Care Home Training

From the initial interview through to our care staff training and ongoing development, our guiding principles are what define our staff – and through our robust talent acquisition strategy, B&M Care continues to instil the highest standards of person-centred practice in those who deliver our service.

Care Home Staff Training

Staff training is an important part of both compliance and personal development, and with this comes B&M Care’s commitment to instilling relevant learning across all levels of our business.

Each member of staff that is new to our homes undertakes a 12-week induction programme comprising of both mandatory and statutory training. The first week is dedicated to learning about the theory behind the concept of delivering safe, dignified and highly-personalised care. The remaining 11 weeks look at applying this learning within a care home setting, developing a deeper understanding around day-to-day care practice.

Induction modules include:

• Health and Safety
  
• Food Safety and Hygiene
  
• Infection Prevention and Control
  
• Manual Handling
  
• Safeguarding
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights

Beyond this core learning, B&M Care strives to empower our staff through the knowledge, skills and the confidence needed to fulfil their duties whilst demonstrating a safe and quality service. All training is reflective of statutory guidance, industry standards, and B&M Care’s self-governance – each of which aims to strengthen our service and exceed the expectations of those receiving our care.

Training in B&M Care’s Rose Model of Dementia Care

B&M Care’s Rose Model of Dementia Care is our unique model of care that advocates best practice in each of our homes. Taught alongside an individual’s induction and refresher training, this studies-based programme aims to primarily enhance dementia care practice by fostering vocational learning around the principles of person-centred care.

The Rose Model of Dementia Care is taught using six key indicators:

• Individuality: working with families to understand a person’s life history to create a holistic care plan that values an individual for their unique qualities, rather than their ability or medical capacity.

• Empowering: acting in the person’s best interests to encourage an individual’s autonomy, independence, and opportunity to make day-to-day decisions.

• Engagement: learning about an individual’s past to provide bespoke care and engagement that is unique to them.

• Flourishing: maintaining an individual’s interests to give them an identity and the confidence to retain as much control over their lives as possible.

• Compassion: impressing dignity, respect and a sense of self-worth on an individual to better support them maintain an enabling lifestyle.

• Wellbeing: taking into account an individual’s biographical, biological, psychological and social background to better engage them in meaningful occupation.
  

The objective of this training is to instil a highly-personalised approach that supports a bespoke standard of care – one that is unique to the individual receiving the service.

B&M Care’s Leadership Pathway

With the aim of recognising potential and celebrating internal success, 2015 saw B&M Care launch the group’s Leadership Pathway: an innovative, in-house development programme that accelerates an indvidual’s knowledge and skillset to lead and inspire a high-performance team.

Inducting on an annual basis, the 10-month course – typically running from January through to October – broadens an individual’s acumen across all areas of the business.

Topics include:

• Customer Service (Enquirer-Focused)
  
• Finance
  
• Leadership
  
• Sales & Marketing
• Strategy

A distinctive feature of the programme is the course’s ‘Leadership Challenge’, a dedicated project designed to maximise a participant’s ability by immersing them within a scenario that reflects aspects and themes of the course’s curriculum. Previous challenges have included: organising a recruitment event in the local community; delivering a dementia-friendly stage production; and even recording a radio advert.

B&M Care’s Leadership Pathway has so far cultivated 11 Home Managers and one Operations Manager. The programme is open to any existing member of staff in a senior care assistant role or above.

Virtual Dementia Tour

With a group-wide philosophy that looks beyond traditional classroom-based teaching, Second Wind Dreams® Virtual Dementia Tour® is an experiential piece of training that B&M Care uses to compliment our staff’s in-house training.

Launched in the UK in 2016 at Ashlyns Care Home in Berkhamsted in partnership with care training specialists Training 2 Care, the Virtual Dementia Tour® is a ground-breaking, evidence-based experience that builds greater understanding around dementia. The tour uses a selection of patented sensory tools and instructions based on research carried out by P.K. Beville, M.S. – the founder of Second Wind Dreams® who operates in America as a specialist in geriatrics. Taking part in the tour enables staff to experience first-hand the physical and cognitive challenges those living with a dementia face. Over time, our team then use the experience to provide quality-centric person-centred care.

A Learning Opportunity for the Wider Community

In partnership with Training 2 Care, B&M Care also makes the Virtual Dementia Tour® available to the communities that each of our homes operate in. This opportunity is presented as part of the group’s ongoing commitment to breaking down the stigmas associated with dementia, and to encourage further understanding to cultivate what has been coined a “dementia-friendly community”.

Find Out More

Contact us today to find out more about our staff training, or visit our B&M Care Careers Portal to view all current career opportunities.