The chief executive of Borough Care Kathryn Farmer has been shortlisted for one of the care sector's most prestigious awards for her innovative approach to dementia care.
From hundreds of entries nationwide Kathyrn is one of five on the short list for the 'Inspirational Leader' category to be presented at the National Dementia Care Awards at the Brighton Centre on 3 November.
Since joining Borough Care in 2011 Kathryn has striven to improve the care of older people, ensuring those living with dementia get the most out of each and every day.
She is currently responsible for over 460 beds, including 302 dementia beds, across 11 care homes and employs over 580 staff.
Her approach has been both innovative and detailed and has seen significant and sustained improvement in customer satisfaction approval, with their latest MORI customer feedback poll recording 98 per ecent approval.
At the heart of her success at the former council care home service, which was privatised as a non profit organisation in 1991, has been the insistence on more personalised one to one care.
Working with leading local healthcare consultancy Helen Sanderson Associates she instituted a two study to improve her organisation's approach to dementia care, ensuring one to one time with designated carers, a return to doing the things in life their residents had always enjoyed and still enjoyed the most and more rigorous and detailed training for all staff. In the last year alone 11,000 hours of training were delivered to 137 new members of staff, as a key element of the emphasis on this person centred approach.
Staff have responded to her ideas and retention is at its highest ever level with a just an 18 per cent attrition rate. Each home now has a Dementia Dignity Champion whose responsibility is to research new methods and disseminate evolving best practise to all staff and she has reached out to families for more detailed and regular feedback to ensure they feel any problems will be heard and addressed.
She has also demonstrated a wider vision and has worked in partnership with local authority funding agents to ensure a major renovation of the buildings stock and the development of a brand new state of the art facility.
A registered nurse with 36 years experience, Kathryn says of her nomination: “It is one for the team. We have some magnificent managers whose life's mission is to improve the lives of those in their care, with a strong, loyal and caring workforce of carers, cooks, domestics and administrators all working as one to make Borough Care an industry leader. We want the people of Stockport to know they can trust Borough Care to give the best possible care to their loved ones.”
Picture shows: Kathryn on the right with Borough Care resident Elise Beard.
