Celebrating our own strength, awards and good news
Adult Social Care celebrates our City of Culture
In 2021-2022 all eyes were on Coventry as we became the second City of Culture in the UK. The start of festivities were slightly delayed until June 2021 to take into account the national lockdown and to ensure that people would get the most out of the programme of activities and that Coventry still got its chance to shine. It was important that all residents in Coventry felt part of the year. The company Creative Mojo with funding from the Coventry City of Culture Trust were able to work with Care Home residents to create some wonderful artwork across the city as part of the Winter Wanderland display. The displays played on the strengths and interests of residents from Care Homes, including celebrating the automobile industry within Coventry. The materials used meant that it was easy to get residents included in the design and creation of a number of different art installations. The end results are incredible.
Bringing it all together event
In March 2022 representatives from across Adult Social Care came together to discuss and celebrate the strengths of the service, with workshops focusing on the future developments taking place in Adult Social Care and to introduce the development of Team Planning approaches. These Annual Team Plans are key documents which show how individual teams contribute to the Council’s overall priorities and how by working together we can deliver our Adult Social Care service effectively whilst continuing to improve.
Foodie Awards 2022 - Finalist announcement - Community and Food Hero Award - The Pod Café
This award recognises those who have gone the extra mile for the food scene in Coventry and Warwickshire. Whether that’s helping the local community, providing opportunities, creating a brand-new business that benefits the area, or anything else that supports the food and drink world in the region. The Pod Café is a finalist this year, with a public vote to take place.
Adults Services Wellbeing
A staff wellbeing week was held in March 2022 this being a daily mixture of online and in-person activities and events focusing on health and wellbeing for our Adult Services. The week was organised as an opportunity to reflect on our own wellbeing and perhaps learn some new ways of looking after ourselves and our health. There were a variety of sessions on offer which included virtual sessions focusing on learning new skills, boosting well-being and virtual yoga sessions and appointment-based sessions for nutrition, musculoskeletal issues and blood pressure/cholesterol levels. The week was well received by our staff with over 200 people attending various sessions over the week.
Improving our internal provision
Eric Williams House are moving forward and working towards the Butterfly Model of Care. This looks at creating a home from home and means that they personalise all residents’ care and address holistic needs of the individual.
Part of this was looking at the bedroom doors, they were all drab and a battleship grey in colour, this meant that the residents could not identify their own bedrooms as they all looked the same. Eric Williams staff embarked
on a project which meant that all the bedroom doors would be replaced to look like front doors.
They were to have to room numbers on with door knockers or letterboxes to resemble a front door, this is to make them easier to be identified as bedroom doors as the lounges also compromise of bathrooms, toilets, and linen cupboards. The bulk of the work took a little over 4 weeks, the old doors and frames were removed and swiftly replaced with the new frames and doors. Although they are not fully finished and there are still some things left to do it has already had a positive impact on residents.
One of the residents, Celia, has fallen in love with her front door and is absolutely over the moon with it. She said;
"I absolutely love it! It makes such a difference".
We are continuing to improve the physical environment for people supported in our internal services but also for the staff who work there. The last years have been a challenge for staff, with ever-changing guidelines to work to, increased infection control and cleaning protocols, managing outbreaks and maintaining a safe service. A lot of the time staff did not get a chance to take a break and took on different roles and extra duties so there was not a lot of time spent reflecting on what was happening to enable staff to deal with the effects this may have been having on their health and wellbeing. So, at Eric Williams House a project was led by Christine Calcott Assistant
Manager to update the staff room which had not been changed for many years. Staff were engaged as to what they wanted, and workforce grants were accessed to make the improvements. The staff are really pleased with the end results.
They commented;
"It's nice and more relaxing."
"It creates a relaxing atmosphere."
Terri Hallinan, Unit Manager, said;
"Eric Williams House is a family, the journey that we have taken together through the last few years due to the pandemic has strengthened our foundation. All staffing roles are physically and mentally demanding, and being kind to yourself is not always easy when looking after others. If there is one thing we have learnt, it is we need to also think about our own mental well-being. This was the seed that was planted for this project, as you can see it grew into an area that now has a positive impact daily on team members working life at Eric Williams House".
Achieves in the Community Award
Sarah Laughton, Development Worker at the POD and Christine Eade, Manager of The POD, won the Ladies First Professional Development Awards 2022 in the category Achieves in the Community. The event was celebrated at Coombe Abbey. A person who accessed their support through The POD, nominated them for their outstanding work.
Principal Social Worker Annual Report
Most areas now have a Principal Social Worker for Adults and Children’s, supported by national and regional networks. The Care Act 2014 says local authorities should make arrangements to have a ‘qualified and registered social work professional practice lead’ in place.
In support of ensuring visibility for the role and celebrating achievements, our Adults Principal Social Worker, Andrew Errington, has produced a fourth annual report.