Residents can get a new lease of life in care home
DURING a tough year across the health sector, staff have had to go the extra mile. This is very true in care homes, which for a while were at the forefront of coping with Covid. Starting today, The News is running 12 profiles of people working in care homes who are determined to give their residents the best Christmas they can. Here is the first of our 12 Days of Caring series, which will run in every copy of The News up to Christmas Eve. reports.
DAN LUTER was appointed manager at Alexandra Rose Care home in Farlington at the age of just 28.
Now 36, Dan decided to go into the care sector at the age of 18 after the agency he was working for asked him to take on a temporary shift at a care home for the elderly.
Dan said: ‘I had been wanting to work with special needs children, but after a day working at a dementia home in Southsea I knew this was the direction I wanted to go in.’
After working as a carer Dan became assistant manager at Hunters Lodge Care Home in Fareham before being appointed as manager at Alexandra Rose eight years ago.
Dan is responsible for ‘overseeing everything’ at the home including the auditing of stock, ensuring the care of residents and support and management of staff.
He said: ‘I get a real sense of satisfaction from seeing the success of the home. I feel a real sense of achievement in seeing what’s been created at Alexandra Rose.’
The entertainment and enjoyment of life for residents at the care home is the fundamental principle behind its success.
Dan added: ‘One of the first things I did was to appoint an activities coordinator. This is a real happy and enjoyable place and the residents are very content. We often get residents who have been living an isolated life and didn’t really want to come into care.
‘We find that when they come into the home they get a new lease of life and I get great satisfaction from seeing that.’
With Christmas around the corner, residents and staff are looking forward to having some festive fun, despite the restrictions of Covid.
Dan said: ‘Christmas Day is always really positive and we will still be having our festive party which will hopefully lift spirits. I really hope that next year, with the arrival of the vaccines, that we can get back to some semblance of normality with families being able to see residents without being behind a screen or having to wear a mask.’
There is a Carols for Portsmouth’s Care Homes service on December 22 at 2.30pm, which is being co-ordinated by Portsmouth Music Hub..
This is a real happy and enjoyable place and the residents are very content. Dan Luter