Congratulations to our 2022 Management Awards winners

After a three year hiatus due to the pandemic, more than 140 of our staff came together in Birmingham on Thursday 10th June for our 2022 Management Meeting and Awards. This was the first time some members of the team had seen each other in three years and, for many, their first face-to-face meeting.

Unquestionably the highlight of the day was our evening awards ceremony, covering five categories: Support Team of the Year; Unsung Hero; Impact award – Operations; Impact Award – Central Support and Service of the Year. Members of the Senior Leadership Team fought back tears as they read nominations and presented trophies to the winners.

We are incredibly proud to announce that our deserving 2022 winners are:

Support Team of the Year: Payroll

Unsung Hero: Catherine Spence

Impact award – Operations: Chris Noble

Impact Award – Central Support: Marjorie Haynes

Service of the Year: Waterside Court, Help at Home

A huge well done to you all, and to each of our finalists as well. It was an almost impossible task to choose winners given the impact every one of you has made in supporting your colleagues and service users across the group.

We’re looking forward to profiling each of our winners over the coming weeks, and we hope that you’ll join us in celebrating their inspiring contributions to the City & County family.

Subject access requests – what you need to know

Individuals have the right in law to obtain a copy of their personal data. When they request such access, it is known as a subject access request or SAR.

In our business, SARs most often involve employment records or service records, but they could be any records that include people’s personal data, including emails and other correspondence.

A subject access request does not need to be in writing, but you do have to respond to it within prescribed timescales. It is essential that you and any staff you manage recognise a subject access request when you/they receive one and follow the procedure.

Once you receive a SAR, you must:

  • Record the request on the standard form. Note that the form is to be completed by the person receiving the request, not by the person making it;
  • Send the completed form to dataprotection@candchealthcare.co.ukso that a register of access requests can be maintained centrally.
  • Respond to the request with the information requested, in most cases within one calendar month of the request, seeking support if you need (such as from the IT service desk). You should usually provide the information in electronic format unless the individual requests otherwise, and you must take care to redact any personal data relating to other people that is not relevant to the request, or that would breach other people’s privacy.

For more information, visit the subject access requests operations guide here . You can also send your questions to the Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@candchealthcare.co.uk.

Safari trip for the Pullen Day Centre

Maria Gerardo and the London Care team at the Pullen Day Centre have shared these photos of a wild day out for service users at Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire.

Maria explained, “For the Jubilee our main event was taking our clients to the safari. We held a Jubilee lunch in the safari picnic area followed by teas, coffees and cake and then animal entertainment around the safari.

“Despite a slight downpour after our Jubilee lunch, the sun came out and so did all of the animals. We had a very lucky day where we saw elephants, lions, tigers, rhinos, zebras, black bears, giraffes and even a monkey caught a lift on our bus.

“Some of our lovely clients had never been to a safari park before so they were thrilled with the trip. One said it was beautiful and nearly cried – it made so pleased that I could take our clients on such a wonderful wellbeing trip.”

Sounds like an absolutely amazing day Maria, and it’s clear from the photos just what a great day the clients had at the safari park!

Care and medication – special mention

The Business Support Team has been working with operations for some time now on the management of Care and Medication Tasks.

Belfast Branch had struggled with very high numbers in their backlog and operational challenges it was slow progress for some time. Just 3 weeks ago they had 63,607 and Monday they were down to 34,074 – which is a whopping 29,533 reduction all whilst keeping their current week at zero!

This is an amazing effort achieved by Belfast Branch with Support and encouragement from Sam Bond!

WEll Done and Thank You

Men’s Health Week 13th – 19th June 

This week is Men’s Health Week, celebrated globally to heighten awareness of preventable health problems for males of all ages, and encourage the early detection and treatment of health difficulties in males.

This year’s theme is Time for your MOT!

Why do Men need an MOT?

During the pandemic we’ve taken our eyes off other serious conditions. Men’s Health Forum advise that early stage cancer diagnoses fell by a third in first lockdown because men weren’t seeing their GPs to begin to get diagnosed. Also, although re-started in April 2022, NHS Health Checks offered to most people over 40, were paused during Covid. These checks help to prevent diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, stroke and dementia.

A good enough reason for us to keep an eye on our own bodies and minds and give ourselves an MOT.

Time for your MOT

Men’s Health Forum suggest the following health checks and support:

This week, let’s encourage the men we work with, live with or are friends with, to give themselves an MOT.

Let’s Talk About… Loneliness

Loneliness Awareness Week takes place this week. Hosted by Marmalade Trust, the annual campaign raises awareness of loneliness and gets people talking about it. 

Loneliness affects millions of people across the UK.

Loneliness is the feeling we experience when there is a mismatch between the social connections we have and those that we need or want. Loneliness can be different for all of us. Loneliness is something that we all feel at times but when it is chronic or long-term it can have serious effects on our mental health.

Dealing with loneliness can be difficult. But there are things we can all do to cope with loneliness and prevent some of the negative feelings and mental health problems that can come with it.

Here are some coping strategies that you might find useful to help improve your mental health:

  • Try to do some enjoyable things that will keep you busy
  • Try to do things that stimulate your mind
  • Think about doing a physical activity
  • Try to engage with the people you meet in your daily life
  • Find people that ‘get you’
  • Spend time with pets
  • Try to use social media in a positive way
  • Talking therapies can help

You might want to think about how you can support other people who are feeling lonely – why not try the following:

  • Don’t judge or stigmatise
  • Try to make groups welcoming to other people
  • Try to listen and show understanding

Support available

Whether you want to take the first steps towards getting some help or learn more about helping those around you, there are many different ways to get help and support:

  • Our Employee Assistance Programme LifeWorks, offers both online resources to help improve wellbeing, as well as a 24/7 confidential assistance programme, where employees can talk to trained counsellors. Call LifeWorks on 0800 169 1920, or access online articles including, Coping with Loneliness, Loneliness in Later life and How to build a Life of Close Connections.
  • The Marmalade Trust is the UK’s leading loneliness charity.
  • The Red Cross provide local support services, workshops and resources to help understand, and overcome living with loneliness.

Sylwia’s putting in the miles for the British Heart Foundation

Sylwia Olszowka, from our Rates Team, and her partner will be taking part in the challenging ‘The Lap – Windermere’ later this year.

‘The Lap’ is a 47-mile Ultramarathon around Lake Windermere, on some of the most stunning and runnable trails in The Lake District. Sylwia and her partner will be competing in aid of the British Heart Foundation to power pioneering research into heart and cardiovascular diseases.

You can find out more about the challenge and donate on their Just Giving page. Any support would be immensely appreciated.

Abacare says thanks to Pauline James

And finally, Leah Haslam and the whole team at Abacare in Rhondda Cynon Taf have asked us to share their appreciation for a valued colleague, Pauline James.

After an impressive 15 years of dedicated service to the branch, Pauline is taking her well-earned retirement.

Thank you for everything you’ve done to support the team over the years Pauline, and best of luck for your retirement.