What we do

We encourage everyone to become part of our community

Our residential, care homes in Burton-on-Trent will support individuals in a dementia-friendly environment, using an individual care plan (ICP), and with compassion and dignity. The care plan will be completed before you, or your loved one, move into the home.

We will sit down and talk to everyone involved to work out a detailed, personalised care plan. It will set out the level of care you or your loved one is to receive and covers aspects such as personal routine, medication, and personal care needs. It also enables us to explore the individual’s tastes, interests and personality.

It may be as simple as preferring to be called ‘Mrs Smith’ rather than by a first name. It could be that an individual prefers getting up at 8am, rather than 7.30 am. These details help us to get everything just right and make the transition that much easier.

Our homes have close links with local community and hospital services including dental, doctors, community psychiatric and district nurses.  We work in partnership with community healthcare specialists to supplement the care that we provide.

It’s not just the day-to-day things we like to find out about. Our person-centred approach also means we want to gather information about the person’s background and past; their achievements and significant milestones in their life.

A vital resource for us is their life story. This is hugely valuable, especially for a person with dementia, and we note down their likes and dislikes, interests, family background and history. It’s something we all enjoy and is a very effective way of connecting with the people we are caring for.

We take the time to listen to the person and their family. The life story enables us to strike up a conversation or trigger a reminiscence which can help to make the person feel included and valued. In this way, we can help people to restore identity and improve self-esteem. We also keep records, so that if someone new comes to support them, they too will know the person’s story.

The benefits of life story work are immense, but one significant aspect can be in understanding behaviour. Why people behave the way they do is especially difficult to understand if their actions are hostile, angry and upsetting.

Our psychologist works with the people we support, their families and other professionals to find ways to keep relationships and communications open. Complex behaviours usually stems from an unmet need, by understanding that need we can influence and minimise the behaviour and, in some cases, prevent it happening.

On a more practical level, we also like to understand how someone wants to spend their time, so we can try to reflect that in their daily life with us. Maybe it’s an early morning cup of tea in bed, or we might discover that afternoon detective shows are their secret indulgence.

Our policies of openness and respect permeate through all our actions. We encourage everyone who lives here and their loved ones to express their opinions, suggestions, compliments, concerns or complaints.

We take all comments seriously and use this feedback as a way of monitoring and improving standards. This openness is a core part of our approach, the people we support always come first. 

We improve lives by pushing the boundaries of care

At Bridge, Burton and Trent Court our mission is to consistently provide the best quality, person-centred and holistic care for working-age and older adults living with mental health issues, complex behaviours and dementia – enabling and empowering them to live fulfilling lives in comfort, safety and with dignity.

Our Pledge to you:

• We will respect and treat you as an individual
• We will involve you in all your care decisions
• We will listen to you and act upon your requests
• We will meet your cultural, emotional and spiritual needs

We are responsible for people’s lives and with this comes an enormous opportunity to help people live happily in an environment of trust and care. We seek to deliver the best care for the people who have placed their trust in us – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With the people we support, the care we provide, and our colleagues at our core, we live these values:

Values

Holistic – We employ professionals to ensure we treat the whole person. These include: community psychiatrists, dieticians, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, fall prevention nurses, reiki practioners, occupational therapists and reflexologists as well as the community mental health team, the local GP service and allied community professionals.

Person-centred – Our ladies and gentlemen receive tailored care for their individual needs. Good health and wellbeing is our priority. We work together with the person and their loved ones to ensure we cover every aspect of need and regularly review care plans. Everyone is cared for with dignity, respect and empathy.

Safe – All of our staff members are DBS checked. We have strict health and safety policies and procedures in place and regularly monitor these to ensure the highest level of safety in our homes.

Familiar – We encourage our ladies and gentlemen to decorate their rooms and bring personal effects to the home, with a clear transition period from home to home arranged to suit the individual and their loved ones. We encourage continuity of relationships and welcome loved ones to visit the home as often as possible.

Community – We believe that a thriving community is the foundation of a happy home. We help individuals to socialise by sharing mealtimes, events, visits to local amenities and relaxation time together.

Independence – We place great emphasis on developing an individual’s skills rather than focusing on their diagnosis. We encourage personal care wherever possible to ensure our ladies and gentlemen remain independent for as long as possible.

Quality – Our dedicated registered managers and matrons make sure that care is consistently delivered to the very highest standards. Our recruitment process ensures that we employ good people who we train to the highest standards. We act on feedback – adopting and creating improved care practices to provide the best quality of life for our ladies and gentlemen and for everyone involved in their care.

Empathy – We look for natural empathy in each person we employ. We believe that empathy is as important as qualifications and training.

Respect – We respect each other and our individual skills and opinions. We listen to and encourage our ladies and gentlemen and treat them as we would wish to be treated.

Dignity – We place the dignity of those we care for at the heart of our practices. We create detailed individualised care plans and plan for end of life care with the person and their loved ones, to ensure the dignity of the person is upheld at all stages of their care.

Internal

Our dedicated registered managers and matrons ensure that care is consistently delivered to the very highest standards. We believe that the most important measurement of quality is feedback from you and your loved ones, from healthcare professionals and from our staff. We ask for your opinion not just once a year in a survey, but every day, and we listen and act to ensure that we can meet expectations in a timely fashion. Our internal quality standards also cover health and safety and training.

External

Bridge, Burton and Trent Courts have over a decade of experience in caring for those living with mental health issues, complex behaviours, dementia and physical needs. We are highly rated, not only by our ladies and gentlemen and their loved ones but also by Care Quality Commission.

Any report of dissatisfaction with our service will be treated very seriously. We endeavour to deal with any issues quickly and efficiently. We reflect and learn from these experiences and share our knowledge.

Our manager is always happy to talk to you.