Over the past six months, Gracewell Healthcare has focused tirelessly on protecting the safety of our residents and team members from Covid-19. To the credit of our care homes, we have been successful at mitigating the impact of this virus on our care homes through the heroic efforts displayed by our team members as well as residents and relatives. However, with cases again on the rise across the UK, we’re continuing to keep in place our rigorous infection prevention control measures to ensure our care homes are safe this winter. Here, we discuss some of the measures we have put in place to en ..read more

Gracewell Healthcare has been named as the winners of the ‘Most Motivational Benefits’ award at this year’s Employee Benefits Awards. The win marks the second time Gracewell has had success at the Employee Benefits Awards after first winning the award in 2017. The care provider secured the prize in recognition for their annual Heart & Soul Awards which show appreciation to their team members who go above and beyond for the care provider’s residents. These awards culminate at a summer event where selected winners are invited to attend a glittering ceremony with their Manager or Regional Dir ..read more

On 18th and 19th October, Gracewell of Newbury hosted celebrations for Pam Yeomans’s 95th birthday. Pam’s birthday coincided with the care home’s 4th anniversary, so residents and team members had a busy day celebrating. Pam Yeomans moved to Gracewell of Newbury in 2017, she was born in Bath and married a farmer. She used to enjoy getting up early to milk the cows and feed the chickens and the pigs. Pam has two children, five granddaughters and one great grandson. At Gracewell of Newbury, Pam loves to help out with gardening and setting up decorations for events, parties and activities. She lo ..read more

In April, Gracewell of Church Crookham witnessed an outbreak of Covid-19 which resulted in a number of residents isolating in a separate household. Here, Douglas Burridge, an 85-year-old resident at the care home, shares his story of being one of those residents who faced this period of isolation. Humorously named “The Dorchester Quarantine Zone”, Douglas was one of the residents who spent four weeks living in Gracewell of Church Crookham’s Covid-19 household after showing symptoms of the virus. While in this zone, all team members who cared for these residents wore full PPE and disposed of th ..read more

Gracewell of Salisbury care home has been named as a finalist in the ‘Team’ category at this year’s Care Heroes Awards. The care home was shortlisted for the prestigious award, which is organised by Care Home Professional Magazine, in recognition of their heroic efforts to protect their residents during the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the initial outbreak of the virus, the Gracewell of Salisbury team banded together to ensure that their residents continued to receive high quality care. This included taking on additional shifts when their fellow team members had to isolate at home after they o ..read more

Gracewell of Bookham hosted their annual Heart and Soul Awards on Friday 16th October. The Awards are part of a company-wide employee benefit scheme that helps to reward team members that go above and beyond to care for residents. The event would normally take place at an external venue, organised by Gracewell Healthcare to celebrate team members from all the Gracewell homes. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, Gracewell of Bookham hosted their own awards ceremony at the home, that residents and team members were able to attend. The morning started with some delicate music from a local harp ..read more

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gracewell Healthcare has hired a new Head of Talent Acquisition, Glenn Milton. Joining at an unprecedented time for the social care sector, we spoke to Glenn about his background in social care recruitment, his decision to join Gracewell, and the responsibilities in his new role. With an esteemed background in social care recruitment, Glenn joined Gracewell in August 2020 after working for Care UK, one of the country’s largest care home providers. In this role, Glenn was responsible for sourcing and welcoming a huge volume of candidates into Care ..read more

Gracewell Healthcare have been shortlisted for the Best Pay and Bonus Strategy award at this year’s Employee Benefits Awards. The care provider, who specialises in providing luxury and personalised care to their residents, were shortlisted for this award in recognition of their commitment to deliver industry-leading employee benefits and support. The Employee Benefits Awards panel were impressed by Gracewell’s efforts to ensure pay rates are fairly aligned across the whole organisation and to recognise the contribution of each team member. Driven by a #AllInOneTeam work ethic, Gracewell has be ..read more

Gracewell Healthcare have continued their commitment to develop the professional skills of team members in partnership with Paragon Skills, a leading UK Apprenticeship training provider. The care provider, who pride themselves on delivering high-quality personalised care to residents, see supporting the development of their staff as central to the future growth of team members and of the organisation. Importantly, the benefits of their upskilled workforce are passed onto residents, ensuring they can deliver industry leading levels of care across each of their care homes. With so many demands a ..read more

By Anna Selby, Regional Director of Operations and Head of the Covid-19 task force, at Gracewell Healthcare Over the last six months, care homes and the social care sector have acted as one of the most challenging frontlines against Covid-19. And while most of our attention has rightly been paid to preventing the virus from entering these settings, the effect of these prevention measures is now becoming increasingly clear. Undeniably, the immensely effective action of limiting contact between care home residents and those from outside, including with their family members, has taken a toll on t ..read more