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From YouTube: CQC Connect: Care at Christmas - Episode 2
Description
Even at the darkest times during the pandemic people have come together to support others, help their local communities, and care for those who need it.
In this episode of CQC Connect, the podcast from the Care Quality Commission, we speak to two providers of adult social care, who share their experiences of working through the pandemic and discuss how they're making Christmas special for those they care for.
Listen to more podcasts from the CQC: https://soundcloud.com/carequalitycommission
Find out more information about the CQC and how it regulates health and social care in England: https://www.cqc.org.uk/
A
B
My
name's,
obviously
danielle
bullon-
I
am
the
registered
manager
at
laurel-
lodge
care
home
in
norwich,
so
lava
lodge
is
part
of
the
black
swan
head
route.
We
have
20
homes
throughout
the
east
of
england
and
lava
lodge
specifically
is
a
residential
home
that
can
cater
for
up
to
32
residents.
So
myself,
I
have
actually
been
in
the
care
industry
since
I
was
17.
B
So
that's
17
years
now,
and
actually
there
isn't
anything
else
that
I
would
like
to
do
or
want
to
do.
Social
care
is
my
passion.
It
is
my
life
and
I
just
absolutely
love
every
single
piece
about
it.
So
I
I've
been
with
black
swan
for
three
and
a
half
years
now,
and
I've
been
the
manager
at
lavalodge
since
october
2019.
B
A
C
My
background,
I'm
actually
a
nurse
myself
and
up
until
january
this
year
I
was
a
registered
manager
and
have
been
for
12
years
and
I've
owned
it
for
13
years.
In
this
january,
coming
my
passion
started
at
the
age
of
13.
When
I
started
working
in
nursing
homes
in
those
days
you
could
and
then
I
went
on
to
do
my
nurses,
training
and
worked
my
way
up
quite
quickly
in
the
hospital
to
be
a
ward
sister
or
a
matron.
And
then
I
went
into
nhs
management.
C
A
That's
amazing,
so
we've
got
such
interesting
experiences
for
both
of
you
to
bring
into
our
conversation
today,
I'd
just
like
to
start
by
asking
danielle.
If
you
could
maybe
talk
to
us
about
how
you
found
managing
a
care
home
during
the
pandemic
and
how
you've
tried
to
make
this
mission
for
the
people
you
care
for,
while
dealing
with
such
pressure,
yeah.
B
B
Our
residents
are
our
family,
so
we
treat
them
as
everybody
should
like.
They
are
our
nannies,
our
granddads,
our
parents
and
some
of
the
wonderful
things
that
have
happened
since
the
pandemic
is
that
it's
brought
everybody
together
that
little
bit
closer,
so
we
were
already
a
close-knit
home,
but
since
then
we
are
having
to
spend
more
time
just
us,
which
is
actually
really
really
wonderful.
You
know
we
pride
ourselves
on
the
care
that
we
deliver
very
person-centred.
B
B
We
got
their
family
involved.
You
know
the
staff
came
in
on
their
days
off.
We
took
them
a
lovely
meal,
we
decorated
the
room,
we
had
staff
playing
music
because
I've
got
you
know
some
multi-talented
staff
that
can
sing
and
come
play
guitar
and
their
piano.
It
was
just
so
wonderful
and
the
the
media
coverage,
for
that
was
just
phenomenal.
I
mean
they
have
family
in
australia.
You
know
it
was
right
across
the
world
yeah.
These
things
are
just
so
important
just
because
they
can't
go
out
to
a
restaurant
and
have
a
date
night.
B
B
A
couple
of
days
before
which
I
made
up
on
the
computer,
and
they
said
oh
okay,
but
that
their
faces
were
that
it
was
just
absolutely
priceless
and
actually
it
felt
like
it
was
just
them
in
the
room
and
it,
although
it
was
in
the
dining
room
in
a
care
home,
you
would
never
know
if
somebody
would
have
walked
in.
You
would
not
have
been
able
to
tell
the
difference.
It
was
so
special
and
so
much,
and
I
think
that
they
will
treasure
that
memory
for
a
very
long
time.
B
Yeah
I
mean
we
do
a
lot
of
you
know
special
things
which
you
know
every
care
home
should
and
we
you
know
we
have
a
lot
of
memory
books
and
you
know
pictures
and
whatever
else
up
in
the
home,
so
everybody
can
see
what
we
do.
Just
recently,
we
lost
a
resident,
but
I
nominated
one
of
my
staff
members
for
an
outstanding
contribution
award
for
his
person-centeredness
and
the
way
he
involved
the
family
and
the
support
that
he
gave
them.
B
He
actually
wished
for
a
signed
wolf
for
hampton
shirt
and
through
the
power
of
social
media.
We
were
able
to
get
him
that
shirt
and
much
much
more
and
that
that
just
goes
to
show.
You
know
the
wonderful
things
that
staff
will
will
do
and
the
lengths
they
will
go
to
to
to
fulfill
somebody's
last
wish.
It's
just
truly
remarkable.
Well,.
A
C
Of
course,
I'm
just
I'm
I'm
grinning
from
ear
to
ear.
I
think
so.
So
many
of
the
things
that
that
danielle
has
said
makes
me
so
happy
and
I
think,
makes
me
so
proud
to
be
part
of
social
care.
I
think
a
lot
of
the
things
that
we
all
do
as
care
homes
are
so
simple:
they
don't
cost
a
lot
of
money
and
it's
people
thinking
outside
the
box,
so
proud
of
the
staff.
C
From
the
very
beginning,
when
we
went
into
lockdown
they've
tried
to
make
every
day
special
in
some
way
for
our
residents
we
actually
over
recruited
as
well
at
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic,
and
we
had
people
come
from
theater
companies.
We
had
people
come
from
the
hospitality
industry
and
they
could
bring
something
else
to
our
residents
as
well,
one
of
the
people
from
the
theater
company.
C
I
think
there
have
been
challenges
and
I
think
it's
we've
been
on
a
bit
of
a
roller
coaster,
but
I
think
what's
so
important
is
that
we've
been
on
a
roller
coaster
together
with
our
residents,
the
staff
and
also
our
relatives,
and
we
have
regular
zoom
meetings
with
our
relatives
with
the
residents
with
staff
and
we
make
all
of
our
decisions
together
and
that's
around
visiting
it's
around
the
testing.
That's
that's
obviously
very
topical
at
the
moment,
and
basically,
everybody
has
been
embraced
to
make
things
nice
for
staff.
C
The
residents
have
even
made
videos.
One
of
my
happiest
memories
is:
is
national
nurses
day
this
year?
If
you
see
the
video
that
our
residents
made
for
our
nurses,
it
was.
It
was
just
absolutely
amazing
and-
and
I
think,
when
we're
all
having
a
having
a
bad
day,
we
we
look
back
on
actually
what
we
have
done
and
the
residents
are
safe
and
the
residents
are
happy.
I
think
it's
something
to
be
to
be
really
proud
of,
and
actually
it's
made
us
it's
made
us
develop
new
things
in
talking
to
our
relatives.
C
Obviously,
it's
very
difficult.
Somebody
moving
into
a
care
home
in
normal
times,
let
alone
covered
when
people
are
wearing
masks
and
they
can't
get
to
know
people,
and
we
had
some
relatives
and
residents
really
struggling
with
that
and
but
more
so
the
relatives
because
they
couldn't
view
the
bedrooms,
for
example,
and
so
our
existing
residents
relatives
who
have
been
with
us
for
a
long
time,
suggested
they
had
a
buddy
system,
so
you've
got
your
relatives
who
have
been
with
you
years
and
years
are
now
buddies
to
new
relatives.
C
A
That's
fantastic
and
it
sounds
as
though
no
not
notwithstanding
that.
Obviously
the
pandemic
has
been
tremendously
difficult
for
everybody
and
put
put
a
lot
of
pressure
on
you
that
that
both
you,
zoe
and
and
you
know,
danielle-
have
been
able
to
kind
of
innovate
in
how
you
deliver
your
your
care
through
this
period,
and
I
guess
I'm
just
interested
in
you
know
once
once
we're
hopefully
through
through
this
this
this
crisis.
A
C
I
think
I
think
for
me
zoe
here.
I
think
I
think.
For
me,
one
of
the
one
of
the
main
things
is:
is
we've
developed
additional
roles
for
staff
so
so
very
early
on?
We
developed
a
well-being
coordinator
who
who
linked
in
with
our
relatives,
because
we
we
soon
found
that
actually
it
was
our
relative's
mental
well-being.
If
we
focused
on
that.
C
We
didn't
really
have
the
funds
to
build
a
visitors.
Pod
and
the
local
community
came
together
for
us
and
they
actually
did
a
diy
sos
for
valerie,
manor
and
they've
bought
built
us,
the
beautiful
pod
and
it's
allowed
safe
visiting
and
even
now
with
that,
with
the
lateral
flow
test.
Our
relatives
and
residences
said
it's
such
an
amazing
cod.
It
allows
safe
visiting,
we
don't
want
to
be
tested,
we
don't
want
people
coming
into
the
home
and
and
that's
what
the
local
community
has
done
to
support
us
as
a
nursing
home
in
the
local
area.
B
Yeah
I
mean
I
completely
agree
with
zoe,
especially
with
the
communication
part
with
with
the
relatives
and
next
of
kins
and
families.
It's
really
important,
and
that
communication
has
has
gone
up
another
level
since
the
pandemic
we
email,
we
video,
call
the
use
of
the
tools
with
regards
to
video
calling
and
skyping,
which
was
never
really
heard
of
kind
of,
because
it
the
visits,
were
always
in
person
before
the
pandemic,
but
I
feel
like
this
is
really
important.
B
You
know
if
somebody
is
unwell
and
unable
to
come
in
for
a
visit,
we
will
continue
to
have
those
video
calls
to
have
those
skype
calls
and
the
family
involvement.
You
know
consistently
every
single
week
twice
a
week
once
a
week
that
communication
between
myself
and
my
staff,
members
and
and
their
loved
ones,
and
and
their
next
of
kins
is
absolutely
vital
and
it
plays
such
a
key
role
in
the
way
that
we
deliver
care
and
how
we
care
about
their
loved
ones
and
it
it
brings
us
all
closer
together.
B
A
That's
great
to
hear
you
know
the
learnings
that
you're
taking
from
this
time
and
well.
We
want
to
ask
a
question
that
everyone
that's
kind
of
on
everyone's
mind
at
the
moment
and
that's
about
how
you'll
be
celebrating
christmas
in
your
in
your
service
and
maybe,
if
I
could
start
again
with
with
danielle
and
then
and
then
zoe
to
just
talk
a
little
bit
about
what
you've
got
in
in
store.
Yeah.
B
B
We
have
already
started
with
our
christmas
themes,
so
we
have
just
started
our
memory
tree
so
last
week
I
had
an
idea
of
a
way
to
remember
our
past
residents,
who
we've,
who
we
loved
and
lost,
and
we
decided
to
do
a
tree.
So
we've
decorated
the
tree
and
every
single
staff
member
got
to
decorate
their
their
residents,
so
to
speak,
who
they
really
were
close
to?
B
Who
we've
lost
over
the
last
year
and
that
takes
center
stage
in
one
of
our
lounges,
and
it
just
gives
that
that
somewhere,
quiet
and
somewhere,
peaceful,
where
we
can
all
go
and
take
five
minutes
and
reminisce
about
all
those
residents
together
and
the
residents
of
absolutely
loved
this?
You
know
they
were
really
close
to
them.
They
were
their
friends,
they,
you
know
they
saw
them
every
single
day,
and
we
should
talk
about.
B
We've
we
still
have
lots
of
connections
and
you
know
feedback
from
from
our
residents
that
have
passed
away
from
their
families.
You
know
they
follow
us
on
our
twitter
pages
and
our
facebook
pages,
and
you
know
that
they're
always
sharing
lovely
positive
comments
about
the
home
and
about
stuff,
and
it's
just
a
way
for
us
to
show
them
that
we
we
still
care
you
know
just
because
somebody
either
moves
out
to
a
different
home
or
they
pass
away.
It
doesn't
stop
us
caring
about
them
at
all.
Thank
you.
C
Thank
you.
I
think
it's
obviously
going
to
be
so
different.
This
year
we
we
haven't,
got
as
many
obviously
group
activities
we
used
to
have
so
many
people
into
the
home,
but
the
staff
are
making
it
special
from
the
point
of
view.
Is
that
they're
doing
everything
which
I
think
actually
is
lovely
for
the
residents
in
terms
of
carol
concerts
and
things
like
that
there
are?
There
are
small
things
going
on.
In
the
background.
Last
year
we
had
a
big
advent
calendar
which
had
all
the
residents
in
and
we
opened.
C
We
were
23-bed
at
home,
so
we
opened
a
picture
of
all
the
residents.
You
know
each
day
and
this
year,
obviously
things
like
that
isn't
achievable.
So
so
the
the
staff
have
got
advent
calendars
for
every
single
individual
resident
in
their
bedrooms
and
there's
obviously
been
a
lot
of
debate.
Dare
I
say
it
on
christmas
decorations
and
the
residents
decided
with
the
staff
were
okay,
we're
gonna,
make
our
own
then
and
so
they're,
making
their
own
baubles
they're,
making
their
own
crackers,
etc,
etc,
which
I
think
is
lovely
and
things
like
that.
C
The
wreaths
with
fresh,
fresh,
fresh
produce,
which
I
think
is
absolutely
amazing
each
year
we
do
a
wear
it
festive
for
some
barnabas
hospice
and
I
know
hospices
are
obviously
struggling
as
well
being
charities,
and
so
you
know
there's
no
reason
why
we
can't
do
things
like
that.
So
so
that's
all
planned
in
as
well
daily
facts.
C
We've
got
relatives
who,
sadly,
it
was
a
granddaughter
of
somebody
who
passed
away
during
covid
from
natural
causes,
but
they
used
to
provide
a
a
daily
news
round
to
the
home,
and
what
they've
done
for
advent
is
is
create
a
daily
fact.
So
it
generates
conversation,
it's
lovely.
Even
you
know
the
staff,
love
love,
seeing
and
seeing
a
daily
fact
for
the
day
and
hearing
what
people
used
to
do
and
in
days
gone
by,
we
still
got
jalopy
outings.
We
call
the
disabled
vehicle
or
jalopy,
which,
which
is
lovely.
C
The
residents,
love
that
and
they're
going
out
to
see
christmas
lights
and
things,
but
I
think,
what's
what's
very
difficult
and-
and
I
think
we're
getting
the
balance
right
is
obviously
the
visits
with
the
families.
I
think
it's,
the
balance
between
you
know.
Staff
are
trying
to
make
it
so
special,
but
in
some
ways
you
know
it's,
it's
not
the
same
as
being
with
your
families
at
christmas.
C
So
in
the
pod,
the
well-being
coordinator
is
developing
the
visiting
schedule
for
over
christmas
and
asking
that
my
new
detail
well
actually
in
the
pod.
What
christmas
music?
Would
you
normally
listen
to?
What's
your
tradition,
would
you
have
a
sherry
at
11
o'clock?
You
know
somebody
else
might
celebrate.
On
boxing
day
we've
got
somebody
from
germany
who
actually
christmas
eve.
Opening
their
presents
is
more
important.
A
Well,
I
mean
it
sounds
like
you
know,
both
of
you
are
creating
really
really
fun
and
inventive
ways
of
celebrating
this
year,
even
though
you
know
it's
such
a
strange
context
and
situation
to
be
to
be
working
in.
That's
all
the
questions
we've
got
for
today's
podcast.
I
really
want
to
thank
you
both
for
joining
us
and
sharing
your
stories.
I'm
certainly
beaming
from
ear
to
ear,
listening
to
how
you've
been
supporting
people
during
these
times,
and
you
know
finding
ways
around
some
of
the
difficulties
that
you
faced.