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CCFTV was delighted to receive an invitation from Robert Myers Head of Care Pathways at the Marbrook / Ardale Care Home Group, to visit their new care home Oakham Grange. https://www-carehome-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.carehome.co.uk/news/amp/article/id/1634635/ccftv-founder-jayne-connery-visits-oakham-grange

CCFTV was initially set up to promote safety monitoring in communal areas in all U.K. care homes and we champion and promote care providers who install safety monitoring. We first visited this care group on another invite way back in 2017 to The Marbrook Centre, their specialist neurological rehabilitation centre, which supports those who have experienced a life changing incident such as stroke or brain injury and the base for Mayfield, an atypical / early onset dementia service.

The Marbrook Centre, St Neots

Jayne was shown around Oakham Grange and delighted to see this new bespoke care home with Nursing, have installed safety monitoring in all of its communal areas. Robert Myers who invited in CCFTV spoke of the benefits CCTV brings to all residents and care staff at Ardale Homes. He was joined by Ollie Smith, the groups IT and Communications Manager, who demonstrated the CCTV systems installed and Shelley Bunn, Oakham Granges dedicated Activities Coordinator.

“We are thrilled to invite in Care Campaign for the Vulnerable and to show their Founder Jayne, Oakham Grange, our brand new bespoke Residential home with Nursing in Rutland. One of the first things on its design specification was CCTV within all the common areas in the home.

This isn’t new technology for us as a family-run provider, as we have seen the positive results of investing in CCTV over the last four years. Although CCTV can be viewed as a safeguarding tool, for us as a care provider, it is its ability to enable staff to benefit from reflective learning that is most valuable. With the proper safeguards in place, CCTV is a must and will be a standard feature in all our future Ardale homes.

To deliver care and support to our often vulnerable residents and their families, a competent care providerneeds a ‘toolkit’ of skills to support each individual in a safe and person centred way. I think it’s important to recognise that CCTV is not a shortcut to good care. Ardale homes will always need good leadership, correct staffing levels, a robust recruitment process and investment in staff induction and ongoing training.

As beautiful as Oakham Grange the building is, it’s the people in it which brings a home to life, giving it its sense of identity, warmth and vibrancy.

Initiatives such as our staff team supporting those living with dementia being non-uniformed, to the degree that night staff are wearing pyjamas at night to help residents who maybe disorientated to time and day, to settle more easily to a positive sleep regime.

''CCTV is one of our core building blocks which enables our homes to become exactly that, a home for our residents. For all running a care home I would urge them to read a full review we carried out to the impact of CCTV at The Marbrook Centre, to fully understand the features and benefits it offers from a providers prospective, as well as the broader holistic rewards for all.'' Robert Myers

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable is often invited to care homes across the UK to see best practice on the use of Safety Monitoring. During those visits, we regularly meet with staff and know that very many of them would welcome camera technology use in their care home. They tend to make the point that ‘if all staff are conducting themselves properly and professionally there is nothing to hide’ That view is one CCFTV supports and therefore its no surprise to learn of the growing support for such systems from care staff across the long term care sector.

Providers with safety and monitoring systems already in use have provided visual evidence that has occasionally vindicated staff when a complaint or concern has been raised. That has ensured any staff disciplinary process has resulted in fair and appropriate outcomes as opposed to the process still conducted in the vast majority of homes, which is to make a decision on the basis of probability.

Staff, we have met first hand and with whom we have had the opportunity to outline how systems can benefit residents, staff and families have generally almost en mass confirmed their total support and desire to see safety and monitoring systems become standard use in all care homes.