Three Norfolk care homes have received a visit from Deborah Sturdy, the first Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, in recognition of their achievements in a care home development programme that has seen them become centres of community learning.

The care homes are part of the Norfolk and Waveney Teaching and Learning Care Home (N&W TLCH) programme. It was commissioned by the former NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group in 2021 and is being co-facilitated by the Foundation of Nursing Studies and the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Centred around ‘A Good Care Experience’, the programme supports participating homes to build upon an ongoing commitment to person-centred care and working to actively engage with the community to support education and learning for staff and students.

The N&W TLCH programme is working with three care homes providing nursing care. The participating care homes visited by Ms. Sturdy have chosen to focus on falls prevention and end of life care, which are local priorities identified in the Enhanced Health in Care Home framework. The projects are at different stages of development, what is emerging is the ‘reach’ and potential to work across traditional boundaries leading to better, person-centred outcomes and ways of working.

The care homes have become centres for learning, practice development and evaluation activity, actively engaging with staff, students, residents, and the community. As a TLCH they will work across sectors and systems and will be a resource for other care homes to support learning and development across the wider community.

Ms. Sturdy visited Holmwood House in Swaffham, Hassingham House in Hingham, and Oakwood House in Norwich, where she met with managers and residents, and had a chance to see the positive developments taking place within the homes since the programme commenced in February 2022.

Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse of Social Care at the Department of Health and Social Care, said “It has been so inspiring to visit these care homes and see the impressive work that has been undertaken to benefit residents and improve learning and development opportunities not just for the staff, but for others working in social care in the wider community as well.

“It’s wonderful to see the outcomes of the TLCH, which is a progressive development and learning programme that’s driving improvements within the sector and helping to raise the profile of social care as a rewarding career choice.”

Jonathan Webster, Professor of Practice Development, Norfolk Initiative for Costal and Rural Health Equalities (NICHE), School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UEA, said:

‘It’s a privilege working with the care homes that are part of the TLCH programme. The shared learning with and from the participating homes on the programme is immense. As a vibrant learning community, they are championing their work, the sector and profile of the importance of skilled, person-centred nursing and interdisciplinary working in social care as part of the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.”

The Teaching and Learning Care Home Programme will run until July 2023, and during that time the four participating homes will continue to be centres for learning, sharing, and development for staff, students and residents to access as a community resource.