Welshwood Manor in Parsons Heath, Colchester, completed a range of training, shadowing and critical friend visits provided by St Helena through its Hospice Education programme, to develop the skills of their workforce and achieve best practice in end of life care.

Nicole Sealey, Care Coordinator at Welshwood Manor, said:

“St Helena have provided us with this whole new experience, which helped widen our knowledge and hearts around palliative and end-of-life care. This massively helped us as a home, by supporting our residents, their families and our carers when facing incurable illnesses or bereavement. 

“The My Care Choices Register gave our residents and their families time to empower them to plan and share their feelings and choices around future wishes.

“Mel from St Helena Hospice, was just so welcoming, warm, and compassionate. She really did go above and beyond for our home, to help support and direct us in the right direction around on how to provide the best palliative and end-of-life service for our residents. This experience meant a lot to us, and it has helped us grow as a home. We did not only just get an experience out of it, but we met new people along the way and made new friendly connections. It helped brings communities together.

“The Hospice Education accredited certification shows clients, families and professionals that care homes and care agencies have undertaken quality training from experts in palliative and end of life care.”

To achieve accreditation several requirements must be met and the care home must have a Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating of good or above.