Greenock Medical Aid Society At the Forefront of Quality Care for Older People Winter/Spring 2015 Welcome to the Winter/Spring edition of our Newsletter. We hope you ll enjoy reading it and find it interesting and informative. INSID E THI S ISSU E: Welcome 1 Care Inspectorate 1 Staff news 2 Activities 3 Hallowe en party 4 Other news 5 Pictures/events 6 See page 5 If you have any items of news or interest for future newsletters, please pass them to Carol Chiverton, Home Manager at Glenfield, by email to: cchiverton@gmas.org.uk or telephone 01475 721028. Welcome May we through the pages of this Newsletter extend a very warm welcome to any new residents who have recently joined us at Glenfield, and also to their family members and friends who visit them. We do hope your stay will be a very positive and happy one. Care Inspectorate In May 2014 we had our Annual Unannounced Care Inspectorate Inspection. We are very pleased to report that we not only managed to maintain our present Grades but actually improved on them once again, with a Grade of 6/Excellent in all four of the Quality Statements which underpin the four Quality Themes. Overall, all four Quality Themes are graded at 5/Very Good. This was very pleasing for staff as the inspector who carried out the inspection had never been to Glenfield before. Once more, this demonstrates our focus on continually further improving our quality of care. This has only been possible due to a lot of hard work and of course excellent team work. All the staff at Glenfield are to be congratulated on their achievement. A big thank you to everyone who returned the survey forms prior to the Inspection and for your positive feedback and continued support. Your views are important to us so please keep them coming. In particular, please join us at the Focus Group meetings which are held regularly both in the afternoon and in the evening. These meetings give residents, family members and staff the opportunity to have their say in the way we operate at Glenfield, and can also help us move forward with the standard of care we provide. If you would like to join the Focus Group, please contact Carol Chiverton, Home Manager, tel. 01475 721028 or email cchiverton@gmas.org.uk
Page 2 Mrs. Harkins leaving party Staff As summer changed to autumn and the leaves started to fall, there were changes to Management and Staff at Glenfield. As most of you are aware Mrs Margaret Harkins has left for pastures new after many years as Manager. Mrs Carol Chiverton, a familiar face to everyone at Glenfield as Assistant Manager, has taken up the post of Home Manager. Mrs Susan Patton has stepped up to Assistant Manager s post after many years as Sister at Glenfield. Together they will continue to promote the excellent standards of care that have been achieved in the past by Mrs Harkins and look forward to the challenges ahead. Debra Kerr has joined the Care Team at Glenfield. Debra had previously worked at Bagatelle. Good bye to Care Assistant Lynne Porter and we wish her all the best in her new job. School work experience Staff and residents enjoyed having two school students from Clydeview Academy join us for a one week work experience: they were Zoe Dollard and Rhea Inkster. They joined in at activities, getting to know the residents, interacting with them and sharing information about themselves, school and what they are going to do when they leave school. Zoe and Rhea said they had enjoyed their weeks work experience at Glenfield, meeting all the residents, getting to know them and joining in at activities.
page 3 Residents activities Glenfield residents have been enjoying trying a new form of exercise, Tai Chi; this was provided by qualified instructor James Watson through Your Voice. James was very patient with the residents, showing them what to do and why. He also shared details about travelling all over the world learning the techniques. Some residents did extremely well during the course and they were trying the exercises standing up. However they were able to stay seated when they wanted to. Over the last few months with Morag, the residents have enjoyed picking flowers from the gardens and placing them in flower presses. They then used the dried flowers to make pictures, bookmarks and laminated them to preserve them. Some of the residents have kept their flower pictures within their rooms as a memento. They made a nice keepsake for Mrs Margaret Harkins as a leaving gift and decided to make a picture for Mrs Carol Chiverton s office which now has pride of place on her wall. Garden Stories The residents were very pleased with the new bird table that was made by Lee Coyle of Clyde Chainsaw Carvings. The residents are able to see the bird table from the Nan Graham Lounge and they said that although it was unusual in design it was very nice and looks lovely in the garden. Ice Water Bucket Challenge A few members of staff participated in the Ice Water Bucket Challenge for charity in the garden. Residents were very amused when John Anderson, our Maintenance Officer, and Care Assistant, James Hendry, had buckets of freezing cold water poured over them. All in the name of charity!!
page 4 Hallowe en Party Residents enjoyed a fun filled afternoon for Halloween where they enjoyed dooking for apples, trick or treating and had to listen to some really bad jokes from Morag McMillan, our Activities Co-ordinator. Annual General Meeting The AGM of the Society was held in Glenfield on 24 th September 2014. Once all the formal business of the Society was concluded, those attending adjourned to the dining room for a buffet prepared by the Head Cook, Jacqueline and her staff, which contributed to a very enjoyable and informative evening.
Page 5 Commonwealth Games Our Activities Co-ordinator, Morag McMillan, was selected to work at the Commonwealth Games as part of West College Scotland s Athlete s Village Salon. She worked alongside other students, providing relaxing treatments, such as facials, massage, nail treatments and spray tans for the athletes. All students were given extra training to provide them with a range of new skills to benefit the athletes. Morag was fortunate to be given a ticket to the Opening Ceremony where she took lots of photos. On her return to Glenfield, she shared the photos and experience with the residents. The residents loved hearing what she had done, looked at the photos and also watched some of the Games coverage on television. The residents also enjoyed making flags from Commonwealth countries to decorate the Nan Graham Lounge in keeping with the theme. Sponsored cycle Staff had their annual Sponsored Cycle round Cumbrae in August. This year the weather didn t do them any favours as it poured all day and it was so windy that it made cycling conditions tough even for our very experienced cyclists. Needless to say they did get some inner warmth afterwards at a local hostelry and did all manage to get back across the water safely. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their day, a big thank you to all who took part as they raised 1086 for the benefit of residents at Glenfield and Bagatelle.
Page 6 Zoe & Rhea on work experience Fancy dress at Hallowe'en Picture Board Tai Chi practice Waiting for an ice cold shower Forthcoming Events Glenfield looks forward to an interesting and varied programme of events in the coming months. Exact details are listed in the Residents Weekly Activity Programme which you will find in resident s rooms and within Glenfield and also on the Society s website. These include: Coffee Mornings Concerts Music workshop Exercise Class with Morag Quiz Mornings Poetry reading Arts and Crafts Bingo Church services Games Carpet Bowls Knitting bee Contact Carol Chiverton Home Manager Glenfield 1 Bedford Street Greenock PA16 8PG Tel: 01475 721028 email: cchiverton@gmas.org.uk Registered charity SC004538