7 Dec 2023 Community

Hartshead Manor Care home raises funds for The Kirkwood

One of the amazing services we offer as a charity is to work collaboratively with hundreds of care homes across Kirklees. We provide support and training to care home staff and aid them to better understand how to care for people with a life limiting illness. Two of The Kirkwood’s Clinical Nurse Specialists, Debs Hanson and Rosemary Holland are at the forefront of that support and training, and they have really made a huge difference to those residents’ lives. 

One home that we support is Hartshead Manor care home, the staff there have been incredibly diligent in their learning process and have recently achieved a certificate for their training in our End OF Life Champions course that we run. 

The home has recently raised some funds for The Kirkwood by selling sweets in to it’s residents over the Halloween period and they are now doing the same over the Christmas period. 

Home manager Christine Matthews said of the relationship between The Kirkwood and Hartshead Manor care home: “I'm the home manager and I believe we have a good relationship with The Kirkwood team. We've recently done the End of Life Champions course and succeeded in it which is brilliant. Without the help from The Kirkwood team, particularly Debs Hanson and Rosemary Holland then I don’t know how we would have completed it. I think the residents find the service invaluable and that’s the main thing. 

“Our staff gets lots from it too, because The Kirkwood team give a lot of advice and help with understanding end of life care and the best practices and processes to go through when talking about difficult topics. 

“The Kirkwood’s support is in the best interests of our residents, it’s great that we have these partnerships with other healthcare professionals because it's joint care. It's not just us making decisions or providing the care, it is important we get that expert help too. 

“Due to the training, we can now highlight when we feel someone needs end of life care. We can plan and make an advanced care plan for that person and then we liaise with The Kirkwood team in what to do next. So, our residents have the best journey through to the end of their lives. 

“The training has given my whole team confidence and I know I don’t have to be in the building if a situation arises, I know my staff can deal with whatever comes up. 

“I think having a named nurse liked Debs who is our named nurse is great because everyone gets used to her when she comes in. Debs is good at her job and someone we really value talking to.”

Hartshead Manor Care Home activity co-ordinators Louse and Alison were delighted to help raise some money for The Kirkwood by organisng selling sweets to the residents which raised over £100 for the charity. 

Louise said: “The Kirkwood does a lot for us as staff and our residents and so we wanted to give something back. We came up with the idea of selling sweets at Halloween and at Christmas and thankfully everyone got right behind it which was great to see.”

Alison added: “The Kirkwood are a vital resource in the Kirklees area helping hundreds of families and it’s really comforting to know that we could give something back to what is a brilliant organisation. I am proud to be part of what we have raised so far and I’m looking forward to raising more in the future.”

Thanks once again to all the staff and residents at Hartshead Manor Care home and we enjoy working with you.