1st Homecare

WE DID IT AGAIN! We are a Top 20 Homecare Group in the UK for five years running according to the leading care listing group homecare.co.uk.
We are delighted to have been given this award yet again for the fifth year in a row, which is testament to the care and dedication provided by both the carers who provide the hands-on care and office staff who provide the advice to clients and the back-up support to carers throughout our four branches. To win this five years in succession shows that we, as an organisation, are able to deliver consistently high quality care to both self funded and Local Authority clients. We congratulate all our staff on this fantastic success!! Visit https://www.homecare.co.uk/groups/profile.cfm/id/65432218215
to see the award details.

Pictured are our office staff in our Kings Langley office - Kayleigh, Helen, Tracy and Sarah.

1st Homecare Kings Langley is going to have a stall at the Kings Langley carnival on 22nd June, please come and visit the stall for a chat with manager Helen and members of the Office team if you would like to find out more about the home care or live-in care services 1st Homecare can provide - they will even have some goody bags to give away!

Our CEO John was delighted to be asked to attend the Leaders in Care conference in London on Wednesday 29th May, where the care sector's leaders (from both residential and home care parts of the sector) discussed many current issues including recruitment & retention, technology and use of CCTV as a way of managing care quality. John was one of the panellists discussing how best to communicate with the Care Quality Commission, the regulator for the care sector. John's message was a plea to providers to reach out to connect with the regulator regardless of all their challenges in introducing the Single Assessment Framework and their new Provider Portal. The conference attracted a diverse audience which included executives, major CEOs, former CQC inspectors, policymakers, and people working on the frontline.

It’s out!
Our Friends of 1st Homecare Spring Newsletter is now ready to read, you can view it via this linkhttps://www.1st-homecare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1stHC_FriendsNewsletter_Spring24print.pdf
Happy reading!

A reminder that 1st Homecare Leighton Buzzard is running 5 days of insight sessions into Dementia next week as part of Dementia Action Week. Please see the article in the Leighton Buzzard Observer online https://www.leightonbuzzardonline.co.uk/arts-and-culture/care-group-to-host-dementia-insight-events-during-dementia-action-week-4616399
Details of timing and how to book are shown in the article and in our Facebook post below.

Care group to host dementia insight events during Dementia Action Week As part of the Alzheimer's Society Dementia Action Week 2024, local home care company 1st Homecare Leighton Buzzard, part of the 1st Homecare Group, will be hosting a week of free sessions for the public with its dementia specialist, to provide insight into dementia.

Our Live in Care branch has awarded our carer Cecilia a Values Award. Cecilia is a very dedicated carer, who goes the extra mile to give reassurance and comfort to our client, who was recently diagnosed with Dementia. Our client can suffer from anxiety when left alone, so Cecilia sits with her, telling her stories about her children and reminding her when they are visiting; she facilitates facetime calls and ensures our client looks and feels her best when they visit her at home. Thank you Cecilia!

It is Dementia Action Week from 13th-19th May 2024, an annual, national campaign run by the Alzheimer's Society that brings people together to take action on dementia, including raising awareness of dementia.
1st Homecare Leighton Buzzard is taking part in this week of action on dementia by offering a series of free sessions at its office during this week for members of the public to attend, including a virtual dementia experience to raise awareness of what it's like to live with dementia and provide information and tips for people who have loved ones living with dementia.
This will be of benefit to anyone who wants to understand more about dementia, the forms it can take, understanding the behaviours that people living with dementia may demonstrate, how to get people with dementia to eat and drink, and help with mobility issues that people with dementia may experience. Registered Manager Emma says: "We at 1st Homecare feel very passionate about supporting individuals with dementia and their families. To show our support, we will be hosting 5, 45-minute sessions throughout Dementia Action Week that will be free for the public to attend, to provide insight into dementia and practical guidance and tips on dealing with some of the key issues that arise when a person has dementia, which will be hosted by myself and our dementia specialist Vicky."
The sessions will run from 10-10.45am every day between 13th and 17th May, as follows:
13th May - Introduction to Dementia
14th May - Dementia and nutrition
15th May - Dementia and mental capacity
16th May - Dementia and mobility
17th May - Virtual Dementia experience
Members of the public who would like to attend should book a place by calling 1st Homecare on 01525 376677 or emailing [email protected].

What a successful Macmillan Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support - we have raised donations of £326.68! That amount pays for a Macmillan nurse for one day, helping people living with cancer and their families receive medical and emotional support, and also pays for more than 3 hours of the Macmillan Online Community forum, which allows people affected by cancer to support each other with anything from treatments to the death of a loved one. Our client Marion who came along to support the event, was the judge of the best cake and the best "fake", and awarded these to Payroll Manager Emma and Director and owner Annabella. Well done to all the team at our Leighton Buzzard branch - Emma, Vicky, Emma, Alex and Lisa - for a great job!

Just a reminder of our coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support to be held next Tuesday at our Leighton Buzzard branch between 10am and 3pm. There will be delicious home made cakes available in exchange for a donation. We do hope to see as many folk as possible so we can raise a good amount to support this worthy cause.

We are delighted to say we have become a Supporter Member of The Care Workers' Charity, which works to advance the financial, professional and mental wellbeing of social care workers by making grants, signposting to resources and providing access to services.

📣 👏 Our grateful thanks goes out to 1st Homecare who have shown their commitment to the sector and signed up as a supporter member of ❤️

We’re so grateful.

This support and that of all our supporter members, sponsors and fundraisers has helped us to support over 10,400 care workers with over £5.9 million in grants.

We have given Lucy, one of our carers at our Leighton Buzzard branch, our Values award for Commitment to quality of Care and for Caring with a Smile. Lucy has worked extremely hard to learn her role, overcoming many challenges along the way. Lucy always turns up at every clients home with a big smile. Congratulations Lucy, on your hard work and your commitment to caring for our clients!

Our Kings Langley and Live in Care branches held a coffee morning on Tuesday for the Curie UK Great Daffodil Appeal https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil and raised in excess of £100 with a raffle and delicious cakes. It was a lovely chance for carers to catch up with each other and the Office team, and a special thank you goes to the clients and family members who came along to join in. Our branch manager Helen even had some lovely artwork done on her nails - see the photo below!

We were very happy to receive some lovely comments from clients or their families in our recent client survey. A couple of them are featured below. It makes our day to know what a difference we are making to the lives of our clients!

Our Kings Langley branch and our Live in care branch are doing a combined coffee morning in aid of Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal on Tuesday 19th March from 11am to 3pm (https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil). Please come along and support them if you are in the area, and enjoy a cuppa and a piece of something delicious!

We recently had two insightful and enjoyable days of training with Shila Odedra-Silvera of Care Company Solutions. We engaged Shila to do some training with our Office staff on taking calls enquiring about care – this might seem basic but it gave us a new angle on what our callers are looking for and need from us, with the emphasis being on providing informed, friendly and professional advice to all those calling who seek our help. All part of our commitment to provide a first class care service!

Sharing the stage last Friday with all the winners and the others who were highly commended. Really inspiring to hear all the ways people are making a difference to the lives of those who need care and support. We were proud to be up there with them!

The 2024 Winners and High Commendations!! 🥳
Alcedo Care Kingsway Care Mumby's Live-in Care 1st Homecare Care First 24 Hamilton George Care Home Instead UK Radfield Home Care Limited Home Instead Cleveland Bluebird Care (UK) Bluebird Care Richmond & Twickenham Consultus Care and Nursing Walfinch A Class Care hometouch BelleVie GoodOaks Homecare Quality Life UK Right at Home North Somerset & Somerset Right at Home UK Radfield Home Care Wakefield & Huddersfield Vincentian Care Plus Radfield Home Care Bexhill, Hastings & Battle

We were thrilled to win a national award last Friday at the Home Care Awards results ceremony Care Awards https://www.facebook.com/HomeCareAwards.
We were awarded a “Highly Commended” in the category Best Home Care Start Up for our Live-in service.
We started the service in October 2021 and it has grown to be the Live-in care provider of choice for 1st Homecare’s existing domiciliary care clients who need more care at home, and for new clients choosing the service in the knowledge that 1st Homecare has a back-up domiciliary care service that can provide additional domiciliary care support and is also able to cover rest breaks and any unexpected surprises.
Congratulation to Sinead, our Live-in Manager, and to the domiciliary care branches for the support they have provided! Now that we have a 'Highly commended' under our belts we are aiming for a few winning categories next year!

Our Winter newsletter is now ready to read. Here is the link to our website page to access the edition. Happy reading!
https://www.1st-homecare.com/post_news/1st-homecare-winter-2023-2024-newsletter/

Sinead, our Live-In Care Manager, has given a Values award to live-in care worker Mukayi. Sinead awarded this to her “for her dedication shown to clients Colin and Judith. When Colin developed pressure areas Mukayi was responsive to the changing needs of Colin, implementing 2-hourly turns throughout day and night. She persevered with Colin’s pressure area care. His pressure areas healed, and he was discharged from the care of the district nurses on 3/1. Judith and Colin have both described Mukayi as an ‘asset.’” Congratulations, Mukayi, thank you for your dedication and your excellent care!

I had a great day yesterday at the Homecare Association’s annual conference at the Oval in London. Many topical issues were discussed including financial viabaility, commissioning, Homecare under a Labour Government, overseas carers and unscrupulous providers etc. All put together by Jane Townson and her very capable team. Thanks all.

We want to say a huge thank you to Kings Langley carer Paula! Branch Manager Helen said: “Paula has been awarded our values award this month based on the compassionate care she has given to her clients, especially for one client with quite complex communication needs that she has spent time building a really comfortable relationship with. This client has had a family member staying over Christmas and New Year and has passed his compliments to us on numerous occasions over the last few weeks. He lives abroad and feels the team here is fantastic and his mums care is in safe hands with Paula. Well deserved, Paula. Well done.”

We think Tayyba Majeed deserves the values award this month.


Michelle our Oxford branch manager has been busy handing out our first Values Award of the year to her carer Tayyba. She said: "Tayyba is always compassionate, respects the clients as individuals and always has a smile on her face and helps us out by picking up extra out of her available time." Great way to start the year!

Happy New Year everyone! We are so delighted to hear that 1st Homecare has been shortlisted as finalists in this year's prestigious Home Care Awards 2024. What a fabulous way to start off 2024! And it is all down to the hard work and dedicated care delivered by our teams in Oxford, Kings Langley and Leighton Buzzard and their surrounding villages. Our carers and branch teams go above and beyond to ensure our clients can stay at home for as long as possible. We all believe in the same basic principle that everyone deserves to stay in the home they have lovingly created over many years, with the right compassionate and professional care, to be safe and happy.



We've been shortlisted in not just one but two categories

team support

and

best start-up home care services for the live-in care services



Wishing our carers, clients and fellow industry professionals a happy and healthy 2024.

Like everyone else our offices have been busy getting ready for Christmas and thanking our carers is a very important part of the festive season. Our care will continue during the festivities and we are proud and grateful for the continued support our carers deliver for our clients. Seen here preparing Christmas hampers to say thanks to the carers are our office teams. Thanks to all for making this time so special.

In this final week run up to Christmas I am delighted to share that our Oxford branch has reached a review score of 9.9 out of 10 on the UK's leading home care review website homecare.co.uk as voted by our customers. The site's review team checks and verifies each review written before it is published. It provides members of the public looking for local home care providers with a powerful yet easy, at a glance, review of local care providers. Branch manager Michelle and her support team in Oxford have worked hard to ensure their carers can deliver first class care to their clients. And we are delighted to be heading into the holiday season with such an incredible testament to their hard work.
Our other two branches, in Kings Langley and Leighton Buzzard are right on her heels having maintained their review scores to 9.8 and 9.7 respectively.

MONDAY POST!! It is not often possible to get all the office teams from the different branches together but last week we managed it and what a joy it was. Annabella and I are passionate about providing great care to our clients and we couldn't do that without this dedicated and hard working office based team who support our carers 24 / 7 so they can focus on caring for our clients within the comfort and safety of their homes. A well deserved office festive treat.

Today is Amy’s last day with us. 🥺
Amy moved over from South Africa a year ago and is now relocating to the coast as her husband and son are now moving over and her son is a keen surfer. Amy has been an absolute diamond and an asset to the company. She will be missed by so many ❤️
We wish you all the best with the move and your new job ⭐️