e1204ce6a9c344509561ee7e6f86a42c

Eastbourne Choral Society

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 12:13:28 GMT

~ Eastbourne Choral Society Concert ~

The Eastbourne Choral Society will be performing with a live orchestra and soloists at All Saints' Church on Saturday 23rd March 2024.

Members of the choir performed carols at our Christmas Party last year, making it extra special for our residents and relatives.

Please support our Friends of Palm Court and enjoy what promises to be a captivating concert. Tickets are £20 each but if you buy them at the door and give the code "Palm Court Nursing Home", the Choral Society have given us £5 discount and we will only charge £15.

The Eastbourne Choral Society at Palm Court Christmas Party

Residents, relatives and staff joined in with choir

Guest of Honour - The Mayor of Eastbourne, Cllr Candy Vaughan

Palm Court Christmas Party 2023

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:39:33 GMT

Palm Court Christmas Party

Carols performed by The Eastbourne Choral Society

Friday 8th December 2023

Led by Home Manager Saad Baichoo, we had a fantastic afternoon getting into the festive spirit with carols performed by The Eastbourne Choral Society, with ou r special guest, Mayor of Eastbourne, Cllr Candy Vaughan.

It was great to welcome back the choir who sang beautiful renditions of Silent Night and Away in a Manger that created a Church Service experience in the home, with everyone joining in to sing O Come All Ye Faithful and Once in Royal David's City.

The Mayor of Eastbourne stood up and gave a few words after the last carol was sung, and took time to speak to residents and relatives during the party. We were delighted to have Mayor Vaughan as our special guest, who is the third Mayor to attend Palm Court's Christmas Party.

In our Compliments Book, Mayor Vaughan wrote:

"It has been a pleasure to come and visit your lovely home. The Carol Concert was great and speaking and listening to some of your residents was a joy. Thank you for the invitation. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Relatives who came to the party also wrote in our book. For example the daughter of a husband and wife who are both residents at Palm Court:

"Mum and Dad enjoyed the spread. The effort was much appreciated. Mum sang along to the choir! Thank you for taking the time to make it Christmas for them."

Residents, relatives and staff and all 16 members of the choir enjoyed party food and nibbles prepared by our fabulous team.

It was a great effort from everyone to help to mark a special time of year for our residents, surrounded by friends and family.

The Eastbourne Choral Society at Palm Court Christmas Party

Residents, relatives and staff joined in with choir

Burch Lounge, Palm Court Nursing Home

Thank you for all your messages!

“This has been a wonderful afternoon. All thanks to everyone including the Choir. Such a magical time of year, knowing my Dad is so well looked after makes me feel very happy. Thank you everyone, Happy Christmas. "

Ali, Daughter of Resident

8th December 2023

“A wonderful & excellent afternoon. Thank you to all the staff, the singing was superb and food excellent. Happy Christmas xxx”

David, Husband of Resident

8th December 2023

“Thank you all staff for a lovely afternoon, the singing has put me in the Christmas mood. The food was excellent, enjoyed the chocolate cake. Thank you again for everything. "

Linda, Wife of Resident

8th December 2023

“Dad woke to lots of people and choir singing which he, myself and brother enjoyed. Nice spread. Thank you for always giving your care, much appreciated. Ho! Ho! Ho! ”

Diane,Daughter of Resident

8th December 2023

“Thank you on behalf of the Eastbourne Choral Society for a wonderful celebration. It was a privilege to sing for you ”

Eastbourne Choral Society

8th December 2023

“Thanks for the lovely carol singing and spread. The food was wonderful!”

Jane, Daughter of Resident

8th December 2023

“Friendly & helpful staff. An enjoyable afternoon. All so clean and bright!. "

Alan, Choir Member

8th December 2023

“Lovely afternoon, fabulous choir, lovely & festive. Plentiful buffet. Well done!! "

Paul, Son of Resident

8th December 2023

Celebrating Halloween

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 19:12:22 GMT

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkins, cup cakes and piñatas!

We had a fantastic day celebrating Halloween.

All the staff got into the spooky spirit with fun face paints and Halloween costumes.

Residents took part in our pumpkin carving activity and some had a go at the skull piñata and won chocolates!

Everyone enjoyed home-made Halloween-themed cup cakes and gingerbread biscuits.

World Alzheimer's Day

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 21:26:50 GMT

World Alzheimer's Day Bake Sale

To raise and awareness and celebrate World Alzheimer’s Day, Palm Court Nursing Home held a charity bake sale, inviting staff and relatives to Bake for Dementia in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.

In addition to the fantastic array of cupcakes and desserts, led by the Registered Manager Amina Whitehouse, staff dressed in blue – the signature colour of the Alzheimer’s Society, and decorated the home with powder blue balloons and the main entrance gates.

Residents also joined in the fun by painting Forget Me Not flowers with Palm Court’s Well-Being Co-Ordinator and Activities Lead Marilyn Ferreira da Silva. The paintings were hung on a string of ribbon creating a striking banner that served as a great backdrop for the Bake Sale stand in front of the home.

There was a great atmosphere connecting with the local community – passers-by, students from Park College, and parents with their children from St Thomas a Beckett School waiting for the bus were interested to know more about World Alzheimer’s Day as they donated money and gave a thumbs up for the tasty cakes.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, dementia is one of the biggest global challenges we face - with nearly 50 million people living with dementia worldwide. To tackle this international dementia challenge, the charity says we need to work together and share best practice with one another.

To raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and the dementia care we give at Palm Court, we organised a special talk for staff and visitors using the Forget Me Not flower to illustrate the Tom Kitwood Approach - the six fundamental psychological and social needs that must be remembered when caring for and supporting people with dementia – love, comfort, inclusion, identity, occupation and attachment.

The use of our STEP Approach developed by Palm Court to promote social interaction was also explained.

Relatives who attended found the talk “very informative” and one in particular wrote that it was “very interesting to learn about the fundamentals of dementia care. Thank you.”

With a great mix of team spirit, togetherness and a grand total of £125.53 raised, it was a lovely afternoon enjoyed by all.

Thank you to all the staff for their efforts and to everyone who came to celebrate World Alzheimer's Day and for your generous donations in aid of the Alzheimer's Society.

Bake for Dementia

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 10:59:26 GMT

Bake for Dementia

Calling all staff, relatives and Friends of Palm Court to bake for Dementia.

We're raising money for the Alzheimer's Society to celebrate World Dementia Day on Wednesday 21st September.

Bake your best batch and join us for our Charity Bake Sale @ 3pm

For more information on World Alzheimer's Day, visit alzheimers.org.uk

Thumbs up for England!

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 10:18:48 GMT

Thumbs up for England!

Palm Court has been supporting England throughout the Euros, all the way to the Final! Everyone is excited to cheer on the team, giving a big thumbs up!!

Come on England!

Palm Court has been supporting England throughout throughout the Euros, all the way to the Final! Everyone is excited to cheer on the team, giving a big thumbs up!! Come on England!

Father's Day Celebrations

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 12:00:37 GMT

Father's Day at Palm Court

The residents had a wonderful time celebrating Father's Day.

Marilyn, our dedicated Well-Being Co-Ordinator and all the staff made all the Dads feel great, even with fun stickers on their doors.

Happy Father's Day!

Opening Doors to Celebrate Together

Tue, 25 May 2021 11:18:34 GMT

Opening Doors to Celebrate Together

Since the easing of UK Government restrictions allowing indoor contact visits, and most recently each resident in a care home setting to have up to five regular visitors, Palm Court have been able to bring families together for lots of celebrations.

The 15th May was the United Nations International Day of Families and we invited relatives over for lunch to join in the celebrations with a bit of one-on-one time with their loved ones with some sandwiches and cake!

We were also able to arrange birthday celebrations for Dorothy and Dee. Happy Birthday Dorothy! Parabens Feliz Aniversario Dee!

Thank you to our fantastic team for organising and making the food that gave so much enjoyment to the residents and their relatives. We will be holding more events as the weather improves and will be putting up a calendar of events on the website for everyone to look forward to - and welcome any suggestions too!

Smelling of Summer!

Wed, 12 May 2021 09:47:48 GMT

Getting ready for Summer Veggies

Henry, Bessie, Joan and Jean have been enjoying our Gardening Club with Well-Being Co-Ordinator Marilyn planting beetroot, radishes, bell peppers, lettuce and strawberries. They also planted some mint and sage, which smelt so good! Marilyn also gave other residents the opportunity to do some planting indoors from the comfort of their own chairs.

As restrictions ease, with residents being allowed up to 5 visitors from Monday 17th May, we can't wait to invite you all for events over the next few months!

Happy Easter!

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 09:34:33 GMT

Happy Easter!

We have been preparing for Easter celebrations with a creative egg painting activity, which the residents had a lot of fun doing. We also did some hat decorating and baked fairy cakes.

Spring has most definitely sprung - and with the fantastic weather we have been having, it felt like Summer. We had a lovely time in the garden sitting in the sun with a cooling ice lolly. It was great to get some natural Vitamin D!

From all of us at Palm Court, we wish you a Happy Easter!

Mothering Sunday

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:19:15 GMT

Mother's Day at Palm Court

The residents had a wonderful time celebrating Mother's Day with relaxing beauty treatments and manicures. Some received beautiful flowers from relatives that matched their nail polish!

Our Well-Being Co-Ordinator Marilyn made Happy Mother's Day badges and our cook Warren made the most delicious scones!

Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 17:08:41 GMT

Celebrating Valentine's Day

We wanted to share some lovely moments from our Valentine's Day celebrations last week. Freshly baked heart-shaped cookies were put into little goodie bags and staff handed them out to all the residents wishing them a Happy Valentine's. A great idea from our Well-being Co-Ordinator Marilyn to make Valentine's extra special with having something to open and tasty to eat!

The smiles say it all. Have a great weekend!

Snow and Love is in the Air

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 14:56:04 GMT

Snow and Love is in the Air

The recent snowfall brought smiles and perhaps a silver lining to the current lockdown restrictions, where our residents Helen and Dorothy enjoyed making a Snow 'woman' in the garden with our Well-Being Co-Cordinator Marilyn and Senior Carer Rebecca, using twigs, leaves & bark found in our orchard.

We are also busy preparing for Valentine's Day on Friday. We have activities planned including discussing how Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world with different traditions, and a Valentine-themed crossword. We'll also be baking heart-shaped cookies and decorating everyone's rooms with red hearts and roses. Please let us know if you would like us to make any special arrangements or book a video-call.

Visitor Pod Opens

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 16:12:43 GMT

Visitor Pod Opens

We are delighted to announce that Palm Court has opened a Visitor Pod offering our wonderful service users and their loved ones a totally separate, safe, contactless and infection-free space in which they can meet in person. No more looking and waving through windows from the outside.

Our Visitor Pod can be accessed from the street and has its own entrance, with a small gate and pathway. We are offering a Morning Pod between 10:30 am and 12pm; and an Afternoon Pod between 2pm and 4pm. To find out more about our Visitor Pod Protocol and to book your visit, please follow the link below:

Thank you for all your continued co-operation and support during these last few months when we stopped our socially-distanced garden visits and went into an early second Lockdown in September.

We have continued to help our residents stay connected with their families with regular updates and video calls but nothing beats meeting face-to-face. The team and I are so pleased that we could make this happen for our residents and their families. The Pod really has brought a ray of sunshine to our service users.

Best wishes,

Shaina

Festive Fun & Lockdown Visits

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 11:11:31 GMT

Festive Fun & Lockdown Visits

Welcome to the Manager's Blog! This is the place where you can get updates and information about how everyone at Palm Court is doing, especially now that we are in a National Lockdown until 2nd December. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you also want to share any news.

What an incredible year it has already been - I cannot believe that Christmas is not so far away and there's nothing quite like a good old Halloween party to get into the festive spirit!

Even though it was a very different picture last year with friends and relatives dancing in between having some lovely food, this year's party was a lot of fun too - with an impressive spread for all the residents and staff.

A big thank you to our Activities Co-Ordinator Cheron (pictured right with Engagement Team Leader Roxana) for organising such a great party. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween and enjoyed Bonfire Night.

L-R: Roxana & Cheron, Party Food, Joyce, Halloween display, more food!

Now that we are in a National Lockdown and the UK Government has updated its guidance on visiting arrangements in care homes , we want to reassure you that we are working on a new Visiting Policy to make it possible for residents to safely receive visitors during this period of national restrictions and will be sending out details very soon about our new Visitor Pod and when we can start accepting bookings.

As you know, we made the decision to go into an early second Lockdown on 24th September as a precaution to safeguard the residents as we monitored updates on the rising COVID-19 cases in the UK.

My staff and I continue to do everything we can to protect our Well-Being Community of service users, taking guidance from DHSC, Public Health England, CQC newsletters & working closely with the local council.

The Home has also adopted QCS - Quality Compliance System to manage our policies and procedures, which also has a COVID-19 hub that ensures all our policies are kept up to date with current Government guidelines.

We are also using the QCS COVID-19 Visitor Tracker which asks visitors to complete an online questionnaire by scanning a QR Code using their mobile phones in order to determine if they are cleared to enter the premises.

For now, only GPs and other health professionals are required to use the tracker upon arrival. Once cleared to enter, visitors must wear full PPE and have their temperatures checked. All staff returning from being off-sick or on Annual Leave must use the QCS Covid-19 tracker.

Click here to view just an example of the poster currently displayed on the front doors of the Main Entrance and Staff Entrance.

I am pleased to officially announce that Andy Norman has been appointed as our first Deputy Manager. Some of you may have already spoken to Andy and got to know him a little bit over the phone. Andy is a Registered Nurse with more than 35 years experience in the Healthcare Sector and also oversees Staff Training and Development at Palm Court.

Andy is also our Designated Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Lead to monitor the IPC measures in place in the home and to ensure any updates are communicated to all staff, carrying out any necessary mirco-training sessions. Andy is in charge of all the COVID-19 tests for staff (weekly) and residents (monthly), and has specialist training in administering flu vaccinations.

We continue to keep a relaxed and sociable atmosphere as much as possible, whilst observing 2m social distancing between residents. Our daily activities continue to take place indoors and during good weather, in the gardens and courtyard. Please feel free to suggest ideas or send any material that you think our residents will enjoy (that can be easily disinfected after use).

Please continue to book video calls via Zoom, FaceTime or What's App and we can arrange a quiet space in the home or in the rooms for the call.

It was also Enid's birthday on 30th October - she celebrated her 86th and was given a bouquet of flowers ..and a kiss from her husband Henry, who is also one of our residents here at Palm Court.

Since the start of the Pandemic until now, we have not had any symptoms, confirmed cases or deaths due to COVID-19. I am very proud of my team and the way they have worked and supported me - and each other.

I would like to thank my team and the Provider for coming together as one big family during these unprecedented times. If I am the Captain of the ship, then the staff are my sailors and I have full faith that we can weather any storm.

A big thank you to all the relatives who have been incredibly understanding and supportive – I am so aware that it is difficult not being able to spend time with your loved ones at Palm Court but rest assured - they are comfortable, safe and in good spirits and will hopefully be able to facilitate visits very soon.

Best wishes,
Shaina