NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR CAMELOT HOUSE AND LODGE FIVE TIMES IN A ROW
The team at Camelot House and Lodge is celebrating confirmation of its fifth successive accreditation, with full marks for the third time in a row, from national standards body the Gold Standards Framework (GSF), awarded for the outstanding quality of palliative care provided for residents.
The home now qualifies as a finalist in October’s national awards for Care Home of the Year.
Camelot House and Lodge was first accredited in 2013 by GSF – which exists to promote delivery of the very best end-of-life care – and it has been consistently accredited at three-yearly intervals ever since.
The assessor, Gaynor Pitman, said: “It was clear from the outset that the home has not lost its enthusiasm for GSF and ensuring that their residents live and die well, and are consistently seeking ways to improve.
“They certainly deserve their fifth accreditation. Well done team.”
Paul Teasdale, director of Camelot Care, said: “This fifth successive reaccreditation by GSF is proof of the long-term commitment of our colleagues at Camelot House and Lodge.
“It gives such reassurance to residents’ families about how genuinely dedicated the team is to providing the highest quality palliative and end-of-life care.
“Huge congratulations to our home manager Zillah Oakes and her team – we are very proud of them.”
As part of her inspection, Ms Pitman interviewed the daughter of resident for whom end of life care was in place at the time of her visit.
The interviewee, who was spending long hours at her dying mother’s bedside, said: “I’ve been sat here for hours and never once have I heard a staff member be unkind or rude to anyone, they are just wonderful, kind human beings.”
Significant factors highlighted in the report as contributing to the home being awarded 100% at the inspection are:
• There is a committed team of GSF champions who clearly support the whole team to work within the framework
• The home has a specific GSF room which contains resources and enables the home to host ‘pop up’ training sessions
• The home has a low number of inappropriate hospital admissions and hospital deaths
• There is a very comprehensive hospital audit evaluation undertaken
• The home staff have produced some very good reflections
• The home have produced an excellent leaflet entitled ‘dignity at the end of life’
• Excellent support service of after death care provided in relation a difficult case
The Gold Standards Framework is a comprehensive, evidence-based quality improvement training programmes run by the national GSF centre. For more details see: www.goldstandardsframework.org.uk