Borough Care’s mission is to create environments in which older people can stay well and live ‘Life in Colour.’ We identify innovation that already exists in care and take inspiration from other sectors. It’s important that we find ways to pilot ideas that can improve our care. Some ideas are tested in a small setting, some are rolled out more widely. We call this the Living Lab. We work with a range of partners to explore new methods – and are always open to new collaborations.
We are working with Opening Doors to review every aspect of how we train and support staff, how we provide care and how we support and define families to ensure we can fully meet the needs of LGBTQ+ older people in our homes. Pride in Care aims to help organisations improve their quality of care and support for older LGBTQ+ people, while challenging any poor practice they may encounter in health and social care provision. We are on track to achieve accreditation against this standard in 2024.
Our staff forum raised challenges faced by staff who experience symptoms of menopause or perimenopause. Care homes are warm environments, care work is physically demanding, and staff are often working in high-pressure environments; common symptoms of menopause can make working in these conditions tough, and not all team members feel comfortable discussing this. We are introducing a range of options including changes to uniform, additional mental health support and resources and new options around nutrition and hydration for teams.
As a result of conversations initiated by our board member Rekha, the Living Lab is exploring how we can provide suitable, high quality and culturally competent care for families in the Gujarati community in the Northwest, who have struggled to find local care homes which they feel can meet their care needs. As a result, people are being cared for far away from their families, friends, and communities. We spoke to local community leaders and held a focus group with second-generation family members who are facing care decisions, alongside conducting visits to services that have an exceptional reputation for providing care to older members of the Gujarati community.
When we were accredited as a Real Living Wage employer, we were the largest care provider in the UK to achieve this. It was the culmination of a multi-year project to improve our finances to ensure we could improve the terms and conditions for our team. We are so proud to have been among the first to take this step, and we currently pay above the RLW for all roles. We are also delighted to see an increasing number of care providers following suit.
We want to be sure that residents and their families had a voice in how we operate. Drawing from experiences in other sectors (e.g. health and housing) we partnered with an external Community Catalysts to make this happen. They work with us to gather ideas and feedback from residents and families about the things which matter most to them. We take this information and feedback on how we have used it to update our services. This programme has resulted in dozens of changes, and we benefit from hearing the voice of our residents when we are making decisions.
Skylights are designed to replicate outdoor skies and create an inspiring and calming atmosphere in homes. We decided to test these, initially, in part of our head office. When we tested them, we discovered that they significantly reduced overall light levels, which meant that they would not be suitable for most of our care homes and could increase falls risks. We opted not to roll them out to homes. Testing them in this way minimised risk to our residents. We are continuing to identify and pilot new ways of improving the environment in our homes.
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