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‘Your guide, to your care’ at Medlock Court January 6, 2025

‘Your guide, to your care’ at Medlock Court

Recently, we’ve put together a new booklet for people spending time at Medlock Court.

It has already been useful to residents as they begin their journey with us, helping them to understand what to expect during their short time in our Residential Reablement Service.

The ‘Your guide, to your care’ booklet includes sections titled…

We have a printed booklet in each room at Medlock Court (as well as a few more copies placed around the building) ready for people to read on arrival and throughout their stay.

Finally, a huge thank you and well done to Harry (one of our Business Support Officers at Medlock) who had a big hand in creating this new guide as part of his NVQ Business Administration Level 3 – a qualification he’s now completed with ‘Distinction’.

 

 

Christmas creativity in our Learning Disability Wellbeing Service December 9, 2024

Christmas creativity in our Learning Disability Wellbeing Service

Our Wellbeing Service regulars have been busy recently at Chadderton Hall Park!

Kelly, Nathan and co’ have been designing and creating all sorts of fabulous handcrafted items in time for Christmas, including…

And plenty of other decorations for sale.

All money raised will go straight back into funding activities for people attending this Learning Disability Day Service with a difference!

Our doors are very much open and we would love to welcome visitors looking for festive items for their home or garden. We have lunch together for an hour at midday, but feel free to drop by between the hours of…

Thanks and see you soon!

 

 

 

Making room for contemplation and reflection at Medlock Court November 18, 2024

Making room for contemplation and reflection at Medlock Court

This International Stress Awareness Day we want to highlight some great work done at Medlock Court, where an underused space has been repurposed into a relaxing (and popular!) ‘Contemplation Room’.

Named by our Residential Reablement team, the ‘Contemplation Room’ is being frequented by MioCare and Northern Care Alliance colleagues, as well as temporary Medlock residents and their families.

Proposed uses include;

We have recently supported Derek back to full fitness, but before he went home he was keen to accompany teammates Rose, Chiemerie and Sandra to have a look at the room and discuss its purpose….

“Mental health and physical health are both so important, and so it’s good to see a room like this here. It could be useful for many different people who spend time in this building.”

Very true and well said, Derek!

Our Registered Manager, Claire, added…

“The room has been a big hit already and we remain committed to people’s wellbeing. Our mission of supporting people to get the most out of life can mean so many things, but pausing and taking care of yourself is key in that. Thanks to everyone who’s had a hand in creating this new space for reflection.”

 

MioCare Group AGM 2024 November 18, 2024

MioCare Group AGM 2024

A big thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to MioCare’s Annual General Meeting last week.

Alongside colleagues and Board Members from across the Group, we welcomed people we support, and guests working within Oldham’s health and social care system.

It was great to reflect on the 12+ months just gone, and launch our latest Annual Review that covers the financial year April 2023 – March 2024.

MioCare’s Interim Chair, Cathy Butterworth, opened the meeting with a recorded message of thanks before handing over to our Managing Director, Rob Jackson, who spoke about some recent highlights, including…

He also touched upon the state of social care nationally, giving an overview of key challenges the sector faces going forward, and how they affect us locally.

Rob was also keen to pay tribute to our brilliant workforce, and also the organisations that support us (including the National Care Forum) and regulate our services (including the Care Quality Commission).

MioCare’s Head of Finance, Owen Sherborne, gave an overview of our current financial position, detailing how money has been spent over the last year. The numbers he presented can be found in our Annual Review, linked above. He also introduced Elizabeth and Elyse from Saffery, who have just completed a full audit of the organisation. We’d like to place on record our gratitude to them, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

Crucially, we wanted to hear from people we support and learn about their recent experience with MioCare.

Sam and her Shared Lives Carer, Miriam, shared stories of recent adventure and community activity, and how the Shared Lives Oldham staff team have continued to support them. In fact, they’ve been part of the scheme and in a long-term match for well over a decade now!

A few words from Miriam…

“Sam continues to attend social clubs and events with me, but also independently, which is really important to her. She’s been able to maintain established friendships through organisations like OPAL (Oldham Personal Advocacy Limited), and has the opportunity to meet new people too. For example, I introduced Sam to the Filipino choir I’m part of, and she enjoys attending our concerts. Sam was born with Bilateral Anophthalmia and while she can’t see us, she certainly loves the sound of our singing…even if it does occasionally send her to sleep!”

Sam and Miriam then handed over to Gladys and Julie. This mother and daughter wanted to give their view on our Extra Care delivery, and they both showered praise on the team at Charles Morris House. Some feedback from Gladys…

“I’ve just had a hip replacement, and the care I’ve received has really helped me in my recovery. They’ve gone above and beyond and have been so supportive as my personal care needs change. I was nervous about having a bath with some assistance, but I needn’t have been. They put me at ease and made sure I was comfortable. It’s like a family, and I’m so grateful for them and everyone at Charles Morris House…I won’t be going anywhere!”

Before closing the meeting, Rob introduced our guest speaker Mike Barker (Deputy Chief Executive, Oldham Council). Mike spoke about Oldham’s changing population, and the demand on health and social care services in the borough. There are various reasons for that demand, but it means looking at the future and our collective direction, through a different lens…

“Part of shaping Oldham’s future is through partners like MioCare – an organisation with a vital role to play, and one that does things *with* people rather than *to* them.”

 

 

 

A successful student placement in MioCare’s Supported Living Service October 17, 2024

A successful student placement in MioCare’s Supported Living Service

Michelle, a student at The University of Salford who’s currently completing an apprenticeship with Northern Care Alliance, recently joined us for a short placement.

She’s pictured on the left of the photo below alongside Oliver, Oliver and Laura.

It was great to have Michelle with us and it was really beneficial for all parties. We want to extend our thanks to her and wish her all the best as she completes her nursing studies.

She wanted to share some feedback too, which you can read below…

“Last week I completed a four-day placement in MioCare’s Learning Disability Supported Living Service.

Firstly, I am extremely grateful to Janet (Resource Manager) for arranging this placement for me. Her kindness, and the service’s willingness to allow my attendance, is deeply appreciated. Thank you all so much.

During my four days, I spent time in several different houses in Oldham and met some wonderful Community Support Workers and many of the people they support.

This experience has greatly supported my learning and will positively impact my ability to support patients with learning disabilities in a hospital setting.

I truly cannot thank you enough for facilitating this placement. It’s helped me understand the diverse needs of the people MioCare support, and I observed an outstanding level of care provided by the staff. It was evident that the they thoroughly knew and understood the needs of the people they support day-to-day. Their commitment to ensuring the best interests of those in their care was truly inspiring. Observing this level of care has profoundly influenced my approach to person-centred care, and I aspire to provide the same level of care to my patients in the future.

Please extend my sincere gratitude to the entire team for their exceptional work, which truly reflects their professionalism and dedication.”

 

 

 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Together July 1, 2024

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Together

Colleagues within our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Together group have recently been working on a new internal EDI Policy, which has now been shared with our entire workforce.

We also wanted to publicly share a summary statement, that draws some key points from the full policy…

 

In line with our #FutureFocus strategy, and building on some of the other policies that have been updated and published across the MioCare Group this year, this is a really key one.

 

Look out for some photos and video on our social media channels as EDIT group members talk openly about the importance of embedding the policy within our services and day-to-day work.

Better bowels and body checks: Catching cancer early for people with a learning disability June 17, 2024

Better bowels and body checks: Catching cancer early for people with a learning disability

A big thank you to Pennine Care’s Community Learning Disability Team who recently got together with Shared Lives Oldham to run two awareness sessions around cancer screening.

Alongside their Shared Lives Carers, Tara, Graham and others learnt how to complete at-home bowel cancer tests and how to check for early signs of cancer.

People with learning disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to have health problems, with cancer as a leading cause of death. But they are less likely to recognise the early signs or attend cancer screening appointments.

The recent sessions focused on how to spot the signs testicular, cervical, breast and bowel cancer. The latter is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with almost 43,000 people diagnosed every year.

Marie, a Senior Learning Disability Nurse, explained…

“We know that people with a learning disability experience significant health inequalities, particularly around cancer. So, it’s really important we support them to spot the signs the early. 

During the first session we practised completing an at-home bowel screening test using a chocolate truffle mixture. It was really effective as it demonstrated how easy, quick and simple it is to do.

Our men’s health session focused how to properly check for signs of testicular cancer. The women focused on cervical cancer, breast cancer and the screening processes, to try and take away fear of the unknown. We also talked about looking after our general health and wellbeing, and what support is available.”

Both groups gave positive feedback, with attendee Peter saying…

“It was very interesting and I learnt a lot about my health. I’m now a lot more confident about what to regularly check for.”

Cheryl added…

“It was great. I learnt things about my body that I didn’t know before!”

 

 

#GITK24 – looking to the future April 12, 2024

#GITK24 – looking to the future

We recently hosted our latest ‘Getting in the Know’ event at Chadderton Town Hall. It’s always a brilliant day, with approximately 150 MioCare Group colleagues getting together over the course of two sessions – one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Previously, ‘Getting in the Know’ has always been billed as an employee engagement event and primarily, that was the case again this time round. However, we were delighted to welcome a good number of people we support from across our various services, too!

With a focus on the future and our soon-to-be launched new strategy, we wanted the voice of people we support to be heard alongside that of our workforce.

MioCare supports, represents and involves so many people. It’s important that whatever someone’s place or role in the Group, that they have the opportunity to feedback and contribute to how care and support is designed and delivered.

So, what did the sessions look like…

This brought us to the main part of the session, which was all about people. We want to continue putting people at the heart of everything we do, and so it was only right that we invited people to share their experience of receiving care and support from MioCare. We heard from Richard, Veronica, Andrew and many more who stayed for the duration of the sessions and not only addressed everyone over the microphone, but took part in the group-work that followed.

Everyone got a first glimpse of our new #FutureFocus strategy, much of which has been written in response to feedback gathered in-service and through wide-ranging workforce surveys.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended and contributed, and to all those who had a hand in organising the event.

Celebrating our updated Autism Accreditation January 30, 2024

Celebrating our updated Autism Accreditation

After a long and thorough process, we have some great news…

Our Supported Living Service has received an updated Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society.

A huge achievement, and a reason to be very proud!

The NAS Autism Accreditation Programme consists of three different awards: the Autism Specialist Award, the Autism Inclusion Award, and the Autism Friendly Award. It is the UK’s only autism-specific quality assurance programme of support and development for all those providing services to autistic people.

The Autism Specialist Award is tailored to specialist providers in the education, social care and prison fields. Being a social care provider, it was the Autism Specialist Award that we were assessed for with outcomes being measured against specific criteria that must be met and demonstrated in order to achieve one of the following stages of ‘aspiring’, ‘accredited’ and ‘advanced’.

We are pleased to report that we got a mixture of ‘accredited’ and also ‘advanced’ across all the Supported Living houses that assessors visited.

A few standout words from the report (completed by the NAS Assessor)…

“Autistic people are well supported. For example, relationships between staff and those they support were very positive. Staff treat autistic people with care and dignity and are conscientious with regards to cultural diversity and differences, making sure that these are managed appropriately within the services.”

Great feedback to receive; well done to all involved for such brilliant work.

We couldn’t let the moment pass by without celebrating, and residents and colleagues did just that with a small gathering earlier this month at our HQ in Failsworth.

Good company was enjoyed, speeches were made and certificates were framed! We heard from a variety of people who have been involved in the assessment, including one of our Senior Community Support Workers, Clare, who had prepared a video to share in advance of the event.

It was great to hear from some of the autistic people we support too, including Andrew, who said the following to an inspired audience…

“I’d just like to say thank you because when I think about autism, not many people know what it is and the fact that people are taking the time to appreciate and celebrate it means quite a lot. It means that people do care and are willing to put us young people and adults with autism first. The fact that someone came to see me and interact with me shows that they care and that they want to learn and see if MioCare are doing a good job!

And personally, I would like to say that my support team are doing a good job with me and my autism, because when it comes to struggling with certain things they always give me the time that I need to be able to process and understand things.”

A big thank you to everyone at the National Autistic Society for their continued work and support – we share your continued vision of a society that works for autistic people.

Care Control in the community August 15, 2023

Care Control in the community

As fellow colleagues continue to implement Care Control across the MioCare Group, our Community Reablement team has been handed the baton and have begun their own digital journey. The team have taken to the challenge well – which is no surprise given the nature of this fast-paced, flexible service. Staff are used to making multiple decisions daily, as they work swiftly to support people in their own homes and communities.

In fact, using this new cloud-based digital software on portable devices should go hand-in-hand with a community-based service like this one.

Our Assessment & Review Officers (ARO’s) and Digital Champions are well-placed to lead the way and have not only picked things up quickly themselves but have assisted other teammates, too.

There is still plenty of learning to be done and we’re glad to have the guidance of the Care Control team who have provided some great training, including recorded modules we can refer back to if necessary.

Some thoughts from Sandra, our Digital Change Lead…

“There are some slightly different challenges when using the system while on-the-go, as opposed to within one large property or building. It’s brilliant to see the team’s leaders managing the change and implementation well, allowing time for a safe transition.

A key part of the rollout in this service is the use of Care Control’s ‘geolocation’ function. Colleagues working in different locations now have better knowledge of each other’s whereabouts and progress throughout the day, with care plans being updated by community-based staff in real-time when out on a home visit.”

Finally, a few words from Reablement Manager, Angie…

“I’m proud of the whole team who have embraced this new way of doing things, with all our existing and new records now live. We have a little mantra here which is proving to be true…

Well done everyone and let’s keep going!”

After success in our Residential Reablement and Supported Living services, it’s fantastic to hear about how things are going in this community-based service, too.

Onwards!

Supporting people
to get the most out of life.

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