Caremark Thanet Announce Three Appointments

Caremark Thanet: About Us

We (Caremark Thanet) were registered with the Care Quality Commission in November 2012, and provided care for our first customer in December 2012. We are very proud of the fact that we now provide care for over 100 people in Thanet – that’s not far short of 1500 hours of care every week. Delivering that care for us; we have over 80 care and support workers. To put this into some focus; Caremark Thanet provides over 45 full time equivalent jobs in Thanet. And we are also very proud of that.

We are equally proud of the fact that we have extra-ordinarily high standards; our customers deserve no less. However, we are acutely aware that we are only as good as the people who deliver our care. We have the highest expectations of our care and support workers and quite rightly they should have high expectations of us. Therefore, no-one working for us should be disappointed by our ambition.

And we are ambitious. Our business ethos and our vision say a great deal about the type of company that we are. In achieving our vision of being Thanet's first choice private domiciliary care provider for customers and carers we believe that we will transform domiciliary care. To do this we are making working in care a career. It will not happen overnight; but it will happen; it is happening now. 

In the new year we will have some incredibly exciting news about opportunities for careers with Caremark Thanet; opportunities for our existing carers and for new carers. When you work for us, you are never "just a carer".  With us, caring is not just a job; it is a vocation; caring is not the last resort for the aimless; it is the first choice for the ambitious; it is not a job without prospects; it is a position with opportunities; a chance to develop, not a place to rest.

To bring about this transformation we need highly talented people. We believe that in our three recent appointments, Xana Welch as care manager, Kerry Hill as Operations and Compliance Manager and Gemma Haffenden as supervisor we have appointed people who fit the bill perfectly.

Introducing Our New Appointments

Xana and Kerry are both internal appointments. Xana was initially appointed as a supervisor just over a year ago. Kerry was appointed in March 2017 as a care co-ordinator. Both Xana and Kerry have made significant contributions to the work that we do. Gemma came to us in July as a care and support worker and was appointed as a supervisor in November. Although Gemma's time with us has been brief, she has made a marked impact.

Xana Welch: Care Manager

Xana comes to us with quite a varied CV. She was a fostercarer for six years - 2 years with Kent County Council and 4 years privately; she has worked in care for eleven years and has also worked as a bar manager. 

Xana likes music - particularly anything she can dance to - and reading - particularly horror novels. Dancing may not always be a good idea because when we asked her to tell us something interesting about herself she told us that she once managed to break both arms at the same time. She never said whether she was dancing at the time.

Xana has made a monumental impact since she arrived at Caremark Thanet. In particular, she has taken the lead in the training that we provide to our care and support workers. She has undertaken training herself and is now qualified to teach moving and handling and first aid. 

At Caremark Thanet, we believe that working in care is a career, and first class training is fundamental to this. Xana will play an integral role in our ambition to transform domiciliary care. Xana will be liaising closely with East Kent College with which we are teaming up to provide a training programme that will make Caremark Thanet a centre of excellence for domiciliary care training.

We know Xana will continue to make a very positive impact on what we do. We wish her well for what  we are sure will be a long career at Caremark Thanet.

Kerry Hill: Operations Manager and Compliance Manager

Kerry brings vast care experience with her to her now role. She has worked in both residential and domiciliary care for over 15 years as a care and support worker, supervisor and care co-ordinator. When Kerry first joined us she did so as a care co-ordinator. Kerry has also spent short periods working in retail and hospitality.

There is little doubt that Kerry's organizational and communication skills are more than a little impressive. She has imposed a sense of order on what can at times be a very unpredictable working environment. What Kerry has achieved in six months has brought about nothing less than a transformation - an enormously positive one -  in the way Caremark Thanet operates.

Kerry's new role marries up well with her ambition to be at the forefront of leading Caremark Thanet to a position where it is the first choice provider for those who wish to work in care and for those who require a little help at home.

We asked Kerry to tell us a little about herself. She told us that she was a bit of  a swot at school and left with seven GCSEs at grades A-C, and that she is currently studying amazingly hard for her level 5 award in leadership and management. Outside work she is kept busy with her three young daughters.

Everyone at Caremark Thanet wishes Kerry well in her new post and for her very well deserved promotion. We're pretty sure that Kerry will be with us for some considerable time.

Gemma Haffenden: Field Care Supervisor

Gemma is still relatively new to Caremark Thanet; however, she has settled in very well and following her appointment to supervisor she has proved herself to be a perfect fit for our management team. Gemma's approach to working sits well with Caremark Thanet's business ethos of putting customers and carers at the heart of what it does.

Gemma has worked in care for about four years, one of those years was spent working in residential care. She has also run her own business selling Avon products.

We asked Gemma what she likes to do outside of work. She told us that spare time is at a premium as she works full time and has four children. However, when she gets a chance she does enjoy a game of bingo.

Gemma is very keen to progress in her career with Caremark Thanet and is looking forward to studying for further care qualifications.

We know Gemma is going to be a great success and we all wish her well. Gemma has a fantastic future with Caremark Thanet and we are quietly confident that this is not the last that you will here about her.

A Final Word

There is no business in no industry in no country that is successful by luck alone. A little bit of luck here and there is very welcome, but when you get down to it there are no ifs, no buts, no maybes, no doubts: without good people; talented people; industrious people - people for whom going the extra mile is just a normal day - no business will be successful. At Caremark Thanet, these are the type of people we look for: in the appointments above; these are the type of people we have got.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Caremark Thanet Raise Money for East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal

Our Charity Quiz Night

On Friday 8 December 2017 we (Caremark Thanet) held a quiz night in aid of East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal. Even the atrocious Margate weather could not keep our valiant quizzers away from what proved to be a spectacularly successful evening. On the night £366.60 was raised, which, in the new year, we will make up to £800. 

Managing Director, Garry Costain, and Business Development Manager, Jemma Clayton, draw the Raffle.

Everyone at Caremark Thanet sends a very big thank you to each of you who came along, bought raffle tickets and donated raffle prizes. Your wonderful generosity will go directly to help people in Thanet living with dementia. A special thank you must go to Bernie, the owner of Bernie's Chocolate Bar, for allowing us to use her superb venue located on Margate sea front, and for organizing the questions and compering the quiz.

Caremark Thanet and Bernie's Chocolate Bar

The quiz night is the third event Caremark Thanet has held with Bernie's Chocolate Bar.  In June we held two events: a Great Get Together, in celebration of the values of Jo Cox, and a Charity Comedy Night, once more in aid of East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal. The comedy night raised £1200, which means that this year we will have raised £2000 for the Appeal.

Presenting the Cheque

We will arrange to present a cheque for £800 to the East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal sometime early in the new year.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Government Shelves Plans to Cap Care Costs from 2020

Introduction

The government has shelved plans to introduced a £72 000 cap on social care costs. The cap was due to come into effect from 2020. The Care Act 2014 provided the legislative base for the cap. The article below was written in 2014 when there was quite a bit of media attention about the cap on care fees.

At the time the article was published, The Care Act 2014 had not long received the Royal Assent. In the article I argued that there was no guarantee that the cap would, in fact, come into force. The relevant section providing for the introduction of the cap had not yet been implemented and the Act itself did not set any figure at which a cap, should one be implemented, should be set. The government's original intention was to introduce the cap from 2016 - hence the reason that my article refers to 2016 not 2020. This was later revised to 2020.

Given the debacle over social care funding following the Conservatives' manifesto launch during the election this year, and the announcement that there will be green paper on social care next year, it is probably not surprising that the cap has been shelved. It is equally unsurprising that the announcement was made during some tricky brexit negotiations. Perhaps the brexit spotlight has cast a shadow on the social care situation, at least in the short term. I have been saying for some time now that history will judge this government not just by brexit but also on how it deals with social care funding, and social care more generally.

What follows is a slightly modified version of an article first published on 2 October 2014.

The Care Act 2014 and Caps on Individual Care Costs

You may have read in, or heard on, the news that The Care Bill became the Care Act 2014 when it received the Royal assent recently, on the 14 May 2014, to be exact. Potentially, the Care Act 2014 contains some major reforms that will have important consequences for people receiving care in their homes.  A reform of huge significance for everyone involves an upper limit, a cap, being placed on the amount that you as an individual will have to pay for your domiciliary care.

The Legislative Process

The Care Act 2014 (from now on referred to simply as the Act) is an Act of Parliament. An Act of Parliament – or a statute as it is often called - is law made by Parliament. Parliament consists of one elected body - the House of Commons – and two unelected bodies, the House of Lords and the Monarch. A statute begins its life as a Bill. To become law it must be passed by all three of the bodies that make up Parliament. In the Houses of commons and the Lords this is achieved by the members voting in favour of the Bill. The Monarch – ie the Queen – grants her assent, which, it might be suggested, is a type of vote. The final stage in a Bill’s progression through Parliament is reached when it is granted Royal Assent, at which point a Bill becomes an Act.

However, just because a Bill has become an Act does not mean that its provisions have come into force; indeed, far from it. Today, it is fairly typical for a statute to be granted Royal Assent and only over a period of time – often a period of years - for its provisions to come into force. There are some Acts of Parliament various parts of which have never come into force.

The different parts of a statute are generally brought into force by a cabinet minister. Section 127 of the Care Act 2014 says “The provisions of Parts 1 to 4 come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.” Section 127 is known as a commencement section. Parts 1 to 4 are the main parts of the Act. Therefore, even though we now have a Care Act that is law in England and Wales, all the important reforms that it contains await implementation by the Secretary of State over time.

The Care Act 2014

The Act is long – 129 sections contained in 167 pages - and wide ranging. Norman Lamb, the care minister has described the Act as “[representing] the most significant reform of care and support in more than 60 years”.  Speaking more generally about care and the new Act, Norman Lamb has commented that:

"Care and support is something that nearly everyone in this country will experience at some point in their lives….Even if you don’t need care yourself, you will probably know a family member or friend who does, or you may care for someone. And many more of us will need care in the future, so it is important for us to have a modern system that can keep up with the demands of a growing ageing population….Until now it’s been almost impossible for people who need care, carers, and even those who manage the care system, to understand how the previous law affecting them worked.”

Amongst other things, the Act deals with personal budgets, duties on local authorities, minimum eligibility thresholds and, of course, caps on the amount that you as an individual will have to pay for your care.

The Cap on Your Individual Care Costs

Under the current system, to qualify for your care costs to be paid by social services you need to have less than £23 250 in savings (known as your capital) and be on a low income. For more information on this, go to this page.

The new Act provides the legislative framework to place a cap on the total amount that you will have to pay in your lifetime.  There will be a needs assessment – currently known as a community care assessment. The care and support that you are assessed as requiring will be care and support for what will be known as your “eligible needs”. The cap on your care costs is the maximum amount that you will have to pay in your lifetime to meet your eligible needs.

It is important to note two points. First, at this moment in time the relevant part of the Act dealing with the cap has not been brought into force. The intention expressed by the government is that the cap will operate from April 2016. However, there will be a general election in 2015 and we may have a different government. As explained above, it is for the Secretary of State (who is Jeremy Hunt at the moment) to bring into force the relevant part of the Act.

The second thing to note is that there are no figures contained in the Act. Once again, the government has expressed an intention, this time to the effect that the cap should be set at £72 000. Just as with the implementation of the relevant part of the Act dealing with the cap itself, the actual figure at which the cap is set will be set and implemented by the Secretary of State.

The cap will not cover what are called “living costs”. This is highly relevant if you were looking to move into residential accommodation. The cap will not cover such costs as utility bills and food. The aim behind this is to try not to disadvantage those receiving domiciliary care. If you have home care; you still have to pay for things like heating and food. Therefore, excluding living costs from the cap attempts to gain some consistency between those in residential care and those receiving home care.

The cap will only cover the cost of meeting your eligible needs. You may want something extra. In such a case you will be expected to pay for that yourself. For example, if your eligible needs require a home care visit of 30 minutes each morning, only the cost of those visits are covered by the cap. If you wish to have a 45 minute call each day, you will have to pay for the extra 15 minutes.

 

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website atwww.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

(Still) Lonely this Christmas

This is a slightly amended version of an article first published in 2015.

Christmas is a time for being with family; it’s a time for sharing gifts with friends; a time for creating memories.   For some, amongst whom are many of society’s most vulnerable and frail,  their families will be absent this Christmas; there will be no friends to share this season with, and their memories of Christmases gone by will be all they have.

Loneliness does not discriminate. It is a state that has no sympathy for illness, for gender, for status, for race, for age. Though it is a state to which age makes us more susceptible. And loneliness is felt more keenly at Christmas when the shadow of everyday loneliness lengthens. This year (2020) that shadow is longer than ever.

The facts on loneliness and isolation make uncomfortable reading. There are about 3.5 million people in the UK aged 65 and over who live alone. Many of the 65 and over age group report that they have contact with family, friends or neighbours less than once a week; that they feel trapped in their homes; that they have no help to go out; feel socially isolated, and have no one to turn to for help.

If you found those facts a little disturbing; prepare yourself for this: in 2010, in the UK, 500,000 people aged 65 and over spent Christmas day alone. That was in 2010. I have not looked for figures for other years; I suspect they will be little different from 2010. I suspect, when someone comes to do the calculation for more recent Christmases, the figures will be about the same.

You probably know someone who lives alone. It’s never easy to know how to help.  The NHS Choices website – especially the page: Loneliness in the Elderly: How to Help – has some very good advice. The things we can do to help are often quite simple. This Christmas, the most important gift we give might be something as simple as saying hello to a neighbour.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email: garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Care and Support Workers Recruitment Open Day: 21 November 2017

Caremark Thanet held another exceptionally successful open day, the final one before the New Year, on Tuesday 21 November 2017 for prospective care and support workers. The purpose of these events is to provide information to people who want to work in domiciliary care, generally, and for Caremark Thanet, in particular.

The event was held at the The Yarrow Hotel in Broadstairs. The format of the event aims to give people all the information they need to make an informed choice about working in domiciliary care for Caremark Thanet.

Business Development Manager, Jemma Clayton, got things started with an introduction session. This was followed by a brief presentation by Managing Director, Garry Costain, which focused on the high expectations that the company has for its care and support workers and the rewards and opportunities that are available for outstanding, reliable care workers. Following the presentation, there was then a chance for people to ask Garry any questions that they had.

Next, attendees had the chance to chat with one of Caremark Thanet's Supervisors and its Senior Supervisor. This was a chance for people to ask people who are doing the job questions about what it is really like to work for Caremark Thanet.

All attending received application forms; several were filled in immediately. Interviews will be held over the next two weeks or so.

If you'd like more information about working for Caremark Thanet or about future open days call: 01843 235910; email: thanet@caremark.co.uk.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Care and Support Worker Recruitment Open Day: 10.30 am, 21 November 2017, Yarrow Hotel, Broadstairs

Join Us at Our Care and Support Worker Recruitment Open Day

Caremark Thanet is a domiciliary care company that provides care throughout Thanet. On 21 November we will be holding one of our Care and Support Worker Open Days at the Yarrow Hotel in Broadstairs. The event will start at 10.30 am and should be finished by about 12.00 noon. 

These events have proved incredibly popular with people looking to work in domiciliary care. The main purpose of the event is to provide potential care and support workers with information about working in care generally, and working for Caremark Thanet more specifically.

Working in domiciliary care presents challenges and brings enormous rewards. It is a career that is not for everyone. If you have never worked in care and want to get some idea about what is involved; this event is just right for you. Experience is useful but not essential. What we look for is people who are caring, reliable, hardworking and flexible.

If you have care experience and are looking for new opportunities, you will probably be more concerned about finding out what it is like working for Caremark Thanet. Working for us will not suit everyone. We have high expectations; in turn; you rightly should have high expectations of us. We are a company that is prepared to invest in the right people. If you feel you have something to offer; come along and see what we can offer you.

Whatever your level of experience, why not come along and see how we are transforming domiciliary care.

The format of the session will probably go something like this:

First, there will be an introduction session led by our Business Development Manager, Jemma Clayton.

Second, there will be a presentation from the managing director of Caremark Thanet, Garry Costain. This presentation: gives the audience a little bit of information about our history; emphasises the company’s ethos based on an uncompromising approach to the quality of care delivery and valuing of our carers; outlines the benefits of working for us and the wider opportunities available, and rounds off with a glimpse of the plans for how our success story will continue.

Third, there will be an opportunity to ask Garry any questions that the audience might have.

Finally, we always try to invite along one or more of our carers so that the audience can ask questions directly to someone who is, in fact, doing the job.

The feedback from our previous open days has been extra-ordinarily positive. Most people go away with one of our application packs and we subsequently interview several candidates and offer jobs to some.

Spaces are limited so you are strongly advised to book a place. To guarantee your place, please contact Jemma Clayton on 01843 235910 or email jemma.clayton@caremark.co.uk.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on01843 235910or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Caremark Thanet's Quiz Night in Aid of East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal

1966 and All That

In the early evening sunlight on Saturday 30th July 1966 a young man by the name of Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore raised the Jules Rimet trophy above his head as he was raised aloft by his team mates. In English sport, the image is iconic; the moment immortlised; the performance unparalleled. How achingly sad it is to know that three of those players surrounding Bobby Moore are today living with dementia.

Something like this also concentrates the mind on the human condition. Our bodies are frail and feeble in the face of attacks from countless ailments. Science has made great progress in preventative and curative medicine, but none of us is indestructible.

Dementia

Dementia touches the lives of many of us. It is estimated that in Thanet there are over 2000 dementia patients and this figure will rise to approximately 3000 in 2026. In Kent, the figures are over 22 000 current patients rising to over 30 000 in 2026.

Dementia is not itself a disease. It is an umbrella term that refers to symptoms caused by a number of illnesses, of which Alzheimer's disease is, perhaps, the most widely known. There are probably, however, a hundred or more illnesses that can cause dementia. Our Knowledge of dementia is still quite elementary. There is no cure; though there are treatments that can help.

Caremark Thanet's Charity Quiz Night

On Friday 8th December, Caremark Thanet will be teaming up with Bernie's Chocolate Bar for a charity quiz night in aid of East Kent Hospital's Dementia Appeal. In June this year, we held a charity comedy night for the same appeal and raised £1200. The evening will start at 7.30  - entry is just £5 on the door -  and in addition to the quiz there will be a raffle.

We hope that you will be able to come along and support this most worthwhile of causes. If you can't make it but would like to donate just call us on the number below.

You can be almost certain that one of the questions will not be: who won the world cup in 1966!

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

An Outline of the Main Sources of Health and Social Care Funding

Introduction

Finding information about health social care funding can be likened with searching for the source of the Nile: Everyone knows it must exist somewhere. My aim in this article is to explain the principal sources of funding (primarily I address funding for domiciliary care) and provide links that you can follow for more detailed information. Just a word of caution here. I provide links to some of my own articles, which in some cases may contain figures that were accurate at the time. It is always worth bearing in mind that any figures cited may now differ.

Social Services Funding

Funding from social services is means tested. Therefore you may qualify and have to make no contribution; you may qualify and have to make a contribution, or you may not qualify. Prior to any means test being conducted, you will have to have a care needs assessment. This article explains about the care needs assessment. Although it refers specifically to Kent County Council, the principles stated apply wherever you are in England. This article explains about means tests. Again, it refers to Kent County Council but the principles are general.

If you qualify for social services funding you now have a choice. Social services can set up everything for you and that will suit many people. However, you will have been awarded what is called a personal budget. You can take this budget in the form of a direct payment. You can then use this money to purchase your own home care. If you have care from a private provider, you may well have to make a contribution from your own funds. Many people are happy to do this.

With a small number of exceptions, you have a right to a direct payment. A right that is enshrined in law - in the Care Act 2014. You do not have to have your home care through social services. You do not have to have your home care arranged by social services. You do not have to have your home care from a company recommended by social services. You have a right to choose; this right cannot be denied to you.

Social care funding is a controversial topic. You may recall that during the 2017 election the Conservative Party's manifesto proposals for funding social care were met with the most hostile criticism. The proposals were so badly received that is arguable that they contributed significantly to the Conservatives poor showing at the polls. I have been saying since then that history will not judge this government on brexit alone. It will judge it to a large degree on what - if anything - it does about funding social care.

Self Funding

If you do not qualify for social care funding you will have to fund your care yourself. This article offers you some advice about choosing home care. Essentially your choices are: use a private domiciliary care provider; employ you own carers directly; use self-employed carers. Option one is likely to be the most expensive. Options two and three clearly provide you with a financial incentive. There are, though, a few things to bear in mind. 

I go into a little detail about the things to bear in mind in this article. Although this article was written expressly about live-in care, the challenges of employing carers or using self-employed carers are identical whether you are talking about live-in care or other types of domiciliary care. In brief, if you employ a carer, you are an employer and have all the responsibilities that employers have. If you engage a self-employed carer who works exclusively for you, as far as HMRC is concerned you are an employer.

Continuing Health Care Funding

If you are assessed as having primary health need, You may qualify for financial support through NHS Continuing Health Care Funding. The NHS Choices website provides a very unhelpful circular definition of primary health need. Assessments are carried out by a multidisciplinary NHS team. There is no right to an assessment, but if it seems that you might need NHSCHC then the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for your area must carry out an assessment. 

There is no means test for Continuing Health Care funding. As with social care funding there is a mechanism for you to have a personal budget, called a personal health budget. Once again, this is something to which you have a right, with a few exceptions.

Intermediate Care

There are occasions when you might need  little bit of help to maintain or regain your independence, for example, when you are due to be discharged from hospital. In such circumstances, you may qualify for intermediate care. This article explains about intermediate care. There is no means test for intermediate care.

Enablment or Reablement

The approach underpinning reablement is to help you to live your life independently. Reablement workers are not charged with the responsibility of doing things for you; they are responsible for helping you become confident and competent in doing things for yourself. This article gives more details. Again, there is no means test for those who qualify.

If you would like more information about any of the above, follow the links or telephone me at Caremark Thanet on the number below.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

It's Our Birthday and We Had a Cake

It’s Our Birthday…

…and we had a party. Events like this do not just happen. A lot of people are involved, and we'd like to thank you all.

It’s our fifth birthday and our party was held at the Yarrow Hotel in Broadstairs on Wednesday 8 November 2017. The staff at the hotel provided a first-class service, and all of us at Caremark Thanet were very impressed, indeed.

A number of our customers and carers came along to wish us well and quite a few other people paid us a visit too, including people from Wade Business Solutions, Levick’s Accountants, East Kent Hospital’s Dementianurses, Bernie’s Chocolate Bar and Angela Davies, Holistic Therapist. We'd like to say a very special thank you to Angela who provided some very well received pamper sessions to quite a few of our guests.

Our cake was made for us by Baps and Bloomers in Sandwich, and what a cake it was!

The staff at the Hotel expertly sliced it up into 250 pieces, and today (Thursday 9 November 2017) our carers delivered a tasty slice to all our customers who were unable to be with us.

We are very proud of our achievement – five years of providing outstanding care and creating valuable employment opportunities in Thanet is not something to be dismissed at all. However, we know that our achievement is only possible because of some very important and special people. It would not have been possible without some exceptional care and support workers; it would not have been possible without a highly talented management team and, very importantly, it would not have been possible without our customers entrusting their care to us.

Thank you everyone.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Coffee Morning Fun

Thanks to All Who Came to Our Coffee Morning

We had a fantastic turnout at our coffee morning yesterday, Monday 6 November, at Smith's Court Hotel. We'd like to thank everyone who came along and made it such a special event. We sponsored the event as part of Ageless Thanet's Business Week. We were particularly interested in meeting people who might be looking to return to work, perhaps after being made redundant.

Do You Want to Return to Work?

We spoke with about 10 people who might be interested to come and work for us and we have already interviewed 2 of them. We always have vacancies for good, reliable people who want to work in care. We take people from the age of 18 upwards; however, yesterday's event was specifically focusing on people with maturity on their side.

We are very aware that there are large numbers of people who have had successful working lives and now, for various reasons, are looking to return to the working world. We believe passionately that it is never too late to work in care. Mature workers often have valuable qualities that they can offer. We don't look for experience: we do look for caring natures, reliability and flexibility. Incidentally, if you do have experience; it is never wasted.

Thank You Ageless Thanet

We'd like to say a big thank you to Ageless Thanet for joining us at our coffee morning and for their business week venture. We are proud to be an age-friendly business and look forward to working with Ageless Thanet on other initiatives

PS. If you were unable to join us at our coffee morning and are interested in the opportunities that we have, please do not hesitate to contact us.

PPS. It's our birthday and we are having a party, tomorrow, Wednesday 8 November, at the Yarrow Hotel, in Broadstairs. If you're passing, why not drop in for a cup of tea and a slice of cake and wish us happy birthday. 

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

It's our Birthday

It's Our Birthday...

...and we are having a party! We are Caremark Thanet and in November 2012 we were registered with the Care Quality Commission; so that makes us five years old. On Wednesday 8 November 2017 - between 2.00 - 4.00 in the afternoon - we are having a little celebration at The Yarrow Hotel in Broadstairs. We have invited all our customers and carers (and a few others) to join us for a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake.

Our cake is being made for us by Baps and Bloomers who are based in Sandwich - wherever possible we always like to work with local businesses as we passionately believe that when local businesses support local businesses local people benefit, the local economy benefits and, of course, local businesses benefit. Incidentally, if you are ever near King Street in Sandwich pay a visit to Baps and Bloomers: you will not be disappointed. Our cake is going to be large enough for 250 people.

We know that many of our customers will not be able to be with us on the day. So what we are doing is getting two or three of our care and support workers to hand deliver a slice of cake to each person. We're sure they'll love it.

Our Story

My name is Garry and I'm the managing director of Caremark Thanet. My wife, Jayne, and I started the company in 2012. I'd worked in education and education management for over twenty years and Jayne had been a nurse - indeed, Jayne was still working one day a week in a doctors' surgery in Ramsgate until last year. When we started the business, we had two principal aims - in addition to making a living for ourselves. We wanted to provide a very high quality care service to the residents of Thanet and we wanted to provide employment for people in Thanet. These may seem like naively noble aims; but I don't think we have fared too badly.

In December 2012, we had one customer and one carer. We were delivering about 3 hours of care per week to that one person. How things have changed. At the time of writing this article, we have cared for almost 250 people, we are delivering just short of 1500 hours of care per week and we have about 80 people working for us.Those 80 people about 45 full time jobs. In November 2016, the Care Quality Commission judge our service to be good overall.

We have a very clear ethos: We believe that our customers are the most important for our business; that our care and support workers are the most important people in our business; that a socially responsible business is most important for everyone.

Our Future

Human beings cannot foresee the future, but that should never prevent us planning for the future. Any plan is an attempt to fashion the future and there are always events that may conspire against us. However, we certainly have plans for the future. 

We aim to continue to delivery outstanding care to each of our customers. We aim to continue to grow and deliver more high quality care to more of the residents of Thanet. We aim to expand our care services into such other areas as Canterbury, Dover and Shepway. And we aim to transform domiciliary care. We believe that working in home care is a career and should offer the opportunities and benefits commensurate with having a career. We have a very simple and ambitious vision: To be Thanet's first choice domiciliary care provider for customers and carers.

If you'd like to be a part of our future, contact us today.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.