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.