Care group launches community outreach initiative
A family-run care group is launching a community-based outreach initiative aimed at supporting elderly and vulnerable people who will be particularly at risk during the upcoming period of severe weather.
With the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issuing an amber alert for social care in England and warning of a rise in deaths, Constantia Healthcare is taking action to protect people in the communities where it has homes.
It is reaching out to GP practices, social workers, and other community-based organisations to identify 45 people (five in each area where it has homes) who may face life-threatening conditions over the next seven days.
Once identified, these people will be visited by members of staff at each of Constantia Healthcare’s nine homes in Middlesbrough (3 homes), Bedale, York, Dewsbury, Batley, Blackburn, and Rossendale.
Staff will supply meals cooked by the home’s chefs, heat-retaining blankets, a £10 prepaid electric meter top-up card/key, and spend time checking on the health and wellbeing of the individual.
Constantia Healthcare Chief Operating Officer Emily Whitehurst said: “This initiative is about much more than delivering meals; it’s about offering hope, warmth, and human connection to those who need it most, particularly during the forecasted period of poor weather.
“In an ideal world, we would support more than five people from each home of our homes, but we want to focus on the most vulnerable and at risk and ensure the support we do provide is potentially lifesaving.
“This aligns with our core values and our ‘where people matter’ philosophy which underpins everything we strive to do as a company providing high quality care in our communities.”
In the last five years, Constantia Healthcare has grown from operating two homes in Middlesbrough (Roseleigh and Longlands) to nine homes, the others being Lilibet Manor in Rossendale, Middlesbrough Grange, Manor Croft in Dewsbury, Linson Court in Batley, The Millings in Bedale and St John’s House in Kirk Hammerton, near York.
Across its nine homes, the company now provides residential, nursing, and complex care (at Lilibet Manor) for 391 people and employs over 500 members of staff.