National Care Home Open Day – the photos are in!

If you’re one of the hundreds of people who took time out last Friday 20 June to support National Care Home Open Day – thank you and well done!

We hope you had a ball… our Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe, certainly did.

Andrea said: “Nothing beats going in and visiting your local care home to get a true reflection about what life is like – and what great care can look like.

“This year’s National Care Home Open Day was a tremendous occasion for homes across the country to make those connections with local communities and show off all of the terrific work, excellent management and open cultures that we expect to see organisations providing day in, day out.

“Along with more than 250 of our inspectors and staff who were out and about supporting the day, I had an absolute ball visiting three care homes, joining in some really fun activities, speaking to as many people as I could and learning about some pretty terrific life stories.

“Making sure services are delivered in a way that are safe, caring, effective, responsive and well-led is not a one-off occasion. It is embedded in the every-day.

“As we move forward in our new approach to transforming the way we inspect and regulate Adult Social Care, our focus remains on encouraging organisations to be the best they can be by being clear in our expectations, working together on robust improvement plans, celebrating success and taking action when necessary.

“I’d like to thank everyone – residents, relatives, staff and providers – who did their bit to make this year’s National Care Home Open Day a special one.

“See you next year!”

What our staff had to say about their visits...

"Residents and carers were all very positive about the home and care and couldn’t praise the staff enough and felt that this was a fantastic unit that really cared for people and allowed them to have their belongings with them and always had plenty to do."

Karen Brown, Compliance Inspector, about her visit to Norton House in London.

"The care home I went to invited some children from a local school and we all took part in a big Mexican wave, this was followed by lunch with food from the different countries of people connected with the care home. This was an interesting day with local and national links, which everyone enjoyed. It was a brilliant opportunity to share what CQC does, how people can share their views with CQC and how people can access our reports."

Anna Gleadell, Inspector, Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care about her visit to Thornbank in Ipswich.

"This was a splendid event that brought fun and good cheer to a busy care home in an urban environment. The home had a barbecue, visitor tours and a jazz band as well as various other outdoor activities. It was a pleasure to go along to this home and see everyone having so much fun."

Rakesh Vasishthan, Public Engagement and Involvement, about his visit to Silk Court in Bethnal Green.

"Today I felt very proud to be part of an organisation that is able to make a difference for people who live in care homes in the area in which I live."

Brian Silk, Internal Engagement Manager, about his visit to two homes: Homeleigh in Erith and Adelaide in Bexleyheath.