experience excellent outcomes‟.

Care Workers are carefully selected and inducted to provide a professional service

and are specifically trained by City and Guilds approved training centre, Learn to ....

All Seasons train their staff in specialist areas such as dementia, diabetes and stroke

to name but a few.

All Seasons are a Kent County Council approved provider and an NHS willing

provider and accepts many forms of payment (including the Kent Card).

All Seasons

recognises the

intrinsic value

of people as

individuals and

the specific

nature of their

needs.

Introduction

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Social Impact

Helping over 800 people remain independent in their own homes

As a domiciliary care provider, our principle aim is to support people to remain

living independently in the communities; this includes signposting to and support

with accessing community resources. We pride ourselves on working with the

most vulnerable people in the community including those with high complex needs.

Employing 15 people from Job Centre Plus

The recruitment of the long term unemployed, disabled or disadvantaged gives an

opportunity to match individual clients to the skills of the employee at the same

time as giving important employment and learning opportunities. We actively work

with the Job Centres to recruit, helping the individual to get back into work. As an

example, a carer with learning needs will work alongside a more able employee for

guidance, support and development.

Training 17 employees to NVQ level 2 in health and social care and 3 to

level 3

We support our staff development with full training for qualifications such as Skills

for Life, NVQs and ILM in management.

Employee Representative Group

The carer Employee Representative Group (ERG) consists of staff members from

each geographic area who meet regularly to discuss common issues and put

forward suggestions for improvement. This has been very successful in achieving a

united, bottom-up led approach for all of our staff.

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With help from the Skills for Care Training Strategy Implementation Fund, All Seasons

has given training to 20 Community Care Workers. 17 achieved their NVQ Level 2

and 3 their NVQ Level 3. Training was also given in other areas, for example, Hayley

Lawn trained for an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) in management.

Hayley joined All Seasons in 2005 as an out of hours officer, manning the calls from

clients outside of normal office hours. After seeing the advert for the position in a

local paper, she started to work her way up to her current position of out of hours

supervisor, whilst also studying for her ILM in management. “The most wonderful

thing for me is the flexibility I have with work and my studies as I have a young family.”

Hayley‟s day-to-day role is to manage the out of hours team, working 2 days a week

with care co-ordinators and, when required, providing care directly to clients.

“I have many happy memories from working at All Seasons, but I think the most

uplifting feeling is going to a service user and feeling appreciated and realising the

difference you have made to that person‟s day. I love my team members too, they are

like my second family.” Because All Seasons operates from 7am to 10pm every day of

the year providing care to those who need it, Hayley works some unsocial hours.

“One year I looked after All Seasons from home with a laptop and a mobile phone on

Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. It was very demanding.” However working these

hours meant that clients still got the same level of care no matter what day of the

year.

Working for a social enterprise means a lot to Hayley and many others at All Seasons,

“I feel proud to be working for a non-profit organisation - especially when you see

the results of the company‟s achievements”.

Hayley‟s childhood ambition was to work with horses however working at All Seasons

has really changed her mind. “I‟m not sure where I see myself when all my children are

at school and I‟m able to work more. However, it will definitely be working for All

Seasons.”

Staff Training

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Changing Budgets

help drive clients to where they want to go, take them shopping, to sporting events,

or the theatre.

Other services include;

Double-handed care packages - offering two carers at the same time

Overnight care

Dementia care

Meal preparation

Laundry service

Mentoring

Palliative care

Personal care

Respite care

Bill paying

Across Government, the shared ambition is to put people first through a radical

reform of public services. It will mean that people are able to live their own lives

as they wish; confident that services are of high quality, are safe and promote their

own individual needs for independence, well-being, and dignity. All Seasons are

looking forward to this change and are currently offering many of these services.

Individual budgets and personalisation means clients can see their friends again and

tailor their care so they are able to do the things they like. Personal assistants can

We also have a forum that gives clients the chance to

meet us with each other and discuss their care needs and

to talk to one of the All Seasons‟ managers about issues,

recommendations and praise.

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Meet Christopher Bedford, Community Care Worker

Christopher Bedford is a 27 year old care worker with All Seasons and is currently

one of only a handful of male carers working within the local community.

Iconic figures like Florence Nightingale unwittingly created a long held stereotype

that nursing and care are the exclusive domain of women. Male community care

workers can be discriminated against. However, Chris Bedford is an example of

how a male community care worker is just as equipped for the role as a female. A

vocational professional should be assessed by their abilities and performance, not

their gender.

In a recent report, the Royal College of Physicians suggested that the introduction

of a new genre of staff called „Health Practitioners‟ would address the lack of men

coming into the profession. Currently men account for only 10% of nursing staff

and barely 3% of community care workers, a sign that there is still a strong stigma

attached to men working directly in the care sector. This is strange considering

empathy, commitment, patience and a good sense of humour are the most vital

elements required by an effective care worker, and these characteristics are just as

prevalent and developed in men as they are in women.

At the age of 20, having finished school and not knowing what he wanted to do

next, it is ironic that Chris was pointed in the direction of social care by a couple of

male friends who were working in a care home for children with special needs.

They told Chris that the work was interesting, challenging and very rewarding, so he

decided to find out for himself.

Chris has been a community care worker for 6 years now and much prefers

working in the local community to being in a residential home environment. “The

work is more varied and it is a great feeling knowing I‟ve helped someone get ready

for their day when they couldn‟t do it on their own.”

Of course, given the nature of his work, the job has its ups and downs, and some

clients can be quite challenging. Chris sees some obvious advantages to being a man

in this profession. He has experienced awkward and even violent clients (he once

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had an ashtray thrown at his head) and knows that some of the female care

workers find this kind of behaviour much more difficult to deal with. He says

“Nothing fazes me any more” and feels that as a man he is perhaps less likely to be

physically intimidated by a difficult situation than some of his female colleagues.

Chris is planning a lifelong career in social care. Having fully qualified to NVQ level

3, he is now concentrating on his continued professional development through

direct care work experience. In a few years‟ time he would like to move up to

coordinator level and ultimately move across into management, knowing that he has

learnt the job from the ground up and is able to provide understanding, support and

encouragement to his clients and colleagues.

Subsequent to Chris becoming a care worker, his mother was attracted to the job

and having worked her way up from entry level is now the registered manager of

the domiciliary care facility where Chris originally trained, and his brother is now

also a fully qualified care worker as well. Chris is an inspirational care worker who

perfectly illustrates the vital role that men have to play in providing the high quality

care to the community.

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Active Careforce

The Active Careforce Domiciliary Care service will provide timely and focused

interventions to individuals to support them in building confidence, in minimising

the need for further intervention and supporting them to regain control over their

life. The service aims to enable the service user to be positively encouraged to

improve their quality of life, help them develop and retain their health and lead an

independent and fulfilling life in their own homes for as long as possible.

It involves putting the service user at the centre of decisions about where they live

and how and when they utilise the Active Careforce Domiciliary Care available to

them. Services are provided in such a way that the service user is encouraged to be

actively involved in planning delivery and supported to feel secure and confident

about the care they will receive. This Addendum specifies how the Active Careforce

Domiciliary Care Service differs from standard Domiciliary Care and focuses on

Active Careforce Domiciliary Workers „doing with‟ rather than „doing for‟ Clients.

Support and encouragement should be central to the culture of the service rather

than, for example, care and help.

The Active Careforce Worker will enable the individual to regain, maintain and

develop living skills in order to attain the agreed goals. This will be done as follows,

by the Active Careforce Domiciliary Care Worker:

• Recognising and reinforcing pre-existing routines by practice

• Establishing new routines by practice

• Reinforcing the safe use of existing aids and equipment

• Establishing the safe use of new aids and equipment

• Building the individuals self esteem

• Motivating the individual

• Recognising problems/obstacles that prevent the individual attaining their goals

• Seeking professional assistance to enable the overcoming of obstacle(s)

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Financial Breakdown

Income

Cost of Sales

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Looking to the Future

great work that we do.

We are looking to expand into Medway, increasing training and career

opportunities, and offering apprenticeships in health and social care.

In 2010/11, we look forward to further

personalising our service to the clients‟ needs.

Offering bespoke packages which could include

days out to sporting events, shopping or the

theatre, dog walking, cleaning, gardening,

companionship, over-night stays and many more.

We are working on a new website to publicise the

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For more information please contact:

Enterprising Opportunities (CIC) is a social

enterprise. Our objectives are to support,

promote and develop Kent based social

enterprises creating meaningful learning and

employment opportunities for disadvantaged

groups particularly in areas of deprivation and

growth regeneration

Tel: 01227 844 499

[email protected]

www.enterprisingopps.org.uk

All Seasons was established in 1983 with the aim of

providing Community Care of the highest quality

whilst promoting choice, dignity and independence.

Tel:01227 265 899

[email protected]

www.allseasons.org.uk

Kent Enterprise House

1 The Links,

Herne Bay,

Kent.

CT6 7GQ

Fax: 01227 200 120

KCC Approved provider Regulated by the Care Quality Commision

Documents

All Seasons 0910