Silver Linings Peace of mind through trust and understanding CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR DEMENTIA CARE Volume 3
Really helpful tool which enables members of mum’s family to keep in touch and updated with news, activities and photos of life at Vida. Very reassuring and positive. Having such up-to-date information is really useful, especially with the pandemic when things change so fast. I like knowing who will be on the care team each month and items like the weekly menus help me be involved in my father’s life between visits. Great app! With our loved one being so far away, having an easy way of keeping in touch with the latest news is great. Having a section for the house your relative is in, coupled with an individual area dedicated to each individual keeps us all up to date. Great communication tool. Great tool for instantly communicating and connecting across all three homes. Families are able to see a daily snap shot of their loved one through the ease of a phone. Brilliant way of keeping in touch. Instant advice on any news, developments or photos/videos of loved ones. Essential if you want to be as up to date as possible with what’s going on at Vida. General messages as well as ones that are tailored to your relative’s house or them personally. Family Team Talk Reviews
During one of my placements Terri was my practice assessor, she was so helpful and very supportive, an active listener, always ready to share relevant knowledge and to teach at any given opportunity. Terri is highly intelligent and a great communicator, she is a fantastic worker, mentor and friend. She is the example of what a true mentor is. Terri is professional and well trained; I feel safe and valued with her. She is undeniably dedicated to her work, well-organised, goal-oriented and she gave constructive feedback on my performance which helped me to improve. We built a great student and mentor relationship during my placement. Terri is a great asset to the organisation, and a great role model. I sincerely thank her for her contribution towards my learning & development. Mentors like Terri are precious, she is exceptional. I feel very lucky to have her as a mentor. I have a tremendous amount of faith in myself and my abilities because of Terri’s ongoing encouragement. Staff Member Many congratulations to you and James and all your wonderful team at Vida AND the amazing carers most still with you from the time our lovely Ted was with you. To win this award is very well deserved, we always knew we chose the best when the hospital consultant recommended you. Please send our love to everyone who remembers us, Joanne was so kind to all of us on Ted’s last day. We now drive by Vida Court when we are out and about, another wonderful Vida Home – well done. Family Member
It’s such a comfort to us all knowing how well looked after and cared for Daddy was at Vida Court, I can’t imagine a better place for him to have spent his last few months. The job you and the whole team do there is so crucial for the peace of mind of the families of your residents, the personal approach has been so appreciated during this difficult period of time for our family. I am so pleased that Daddy was with you there, the care and respect has been exemplary and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Family Member I wanted to say how totally grateful we all are for the exemplary and exceptional care you all gave my Father, I can’t express my gratitude enough. Knowing he was so content and loved was more than I could have dreamed of for the last few months of his life, and the support given to me was amazing. I am so glad my sisters were able to witness how wonderful you all are, you are all angels. I am so relieved that he was being cared for, to the end, at Mossman House rather than hospital. Witnessing the respect and care from you all, I know you did everything possible to ensure a pain free and dignified death for my Father. I am grateful to have been able to be with him when he passed, and Dorcus and the wonderful Richmond were so very kind with me. Family Member Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection seems like a good day to say how much I appreciate all of your hard work. The two months Mum has been at Vida Court have made such a difference to her quality of life. Everyone is so kind and caring. Thank you for everything you all do! Family Member
I just love Vida Healthcare, in my opinion, they are the best employer. They create opportunities to progress and their training programmes are just on another level. The Vida Academy is truly endowed with a great team who have vast knowledge and exciting state of the art training techniques which make lessons interesting, fun and memorable. Vida Healthcare is the best! Staff Member We are very happy with the care my brother receives at Vida Grange. The staff who look after him are exceptional. They are kind, caring and always go above and beyond their normal duties. My brother always looks well presented and his mood and demeanour have improved whilst he has been there. We can strongly recommend Vida Grange. Family Member Deciding to place my husband in care has been the worst time and decision of my life, but it has been made so much more bearable by everyone at Vida and I am comforted knowing he is receiving the very best care. From the first day, he has settled in well and the care and support shown to him, and me, overwhelms me. Vida Healthcare really are first class dementia care providers. Family Member
Vida is in a completely different league to all other homes I have visited. Smaller houses within the home make it more intimate and secure for the residents. The quality of staff training and development of their understanding with regards to dementia is amazing. Also, the staff ratio to residents is much higher than most other homes. Food quality is also excellent, nothing is skimped in their service. I cannot speak highly enough of Vida. Family Member I would like to say how very impressed I was with the kindness and the individual care and attention given by the staff to all the residents when I have visited my husband on Victoria House. They are amazing and so patient. Family Member I would like to say that the care my husband is receiving in Harlow Carr is truly excellent and all the staff are kind, caring and professional. I would also like to thank Megan and the Harlow Carr team for all of the help and support they have given me during this awful time, it’s greatly appreciated. Family Member When I was allocated my first student nurse placement, I couldn’t believe I would be going back to where I started my career, 9 years ago in care. Meadow View has to be the best place I have EVER worked. The staff are like family and the residents are treated with such respect, compassion and dignity that it embeds me in the reason I started my nursing career. Staff Member
The staff on Meadow View have guided me through the last 8 weeks and they have taught me so much. Not just on a professional level but a personal level too. They have been supportive and caring and I couldn’t have done it without them. Staff Member He is well cared for, happy, fit and safe. The carers are loving and their expertise is the very best. Vida has given us both a good life together for the past six years with many more to come. Family Member I just want to say how welcomed I have felt at Vida Court and I have already built some lovely bonds with residents and staff! I have loved it so much; I don’t want to leave! I would love to join the bank team on Mossman house as I would love to watch the house grow and continue the bonds with the residents! Staff Member I can’ tell you how wonderful it is to hear how far you go to look after the resident’s wellbeing. It is such a comfort and relief to us all, and seeing my father obviously so content and settled at Vida Court is everything. Family Member I am very grateful for the care and kindness every care assistant has shown my husband. They seem to be an excellent team and a credit to Vida. A standard has been set way above many care homes. We are living in very stressful times and I cannot thank you enough for welcoming my husband and coping so well with his needs. Family Member
The admission process and reception of my father to Mossman House was head and shoulders above what we had experienced before. The communication with me about his admission was great, both professional and courteous. I have been impressed with all staff, all have made the effort to introduce themselves and have been available to chat with me about anything concerning my father and his care. Family Member We found the admissions process simple. This really helped at such a stressful time for mum. So far, every staff member has been superb. Certainty, the staff in Mossman house are, but also Reception, the Maintenance man, well everyone. Nothing is too much trouble and all is with Mum’s best interests at heart. I can’t offer any comments for improvement because so far Vida Court is wonderful. Family Member The whole team at Vida Hall are devoted to the care and wellbeing of residents and also the wellbeing of their families. I truly believe that if we had not moved our mum to Vida Hall when we did, she would not be with us today. The lengths the Vida Hall team go to in providing regular and quality activities to stimulate the minds of residents is above and beyond, they are amazing. Family Member Dad has been at Vida Grange just over two months with virtually no issues, compared to previous homes where we would be getting multiple daily phone calls with issues and problems. Vida Grange really knows how to deal with complex behaviours, they truly understand dementia and the person behind it. Family Member
My Dad is being treated as he deserves, with love and respect. They keep us updated regularly via their Vida app and weekly family meetings. We have no complaints and would recommend them to anyone. We have found no other care home that can come close to them, even with us having to travel 1.5 hours. Family Member From the minute Dad arrived at Vida Grange, where he had two weeks in isolation to moving to Vida Hall, the change in him was astonishing. Dad was alert, happy and clean. The staff have been amazing with him, even though he sometimes can be quite a challenge. More importantly, they have made me feel so welcome, even through these challenging times we are living in. Family Member I am kept well informed of what’s going on and their webinars are a great method of communication. Everyone that works there has been so caring, from the management to the care staff. I would recommend this home to anyone. Dad seems happy in his dementia world and to me, that’s all that matters. Thank you. Family Member
I miss her so much but I am so thankful that she is staying with her Victoria House family - you are all remarkable people and look after her so well. We cannot thank you all enough for all the care, dedication and pure love you show to our mum and all the other residents. Sending much love and respect to you all. Stay safe and take care. Family Member I am writing to you and others in the Vida team to say a huge thank you. With the exceptional care and experience of all the Vida staff his experience there was a positive one. I cannot thank all of you at Vida enough for the care dad received. I will certainly not forget you all and can reflect well on his stay there. Family Member I feel we were always welcomed into the Vida family and we were able to experience first-hand the excellent care and approaches from the staff to residents. It has been quite wonderful to realise how popular my dad was. He certainly had maintained his lovely, humorous, polite personality throughout his condition. All his carers knew him so well as an individual. Please do pass on my thanks to all at Vida. Family Member
Vida has the most relaxed atmosphere where the whole focus is on the wellbeing of each individual resident. Mum is clearly less anxious than prior to moving to Vida and we regularly see her character shining through which melts our hearts. Family Member The staff are truly dedicated, highly experienced in dementia care and care superbly for my mum by keeping her safe, happy and loved during these difficult times. We are regularly updated on mum’s activities, health and wellbeing. We cannot recommend Vida Hall highly enough to other families who are looking for specialist dementia care for their loved one. Family Member Mum settled in well and I put this down to the safe environment of Vida and the love, care and compassion given to her by all staff. Personal care is now less distressing for her due to the dignified, caring way this is addressed by staff. Family Member I just want to send some feedback to you and the team. We’ve been really struggling to engage with Dad on video or through the glass visits since March. We had a video call today with his Carer Scott and it went much better than the last one. It made my heart melt when we managed to get a smile out of him. We were talking about things he does and doesn’t like and I mentioned melon. His eyebrows went up so there was definitely some recognition of a food he hates! I want to give a special thanks to all his Carers who do such an amazing job of looking after him but especially Scott. I’m so grateful to him and everyone at Vida Grange. Thank you. Family Member
To all the staff at Victoria House and Vida Grange, We cannot thank you enough for all your affection, dedication, patience, love, kindness and hard work you all do. Our mum has been in the best possible place with you all during Covid-19. You have all given us a family the most tremendous gift knowing that our mum is in such safe hands with you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you all – sending all our love and hugs for your immense support. Family Member From the moment I reported to the Glades house at Vida Hall for my first placement shift I was made welcome and felt at ease. Each and every staff member greeted me with a smile (from behind their masks) and took time to get to know me. I was amazed at how well the team on the Glades gelled together, I worked a variety of shifts, with different staff and each and every shift had me in awe at how well they ran the house. The staff know the residents so well, every little quirk, preference and icebreaker I was informed of from the get go, such person-centred care was a joy to see! Staff Member Just a short note to say thank you for all that you do to care for mum. It has been really lovely and very reassuring to be able to visit mum in the last few weeks and see how well settled she is and comfortable in her new home. The work you do is very skilled and sadly underappreciated in general. So I just wanted to share my own thanks! Family Member
The house itself (Glades) requires stamina and a can-do attitude because the residents have such high dependency needs, and the staff remain so positive and driven despite being physically exhausted at times. I have so much respect for each and every one of them, I’ve worked on many nursing houses throughout my career and can honestly hand on heart say I’ve never worked on one that provides the level of care that the team on Glades do, you are all super heroes in my eyes, absolutely amazing human beings. The residents are so lucky to live on such a lovely house and be looked after with such expertise – that’s why I’ve decided to stay, despite my placement ending! Staff Member Many thanks to everyone at Vida Grange for looking after my relative so well, and especially at Easter, when I know you must all have your own family commitments. I’ve visited in Regent three times now and Marie has seemed so settled, taking it all in her stride and hardly commenting on the surroundings, PPE etc. It’s been a real pleasure to have her company on these visits and to see her so relaxed and un-agitated, and talking happily to both me and the carers who staff Regent and those who bring her down from Waterside. I know she won’t always be like this on every visit, but when she is, it’s a gift. It’s due to the staff on Waterside in particular that so much of the anxiety and stress is taken out of both Marie’s situation and my own – they truly are the best of humanity, and I don’t know where you find them, but hang onto them, they’re gold dust. I know that’s because she’s cared for, loved, not treated or spoken to as somebody with reduced mental capacity, and is valued for who she is, and I couldn’t wish for her to be better looked after. I won’t ever be able to thank you all enough. Happy Easter, JG. Family Member
To all the staff on Harlow Carr, I wish to say a big thank you to you all for helping us celebrate our Blue Sapphire anniversary. The way you look after my wife is wonderful, I appreciate all the love you give her. You are wonderful people. Family Member For me the admissions process was fine, there were issues but not related to Vida, they followed up and supported me in trying to admit mum as quickly as possible. Family Member I had such a lovely time with Peter yesterday (our 40th wedding anniversary). The staff on Victoria and in the kitchen were so very kind and had put in so much effort to make our day special. I was really moved by all the love and care they showed; the thoughtful gifts, the decorations, the cake and ‘bubbles’. I think that Sharron in particular organised a lot of it and worked so hard to keep Peter happy on the day. I honestly cannot thank them enough or find the words to say how very grateful I am. To be honest I had been dreading the day - but instead it has turned into one of the happiest memories thanks to Sharron, Toni and all. Thank you all so much. Family Member
Vida Grange 01423 788770 [email protected] Vida Hall 01423 885702 [email protected] Vida Court 01423 276400 [email protected] www.vidahealthcare.co.uk www.vidahealthcare.co.uk/testimonials Vida Healthcare, the UKs leader in dementia care
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