Cedars Care Home has triumphed over hundreds of other entrants to win several prestigious awards at this year’s East of England regional final of the Great British Care awards. We have also been recognised by the Gold Standards Framework for the excellence of our end-of-life care.
Our manager Victor Zingoni and several members of staff joined others at a glitzy ceremony at the East of England Arena, Peterborough, recently where the winners of 24 categories were announced. These awards celebrate excellence across the sector, promoting best practice within the care home industry and lauding the contribution of outstanding individuals. Cedars reached the final in six categories, winning three and being highly commended in a further two.
Victor was named as the region’s Care Home Registered Manager, earning high praise from the judging panel which said: “Victor was very passionate to show me how he works and supports his team and residents. He works within the CQC guidelines. His staff and residents have all pulled together to make a great team”.
Our activities organiser Debbie Day won The Outstanding Contribution to Social Care Award. The judges described her as “a great ambassador for the Great British Care Awards” who, despite multiple wins, is “very humble”, putting “colleagues and residents first and giving her all to them as well as to the families”.
To her surprise and delight, Debbie also received The Palliative Care/End of Life Award. “Debbie is passionate and very respectful. She is an absolute worthy winner and really tries to put people and their families first to make what can be an awful time as good as it can be,” commented the judges.
This is the third time that Debbie, who has worked at Cedars for nine years, has won the regional award for her work as our End of Life Lead. She also won the overall award at the national finals in 2020. This difficult and responsible role involves the planning and co-ordination of end-of-life-care, ensuring that residents’ final wishes are upheld, supporting their families and communicating with medical professionals.
We’re delighted, too, that Cedars has recently been re-accredited as part of the National Gold Standards Framework, which sets out the required standard of care for people nearing the end of their life. The home so impressed the assessors that it achieved a near perfect score, earning a platinum award.
Debbie also received a highly commended in the Care Home Activities Organiser category while the home achieved a highly commended in the Care Home Team category. The judges were particularly struck by Cedars’ “great togetherness” as well as the home’s passion and determination to “keep their residents happy”.
Victor says: “It is an honour for Cedars to have been recognised with three awards and also be highly commended in the Care Home Team and Activities Organiser categories. I couldn’t be more delighted about Debbie’s success, too – she is a very worthy winner of both awards. As a team we work hard to achieve a high standard of personalised care at the right time and try to embody the National Gold Standard in everything we do. For us it’s a whole home approach and we all have our part to play. I’m very proud of Debbie and Team Cedars for all their hard work which has made possible both the accreditation and winning these wonderful awards.”
Debbie says: “I feel immensely privileged to have won these awards, which is amazing. I am also honoured to have represented Cedars at the Great British Care Awards which do so much for the industry, showcasing the many special things about care. Everyone in the home is involved at someone’s end of life – from the domestic and kitchen staff through to the palliative care nurses. At Cedars we get to know the residents well. We understand what they need and put things in place for their final days.”
Victor and Debbie will go through to the Great British Care Awards final at the ICC in Birmingham on 20 March 2020.
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