Northern Ireland’s first ‘Lifestyle Care Home’, Milesian Manor, has exceeded all targets having reached an 80 per cent occupancy, created two new jobs and scooped two major industry awards, all within three months of opening.
The care home, which officially opened in May 2018, has already received two highly coveted industry awards, scooping the Randox Health Care Home of the Year and the Nursing Home of the Year at the Staff Nursing Ltd Awards. It’s point of difference is that it boasts a bar, beauty and hair salon, spa bathroom, café and even a cinema, along with a wellness garden with the aim of giving people in their formative years and exceptional quality of life combined with first-class care.
Located in Magherafelt, the new-concept care home is a first-of-its-kind in Northern Ireland providing older people with a lifestyle-inspired home in which to fully enjoy their formative years. The home focuses on providing residents with a collection of specially created spaces reflecting the activities they would have enjoyed previously along with a full programme of daily activities, encouraging independence and a life full of enjoyment ensuring the experience provides a positive one, not only for the residents but their relatives too who are encouraged to play a big role in their older relations lives.
The expert care on offer ranges from residential, respite, nursing and dementia care along with the Milesian Day Club which offers an escape a relaxing support for residents and their families who need more interaction but are still able to live at home. There are over 50 dedicated staff ranging from mental specialised nurses to fully-trained carers, activity staff, a dedicated lifestyle team along with in-house cooks creating wonderful fresh home-cooked food on a daily basis and housekeeping staff to ensure all residents needs are not only met but exceeded.
Owned and operated by the multi–award winning, Macklin Group, who have been successfully operating care homes in Northern Ireland for the last 32 years, Cara Macklin, director, said: “At Milesian Manor we set out to exceed all expectations and create something very unique, having researched this concept extensively for a number of years to ensure it not only met all nursing, health care and industry standards but that it provided a benchmark for excellence in care for the elderly.
“We also consulted with a number of international care experts on a global scale to bring the next generation of care-home to the heart of Ulster. We are delighted with the findings from our research and feedback tells us that we have created a home which makes a real difference to the lives of those living with us.
“We took on board international best-practice principles from homes in Asia, Australia and the UK and sought to create a modern, yet homely place where people who can’t or no longer wish to live alone can fully enjoy their later years.
“We have a very strong and dedicated team, each of whom has played an integral role in making Milesian Manor the home it is today, and who we have invested in an additional 2,000 hours training over the last year.
“We have new enquiries daily and have had such fantastic feedback from our residents and their families who have peace of mind that their loved ones are enjoying their lives at Milesian while getting their nursing and or dementia needs met.”
An innovative organisation, Milesian Manor is making sure their residents have the best of everything, from the care they receive to the setting they live in and the entertainment they enjoy.
Cara goes on to explain, “Innovation is at the heart of what we do and one of the things we have strived to do is to exceed what is deemed normal, for example we have created the role of a full time Lifestyle Co-ordinator.
“This role is the Head of lifestyle and social interaction within the home, across all the staff internally and also managing external relationships such as volunteers, schools and community groups and coming in. Their role is also to organise events and activities within the home and we are delivering an exceptional programme of activities for our residents which includes Mindfulness and YOPI, a form of Yoga specifically designed for older people.
“Our residents are really enjoying it and most importantly benefitting from it both mentally and physically.
“Secondly, we have also employed a full time Business and Community Engagement Co-ordinator. This role is linking with the community and building relationships with external stakeholders, we are seeing a lot of exciting developments come from this and we’re looking forward to the very special relationships that are being built with our local community as a result.”
Cara concluded: “In Northern Ireland, there is increased demand for exceptional nursing homes and this will only increase as our population ages, at Milesian Manor we hope to be ahead of the game and offer tomorrow’s nursing home today.”
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