News

Over the past two years the healthcare industry has experienced a transformation in many areas. Despite significant advancements in medical care, obstacles and challenges have emerged alongside them.

As a supplier to the industry, we are always keeping tabs on all aspects of healthcare. Here’s our take on what challenges the healthcare industry faces this year.

An Ageing & Diverse Workforce

A look into the demographics of the NHS workforce reveal imbalance and age gaps between staff members. The NHS has a disproportionate number of older staff of which 30,000 retire each year.

The NHS Annual Inclusion Report 2021-22 reports that just under 80% of its staff members are aged 46-60, with 8% aged 61-65. The statistics highlight the dire need for new starters under the age of 30.

As well as this, social responsibility challenges the NHS and healthcare providers to look at the stratification of its workforce in terms of age, gender, disability, and ethnicity.

Consequently, the NHS aims to reshape its workforce, pledging to improve staff diversity by 2025. The NHS have endorsed targets which will help to increase staff of all minorities and aim to reduce an ageing sector.

Rising Inflation

The aftermath of COVID-19, the task of clearing the NHS’s backlog, and improving services has become an ever-increasingly difficult task due to the current economy and rising inflation.  

A key question faced by healthcare providers is how they can improve care, whilst ensuring value for money and keeping up with the rising cost of living.

It has been predicted that NHS day-to-day spending will increase by an average of 3.6% over the next three years, a catastrophic statistic which will only apply more budgetary pressure to an overstretched organisation.

The introduction of the Health and Social Care Levy will attempt to provide additional funding for this sector. It will also place a new cap on care costs and wider improvements to the social care system. Hopefully, the industry will start to see positive developments as a result of the legislation.

Technological Advancements

A digital transformation in healthcare is also here, a process which has been accelerated by the recent pandemic.

Numerous core services have become digitalised, with a growing number of patients seeking treatment for minor ailments through remote video calls with their GPs.

However, facilitating the utilisation of these new advancements into service delivery is a task which requires staff members to have a greater understanding of how the technology works. This is only adding to staff shortages.

In June 2022, the government published a policy paper titled ‘Data Saves Lives’. It aims to feasibly implement new technology that will save NHS spending and create a smoother integration process for staff.

Overall, technological advancements should not be underestimated. They will fundamentally change the way staff work, requiring them work in new ways or in entirely new roles.

How can Andway Help Healthcare Providers?

With our Healthcare in Hand initiative and Experience Level Agreement, Andway can help you improve as a healthcare provider.

Providing cost control, a reliable and responsive service to all of our customers, we will partner with you to ensure you are given personalised and unrivalled assistance in your Care Home.

Regardless of our age, we all strive for independence and enjoy the range of benefits that come with it. From helping to improve physical and mental health, to boosting confidence and self-esteem, independence gives us a sense of purpose and a better overall quality of life.

It is essential that older people are supported to remain as healthy and independent as possible for as long as possible and receive the highest quality of care when they need it.

While ageing can make independent living more challenging, there are various ways we can support individuals living in care homes to maintain independence in their old age.

Creating Safe and Accessible Living Spaces for Seniors

Senior living has evolved in recent years. Advancements in physical environments, services and technology have transformed the care homes of the past into attractive, comfortable and enjoyable living spaces for senior residents.

By introducing some of the following solutions, independent living can be achievable to many:

•       Medical Alert Systems

Medical alert systems are commonly used in care home and hospital settings to ensure residents’ needs are monitored. Having a medical alert system in place enables seniors to continue living independently, safe in the knowledge that an emergency dispatch, nurse or caregiver can be called for with just the touch of a button.

•       Care Home Modifications

Simple modifications can help seniors living in care homes to maintain a safer and more independent life by minimising the risk of falling and serious injury. Examples of minor modifications include grab rails and toilet aids, which enable various needs, hygiene and otherwise, to be fulfilled independently, and ramps/stairlifts, which are especially useful for seniors living with conditions affecting mobility, such as Parkinson’s, osteoporosis or arthritis.

•       Independent Living Aids

Independent living aids help seniors to remain self-reliant by taking care of simple daily activities. From teapot tippers to tap turners, there are a huge range of independent living products on the market that are designed to assist individuals with strength or mobility issues and boost confidence in the process.

Planning For Safety

Maintaining a safe environment is not only paramount to preventing injury but also to ensuring independence for seniors whose cognitive abilities may be impaired.

Care homes should be equipped with all the necessary fire safety equipment, including specialist smoke alarms, which are especially important for individuals with hearing or visual difficulties, and carbon monoxide detectors. Staff should also be trained specifically in fire safety practises for vulnerable residents.

Working With You to Ensure Independence for Seniors

At Andway Healthcare, we specialise in the provision of products and services designed to facilitate independence in care home environments. Our products are easily applied to a variety of care settings, helping your staff to provide the highest quality of care and the fastest possible response in the event of an emergency.

For expert advice regarding our product range, or to arrange a full site visit, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The 16 to 22 May 2022 marks Dementia Awareness Week in the UK. Organised by the Alzheimer’s Society, it is the largest and longest running campaign by the charity and aims to encourage greater awareness of the condition. The focus this year is on diagnosis, with a range of ways to get involved.

Part of the purpose of the campaign is to dispel the many myths surrounding dementia, such as the symptoms being normal to aging. It is a progressive disease that damages the nerve cells within the brain, affecting memory, communication, and concentration, as well as personality and emotions.

For care homes, providing the right support for residents with dementia is crucial. While many of the initial symptoms are similar between patients, the condition can progress in varying ways, making individualised care provision even more important. One of the main considerations is environment.

Caring for Dementia Residents

Living with dementia requires making changes to everyday life, from washing and eating to hobbies and socialising. Care homes can support dementia residents by introducing small adjustments to interior living spaces, particularly those used most regularly such as the bedroom and bathroom.

Perception can often become confused, turning otherwise ordinary features into sources of concern – for example, having lights that are too bright or dim can be unsettling, or storing items away where they are easily forgotten. Working to an individual’s needs is important when making modifications.

Creating Dementia-Friendly Interiors

The safety of care home residents is always a primary concern, but for people with dementia, there are often extra requirements to help minimise risk. Additions such as non-slip vinyl flooring, fold-away mirrors, and soft surface furnishings can be included in rooms to prevent accident and injury.

Visibility should also be a key point to reduce confusion for dementia residents. Furniture should have a clear function and be well spaced around a room. Contrasting colours can help identify pieces from the walls and floors, while open or clear-fronted wardrobes and cupboards can also be helpful.

Aesthetics are also important for both practicality and wellbeing. Traditional styles and subtle shades of the ‘dementia colours’ – red, blue and green – can help with both spatial awareness and memory. Less is more as it can help reduce the confusion caused by clutter and create a more calming space.

Care Home Furniture Solutions

At Andway Healthcare, we specialise in providing a wide range of products and services suitable for care homes, including dementia-friendly options. One recent addition is our Contour dementia range of bedroom furniture, which has been designed with resident safety, visibility, and reliability in mind.

The Contour set features a double wardrobe, a three-drawer chest, and a three-drawer bedside unit. With handle-free easy opening, dementia residents can quickly and easily see what is inside, while the traditional style aids with memory and recognition. Every piece has rounded corners for safety and the bedside cabinet can be locked for security. Get in touch with our team to find out more.

Andway Healthcare

Infection Control Support in 2021 and beyond

With over 20 years experience in the care industry, Andway’s vision has always been to transform the standard of service within the care industry, by providing an unrivalled and personalised service. This customer-centric approach has been tested to the max over the last 12 months with global supply chain disruption and the avalanche of ever-evolving guideline changes applicable to care homes. 

However, Head of Sales, Jay Ledgeway and his team have been galvanised by the impact of the pandemic on their customers, to reach out to care homes and to develop and provide a whole new level of support. He feels this will now need to become the industry norm, particularly in the area of infection prevention and control (IPC).

IPC advice & support

Over the last year the care industry has seen multiple, and at times, confusing guideline introductions and changes, from organisations such as WHO, PHE and subsequently CQC and there have been many incidents of panic buying, and a jammed switchboard with customers  looking for help in clarifying compliant products.

The marketplace was also subject to ‘new players’, particularly online, and as could be seen by the governments mask supply issues, it was incredibly easy to buy a non-compliant product.

Working with both established and emerging suppliers, Andway saw a clear need to develop and publish impartial guides to help care home managers and care home owners make the right and informed choices. The growing download suite now includes guides to Gloves, Masks, Sanitisation vs Disinfectant vs Anti-Virucidal cleaning, Wipes, IPC and Laundry.

2021 and Introduction of an XLA

The reaction to this impartial and informed support was the platform to create and launch in January 2021 a 5-pronged proactive way of working together titled an XLA (Experience Level Agreement). Inclusive of Customer Care, Cost Control, Compliance, Accessibility and Supply, the XLA embodies how the team approach and operate within all customer interactions and services.

Jay Ledgeway ‘I can now see that the level of service afforded to care homes has pivoted to a new norm, with no place left for anything less than a partnership approach to problem solving, working together on care home priorities and supporting the management in every way possible. This is particularly important in the infection prevention and control arena’.   

Cost reduction in IPC 

In a recent customer survey, over 47% of respondents stated an urgent need to reduce costs in infection control, with budgets having spiralled out of all control, particularly in the early months of the pandemic.

Usage audits and spend reports

Having always worked with customers to help them monitor usage and spend vs budgets, this has now developed into an Infection Control Audit service, which allows each site to review usage of all infection control including PPE products with a view to streamlining and improving efficacy at the same time.  

PIC and laundry

In this COVID era laundry considerations are again under scrutiny by many care homes and care environments to avoid the risk of infection through clothing and bedding.

 The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says Coronavirus is typically transmitted through respiratory droplets (from an infected person sneezing or coughing) rather than through objects and materials that can transfer the virus if they become contaminated. However, CDC guidelines also note that the virus may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials, including clothing. We have seen a plethora of advice and claims that additional sanitising products need to be added to a wash, leaving care homes having to make decisions which impact both cost and staff training time. Our position has again been to provide impartial advice on a detergent-based wash regime which will kill enveloped viruses without the need for additional and budget-breaking products.      

IPC and furniture

As a result of the pandemic increases in cleaning regimes are now the norm and again care homes have needed impartial help in understanding if their existing cleaning products adhere to any new guidelines around furniture cleaning or in selecting new products.

IPC product consolidation

A key feature of the XLA is to work with each customer going forward to consolidate product lines, focusing on infection control in the first instance as this is the second largest overspend next to staffing costs in most care homes. 

IPC budgeting support

Care homes are offered budgeting support and insights using the results from audits, usage metrics, consolidation reviews in conjunction with management consultations and discussions.  

Regulatory support

All care homes are kept up to date with changes in guidelines and how these affect product and service choices.

IPC Innovation

The care home market now has an even wider choice of IPC products and services, from anti-viral door handles to air sterilisers and Andway understand the responsibility they hold to be able to help and advise their customers accordingly.

With so many businesses pivoting to a digital-only offering, Jay and the team at Andway believe that working together on literally life-threatening issues such as IPC can only be approached as a combined and personalised responsibility, a million miles removed from the traditional buyer-supplier relationship. The stakes are simply too high.

Contact details

Jay Ledgeway Head of Sales       

01423 331000

www.andwayhealthcare.com

We recently produced an Infection Control Guide, detailing the current regulations around cleaning chemicals and Covid 19. 

Following on from this, we would now like to offer you our Infection Control and Furniture Guide to download for free.

In this guide we explain the considerations which care home settings now have to take when choosing and maintaining furniture. If you'd like to download the guide please click below: 

Infection Control And furniture Guide:

Andway's Finance team have had an exciting month with a double win of employee awards!

Firstly we celebrated Elaine, our Accounts Administrator, picking up the Employee of the Month award. Followed shortly after by Finance Manager Nicky winning Manager of the Month!

Congratulations team Finance (shown here in their working from home set ups)

In our recent survey, 47.6% of participants stated that they were aiming to change their spend on 'Infection Control' in the coming year. 

We want to help you choose the right products for your care home, and part of this is ensuring that your disinfectants and cleaning products are the highest possible quality to help fight against Covid-19.

What is EN 14476?

EN 14476 certification means the cleaning product contains antiviral ingredients and is required to kill viruses.

There is no current test to assess the specific SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, testing against EN14476 can confirm 99.99% kill against all Enveloped Viruses including the Coronavirus family of viruses.

Which products meet EN 14476 standard?

View Andway's  EN 14476 infection control products

Download our Infection Control Guide to find about the current advice around infection control and which Andway products have been EN 14476 certified.

Download our infection control guide here

And the winner is... Kathryn!

Congratulations to Kathryn Smith from our Customer Service team for winning the first 'Employee of the Month' Award for 2021. Kathryn was nominated for always going above and beyond to help our customers as well as her colleagues.

Kathryn spun our wheel of fortune and managed to land herself the star prize!

Are you guaranteed a fast and effective LOLER service?

We know when it comes to care home equipment, reliability and efficiency is key. Care providers need safe, functioning equipment to effectively care for residents, as well as the guarantee of a rapid repairs service to reduce or avoid downtime.

How can we help? 

We partner with our customers, communicating in advance of, and after, any work which needs to be completed. This allows us to offer a fast, one-stop solution to any LOLER, servicing, maintenance or equipment repairs.

Our Servicing helpdesk provides over-the-phone support to customers with the aim of solving any equipment issues without calling out an engineer.

If our engineers are needed, they rapidly respond to call outs and carry essential parts so they can fix your issues there and then wherever possible.

Would you like to find out about our fast and reliable LOLER service?

Call our team on 01423 331000 now