Headingley Hall care home in north Leeds, which is run by the award-winning Westward Care group, is celebrating achieving ‘outstanding’ status following its recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It is the second of three Westward Care facilities to achieve the status, putting the Leeds-based business in the top four per cent of social care providers in the UK.
The report praised the entire team of 75 staff working at Headingley Hall, noting that: “People and relatives were unanimous in their praise of the staff and the exceptionally high standards of care and support provided. The whole staff team were exceptionally thoughtful and kind with people, putting people's needs first and continuously looking at ways in which they could improve people's quality of life.”
Westward Care general manager Sharon Earnshaw has worked in care homes since the age of 17 and joined the company in 2003 as deputy manager. She was promoted to care manager in 2011, taking on full responsibility for the care delivered to the residents and in 2012 she became the home’s general manager. It is under her leadership that the home has been awarded ‘outstanding’ by the CQC.
Sharon Earnshaw says: “I’m incredibly proud of this whole team achievement. It’s hugely important that our residents receive the best service possible and that they are not just comfortable, but happy in our care and able to enjoy the level of independence that they’d like.
"It can be a challenging time for people when they’re facing decisions about their own care in later life or the care of loved ones, so I’m delighted that so many relatives were unanimous in their praise of our professionalism, love and support.”
Managing director Peter Hodkinson says: “From our care assistants to deputy managers, kitchen assistants to chefs and housekeepers and management staff, the entire team at Headingley Hall work tirelessly to ensure that residents have the best level of care.
"Care work is an incredibly undervalued profession; it is a technical and physically and mentally demanding job, and I am delighted that the team’s hard work, skills and competence under Sharon’s leadership has been rewarded with this ‘outstanding’ status.”
He adds: “At Westward Care we put philosophies of continuous improvement at the heart of the organisation. Health and social care is a sector of opportunity and it’s up to employers like us to create the environment for those opportunities for our staff.”
Westward Care operates three care facilities in Leeds: Headingley Hall in Headingley, Pennington Court in Beeston and Southlands Retirement Apartments with care and support in Roundhay. In October 2018, Pennington Court was the first of the group’s care homes to be awarded ‘outstanding’ status.
