Doveleigh Care is a leading light in the residential care sector. Over the last few years, its three care homes in Sidmouth, Seaton and Colyton (Arcot House, Dove Court and Doveridge) have consistently achieved the highest possible ratings from the national watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, and won a string of awards for excellence.

According to Senior Manager, Samantha Evens, the key to this success is having the right staff and making sure they know how valued they are. Sidmouth Nub News asked Samantha to tell us a bit more about what she looks for in her employees and how the company shows its appreciation.

How many staff do you have across the three homes, and what are their roles?

The Director has never used agency staff. Our thinking behind this is because it is important that our residents always know who is looking after them for consistency and for our carers to be able to have the best care possible on an individual basis.

I feel it takes someone who is caring, understanding, flexible and a good listener to make an excellent carer. We are fortunate to have such an excellent team at Doveleigh Care. Each and every one of our staff brings something special and different to our team.

Our staff always go that extra mile with their day-to-day role and with their additional roles of Keyworkers and Ambassadors. For example, one resident loved to have fish and chips from the local chippy. As they are presently unable to attend, their keyworker brought some to them, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

The Covid pandemic has posed immense challenges to care home managers and staff. How have you all coped? What particular strengths did it bring out in your staff? Can you give some examples of how they've gone out of their way to help residents and their families?

Showing staff that they are valued

You obviously appreciate your staff very much - how do you express that appreciation? For example, do you celebrate their birthdays, recognise their work achievements, etc?

We celebrate staff birthdays with a card and a birthday cake and a singalong with residents and other staff. All staff are rewarded on a daily basis with praise from management and we also give loyalty service badges after one year. On their five, 10, 15 and 20 year anniversaries they awarded a certificate and a bonus for their continuous employment and loyalty.

We have a monthly bonus scheme where we put staff forward for covering shifts at short notice, or excellent feedback from residents/relatives indicating where staff have gone that extra mile. We also have an annual overtime bonus which staff receive in December, just prior to Christmas.

We celebrate mental wellbeing and have staff appreciation days with small gifts to show how much we value our staff. We have 'Wow Walls' in the care homes where we praise each other and share feedback. We recently rewarded our staff with personalised Lockdown Hero medals and a certificate of appreciation. For Christmas, every staff member received a Christmas Hamper from the Director, which was handpicked by him and management.

Here are some of the awards and accolades Doveleigh Care, its homes and management staff have achieved in recent years:

September 2014 Dove Court, Seaton CQC Outstanding (2 domains)

May 2017 Arcot House, Sidmouth CQC Outstanding (all 5 domains)

November 2017 Doveleigh Care Ltd NCA Winner - National Care Home Group 2017

November 2018 Doveleigh Care Ltd GBCA Winner - Regional Care Home Group 2018

September 2019 Dove Court, Seaton CQC Outstanding (3 domains)

November 2019 Samantha Evens NCA Finalist – National Care Home Manager 2019

November 2020 Amy Burt NCA Winner – National Area Manager 2020

November 2020 Arcot House, Sidmouth NCA Finalist - National Care Home 2020

In addition to the above, Doveleigh Care Ltd, as a care home group provider, has been awarded National Top Twenty status from reviews received by carehome.co.uk for each of the last six consecutive years.

Read more: Two Doveleigh Care managers come top in national awards scheme