Our Northwest finalists head to the Great British Care Awards
Consensus are delighted to have 4 shortlisted finalists in 4 categories for the Northwest at this year’s Great British Care Awards 2021, which are a series of regional events throughout the UK and are a celebration of excellence across the care sector. The purpose of the awards is to pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.
In total Consensus have 12 shortlisted finalists in 7 categories across Great British Care Regional Awards.
The Northwest Gala Awards evening, which is taking place on the 13th of November in Manchester, offers a unique opportunity to celebrate the successes of individuals, teams and businesses throughout the UK – people who really do make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Congratulations to our colleagues and teams across the Northwest who have been shortlisted:
Showing best practice and ‘going the extra mile’…
Adam Beswick, Manager of residential service Pendle Gardens, has been shortlisted as a finalist for The Care Home Registered Manager Award. This award demonstrates the Care Home Registered Manager who has demonstrated a high level of expertise together with exceptional skills in managing the complex business of running a care home. A Manager who shows vision in developing person centred care and supporting staff to meet the ever-changing needs of the residents.
Adam Beswick – Pendle Gardens, Northwest
Having already successfully set up and run a residential service for adults with learning disabilities and very complex needs, Adam was approached by Consensus to manage Pendle Gardens during the Covid-19 Pandemic which opened in July 2020.
Adam’s commitment to the people he supports is interminable. During the pandemic, he meticulously planned each individuals’ transition into the service as safely and securely as possible. He has set up a local providers’ forum to share best practice and guidance with the aim of preventing individuals from reaching crisis point and being re-admitted to hospital. He has also instilled an ‘active support’ approach, whereby individuals are supported to do things for themselves. Not only this but Adam has shaped a well-trained team that’s focused on each individuals’ strengths. He also ensures each team member instils a person-centred approach to the people they support.
All the individuals supported by the Pendle team would otherwise be living in secure hospital settings. Instead, with Adam’s and his team’s support, they have made great progress. It’s testament to his leadership that, a year on, the service is almost full.
Demonstrating a person-centred approach…
Margaret Matthews, Support Worker at Kingarth has been shortlisted as a finalist in The Care Home Worker Award.
This award recognises a person who has consistently delivered a high-quality level of support for people living within residential care. They have demonstrated and understood treating each person as an individual by giving a personalised service, encouraging people to be more independent, respecting people’s privacy and going the extra mile.
Margaret Matthews is a Support Worker at Kingarth, a residential service in Greater Manchester which provides a nursing led residential service to support males with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs, including mental health issues and additional nursing needs. Margaret is a long-standing member of the Kingarth team and is loved by her colleagues as well as the people she supports.
Margaret is dedicated and passionate about the supported individuals at Kingarth, always going above and beyond. She builds strong relationships with each individual person and is completely focused on their happiness and wellbeing. Thanks to her ‘can do’ approach, Maggie inspires and motivates the individuals to get involved in lots of imaginative and creative activities. For example, she recently made a ‘bug hotel’ for the supported individuals to enjoy, she has also taken charge of painting everyone’s bedroom in their favourite colours, she plays endless board games with them, organises days out, bakes cake and supports them with their gardening too – whatever they want to do Margaret makes it happen!
During the various pandemic lockdowns, Margaret was central in ensuring the supported individuals experienced as normal a life as possible, finding different activities to keep people happy and engaged. There are many budding artists among the supported individuals and team, so art became a great communal outlet.
Consistently improving our delivery of care…
Rachel Roberts, Team Leader and Positive Behaviour Support Coach at Kingarth has been shortlisted as a finalist for The Frontline Leaders Award.
This award will be given to a person who is a Supervisor, Senior Care Worker, Team Leader or a first time Manager and has shown clear commitment to improving the delivery of care and support within their team. A person who has shown leadership qualities by reflecting on what could be better and supporting others to bring about change.
Having joined the Kingarth team 10 years ago, Rachel has progressed from Support Worker to Team Leader and Positive Behaviour Support Coach, two roles in which she excels. Over the course of her decade of working at the service, Rachel has become an invaluable support to managers, past and present. She has trained to be a Positive Behaviour Support Coach and often represents Kingarth in multidisciplinary team meetings. Above all, Rachel has an exceptional relationship with all the supported individuals and consistently puts them first and goes the extra mile.
Recently Rachel supported a 29-year-old individual who has very complex needs to attend a live music festival. This was one of his lifetime goals as he loves music and had never seen a band live. The young man has sensory issues as well as severe autistic traits and dyspraxia. Seeing his determination to do something that other people his age take for granted, Rachel set about making his dream come true. She created extensive risk assessments and contingency plans, however, on the day, the supported individual coped really well and absolutely loved the experience. As a result, he has gained in confidence and in his ability to cope in new situations.
The Social Care Nurse Award…
This award acknowledges the important role that specialist nurses working in the Care Sector have in promoting the emotional, physical, psychological and social health of the people who they support. The individual should be able to demonstrate how nursing skills integrate with social care.
Michelle Murphy, Team Coordinator and RNLD (Registered Nurse Learning Disabilities) at Royal House, our supported living service in Farnworth, Bolton has been shortlisted as a finalist for this award.
Michelle is described as passionate, person-centred, determined and a team player, always ensuring the people she supports lead the best lives they possibly can within their local community. She leads by example, working a variety of shifts alongside the staff team including evenings, weekends and Christmas. Michelle encourages reflective practice not only for herself but for the team. She keeps her learning up to date so that she continues to provide support within the current frameworks. And takes a holistic approach to ensuring that the needs of the individuals are met.
Michelle is not afraid to challenge other professionals when required to achieve the right outcomes for the people she supports. For example, she led the team to help a supported individual at Royal House achieve his dream of passing his CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) and purchase his own moped, despite other professionals in his care thinking this was not achievable.
Michelle is very humble and doesn’t do the job for the recognition but because she cares so much for those that she supports. She is a great buddy for new managers and staff and a real support for her peers. One of her colleagues says, “Michelle is always motivated, positive, upbeat! She never looks fussed but is always professional. Everyone loves her!”
