We operate in small teams where we know each other very well, especially in work context thus we know how staff complement each other. 

We empower our staff to work unsupervised as much as possible, plan their day with the resident, and manage their time without being followed around, whilst bearing accountability in mind. Our residents spend hours out in the community with staff and we care about their safety which is why the right skills are important to us.

Our recruitment, learning and development strategies are designed to ensure that we have quality mixed skills that are required to provide quality care that is centered around personal needs of each resident.

Days are not the same at Anna House, our residents engage in a range of activities each weak thus the scheduled activities shape the staff’s day. During day time you hardly find staff and the residents in the house which is why we place value on the skills of our staff as they are in the community with the residents most of the time. 

We have a flexible Rota and therefore our staff can choose which days to work. Management staff are on sight Monday to Friday and on call over the weekend, ready to support staff when the need arise.

We run small homes and conflicts are dealt with on per home basis. Conflicts and work politics are very rare in our home as we have few people on each shift and they spend most of the day in the community and not in the house. We have clear procedures of conveying information and clear policies on processing complaints. Staff meet in handovers before the start of each shift and discuss things out. We also hold monthly staff meetings where further discussions are held, reviews done, and suggestions and feedbacks given.

The Supported Living Service provides an environment that is supportive and responds to the need to safeguard our tenants. We support and assist our residents when doing tasks that have risk attached, such as cooking. We ensure that both staff and residents are up to date with safety procedures in the home through regular trainings, checks and accurate documentations and secure information storage. 

We safeguard residents, wherever practicable, from all forms of abuse and from all possible abusers both at home and in the community. 

We ensure that our staff are safe by firmly following our risk management policies, and by thoroughly training and refreshing staff’s risk management skills. 

The sizes of our homes give a really home from home experience. Our residents leave in small homes with a real home setup, doing everything that is done at home; cooking, cleaning, chatting or playing together and so on, all supervised by skilled and caring staff. 

The small number of residents that we accommodate also means that we get to know each other (both residents and staff) really well. Our staff understand that team ethos is a major part of our culture, and each one of them do their part respectively.

Our residents, their families and the community participate in planning how their needs are met. Families are a part of our team, and they participate within their abilities and safety boundaries.

We empower and not disable residents by cutting corners or doing everything for them. Nothing is planned or done without proper agreement and involvement of the residents. We support them to do what they can, and assist them with what they cannot do. We don’t force decisions on our residents. They are involved every step; whether it is what to eat for lunch, where to go for the day or what to wear. 

Anna House understands the importance of integrating service for delivery of a holistic care. Other than making residents’ families an integral part of Anna House family, we also work in corporation with many other bodies and share information where there is a requirement and safety to do so.

Other professionals we work with include; different NHS arms, local community including schools, sports centers, social services, religious communities, charities etc.

Our staff showed an exemplary resilience in the face of Covid-19 pandemic, whilst putting a responsibility on Anna House of ensuring that they did not fall victims while caring at a time that their professional was the riskiest.  Anna House ensured that staff did not contaminate themselves in public transport thus they were all picked from their homes by Ann House driver throughout the pandemic.

Anna House also ensured that staff lucked nothing by shopping food items for staff as well as supporting them with nonrefundable extra income so that they did not pause the risk of cross-contamination by working in other homes. 

All NHS guidelines were strictly followed; PPEs, sanitizations, hands washing, social distancing, home lockdown, and, PCR & LFT were performed as guided. Due to this stringency, the lives of all Anna House residents and staff members were preserved.

Anna House invested in equipment and trainings to ensured that staff and resident were equipped with the latest Covid-19 knowledge, coping skills, and safety.

Anna House remains alert and ready to implement recommended preventative measure to fighting infections.

One of our utmost responsibilities is to ensure that our residents’ mental and physical needs are well looked after by authorized professionals, among them GPs, dentists, psychiatrists, and other necessary therapists. Their social needs are met through a range of activities in the community and at home. No one day is the same, and our residents are rarely at home.

There are no dull moments for our staff either, as they are always a part of our residents’ day.

Our high staffing level and job flexibility sees the record of both mental and physical stress almost non-existent. We have zero record of staff having reported to be under work related stress or burnout. We however are able to arrange professional psychological support for our staff if this need ever arise.

If a staff is feeling tired due to many activities especially with young residents, they are allowed to take a breather. In our adult home, we provide a quiet break-out space where a staff can isolate and calm down.

We conduct supervisions and appraisal every month which include assessing our staff’s emotional state and job satisfaction.

We appreciate our staff’s hard work throughout the year with a token of thank you and a staff party at the end of the year. We celebrate each of our staff’s and resident’s bithdays and host barbecues that are attended by both staff and residents’ faimilies and friends. We always have our eyes on outstanding staff so that we can award hard work.