Black Swan Care Awards 2024
We are delighted to confirm that the first Black Swan Care Awards will take place on Thursday 7th November 2024 at Dunston Hall in Norwich.
The awards will recognise and celebrate the wonderful work that our staff do for and with our residents.
Nominations for the 14 categories are now open until the closing date of Friday 30th August.
Entries can be submitted here.
There will be 14 categories open for entry. Full details of each category and details are listed below. Please complete the nomination form with as much information and examples as possible. Judging of the nominations will be based solely on the information provided.
- Commitment to Training Award
- Community / Partnership Initiative Award
- New to Care Award
- Maintenance Award
- Learning Disabilities Outcomes Award
- Dementia Care Outcomes Award
- Positive Outcomes in a Care Role Award
- Positive Outcomes in Supporting Homes at Night Award
- Remote Support of our Care Homes Award
- Domestic Award
- Catering Award
- Activities Award
- Residents' and Relatives' Choice Award
- Motivational Leadership Award
Below is a full description of each category and indications of what the judges will be looking for from a nomination.
The winner of this award will be a home or individual who can demonstrate how they have embraced training and development to enhance the lives of residents at their home. They will have been motivated to succeed in mandatory areas of training and supported colleagues to attain the best possible results for their home. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home or to a home as a whole.
Nominations could include details of:
- Consistently high results or significant improvement in training records and how this has been achieved
- Examples of additional training that they have undertaken to enhance the lives of residents
- The impact on the lives of residents as a result of the levels of training
- How they intend to maintain the levels of compliance.
The winner of this award will be a home or individual who has worked to raise awareness of their home in their local area. The nominations could include explanations of specific activities that have been done, names of individuals, groups or organisations involved and the impact that this has had on residents at the home. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home or to a home as a whole.
Nominations could include details of:
- the initiatives delivered
- how they are planned and promoted at the home and in the community
- how many people are engaged at the home and from the community
- the impact that the activities have had on the residents at the home
- what the lasting benefits are for the home and the local community.
This award will be presented to a member of staff who is new to the care sector. They will be able to show a good understanding of their role and how they have made a positive impact in the home, enhancing the wellbeing of residents. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home, and not limited to those in a Care Worker role.
Nominations could include examples of how the individual:
- Shows a good understanding of their role including person-centred care, empathy, compassion and responsiveness
- Proactively identifies ways to improve the care of residents
- Seeks opportunities to improve their knowledge and in developing a career in social care with Black Swan
- Has made a positive impact at a home with their personality.
The winner of this award will be an individual who consistently provides an exceptionally high-quality service in their role. They will be able to show how they have made a positive impact at the home by making improvements to the environment, internal areas and outside space at the home. This award is open to staff in all roles from Black Swan, and not limited to those in a Maintenance role.
Nominations could include examples of:
- Improvements made at the home that improve residents’ lives (e.g. this may be a redesign of an area of the home or the outside space)
- Their understanding of good standards of health and safety legislation, hygiene and environmental health
- How their interaction with residents at the home helps to enhance their wellbeing
- How they use their initiative to pro-actively enhance all parts of a home
- Positive feedback from residents, colleagues and friends and relatives of residents.
The winner of this award will be an individual working with residents with a physical or learning disability who consistently provides an exceptionally high-quality standard of care. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- how their dedication, positivity and good humour shines through in providing an excellent service to residents
- a strong understanding of person-centred care supporting people’s right to privacy, dignity and respect and how they support residents to be more independent
- showing initiative, adaptability and responsiveness to the people they care for
- how they break down barriers to get clear information to support residents to contribute their views and experiences (e.g. non-verbal residents)
- how their actions have made a positive impact for residents
- how they work well in teams, sharing ways to improve the quality of care for residents, including access to and involvement with the local community
- how residents and their relatives/carers are involved in the development of their care
- how they are looking for opportunities for personal development to progress their career with Black Swan (e.g. studying for and/or achieving H&SC qualifications at Level 3, 4, 5, NVQs etc.).
The winner of this award will be an individual working with residents living with a dementia who consistently provides a significant contribution to improving the quality of care for residents. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- how their dedication, positivity and good humour shines through in providing an excellent service to residents
- a strong understanding of person-centred dementia care with respect for people’s right to privacy and dignity and how they help residents to be more independent
- showing initiative, adaptability and responsiveness to the people they care for
- innovative approaches to care that enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for residents living with a dementia, demonstrating how their actions have made a positive impact for residents
- how they break down barriers to get clear information to support residents to contribute their views and experiences (e.g. non-verbal residents)
- how they work well in teams, sharing ways to improve the quality of care for residents, including access to and involvement with the local community
- how residents and their relatives/carers are involved in the development of their care
- how they are looking for opportunities for personal development to progress their career with Black Swan (e.g. studying for and/or achieving H&SC qualifications at Level 3, 4, 5, NVQs etc.).
The winner of this award will be an individual working with residents who consistently provides a significant contribution to improving the quality of care for residents. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- how their dedication, positivity and good humour shines through in providing an excellent service to residents
- a strong understanding of person-centred care with respect for people’s right to privacy and dignity and how they help residents to be more independent
- showing initiative, adaptability and responsiveness to the people they care for
- innovative approaches to care that enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for residents, demonstrating how their actions have made a positive impact for residents
- how they work well in teams, sharing ways to improve the quality of care for residents, including access to and involvement with the local community
- how residents and their relatives/carers are involved in the development of their care
- how they are looking for opportunities for personal development to progress their career with Black Swan (e.g. studying for and/or achieving H&SC qualifications at Level 3, 4, 5, NVQs etc.).
The winner of this award will be an individual who supports our homes outside of daytime hours. They will be working with residents, consistently providing a significant contribution to improving their quality of care. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- how their dedication, positivity and good humour shines through in providing an excellent service to residents
- a strong understanding of person-centred care with respect for people’s right to privacy and dignity and how they help residents to be more independent
- showing initiative, adaptability and responsiveness to the people they care for
- innovative approaches to care that enhance the wellbeing and quality of life for residents, demonstrating how their actions have made a positive impact for residents
- how they work well in teams, sharing ways to improve the quality of care for residents, including access to and involvement with the local community
- how residents and their relatives/carers are involved in the development of their care
- how they are looking for opportunities for personal development to progress their career with Black Swan (e.g. studying for and/or achieving H&SC qualifications at Level 3, 4, 5, NVQs etc.).
The winner of this award will be a team or individual not based in one of our homes. They will be supporting our homes, enabling them to deliver an exceptional service to residents, their loved ones and the local community. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected homes. This award is open to staff in all roles who are not based in a specific home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- how they interact with homes to provide an excellent service
- how they build and maintain relationships with homes to improve the quality of care for residents
- innovative approaches that enhance the smooth running of homes, demonstrating
how their actions have enabled homes to concentrate on delivering high quality care to residents - seeks opportunities to improve their knowledge of social care and how it is delivered in our care homes
- positive feedback from staff, residents, friends and relatives of residents.
The winner of this award will be an individual who consistently provides an exceptionally high-quality level of service in supporting a home’s standards of hygiene and environmental health. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home, and not limited to those in a Domestic Assistant role.
Nominations could include examples of:
- their understanding of how good standards of hygiene and environmental health are important at the home
- how their interaction with residents at the home helps to enhance residents’ wellbeing
- the positive impact their actions have made for residents
- how they use their initiative to pro-actively enhance all parts of a home
- positive feedback from residents, friends and relatives of residents, and colleagues.
The winner of this award will be an individual at a home who consistently provides an exceptionally high-quality service in supporting residents’ nutritional and hydration needs. The nomination will show how the impact of their actions has positively affected the lives of residents, their loved ones and other staff. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home, and not limited to those in a Catering role.
Nominations could include examples of:
- How they plan and deliver food and drinks at the home
- How they maintain good standards of hygiene and environmental health
- How specific dietary requirements and personal preferences are catered for residents (e.g. weight gain, loss or change of diet due to medical requirements)
- The impact of their actions on residents at the home (e.g. boosting health and wellbeing with residents and staff through social interaction, improved mood, hydration)
- Positive feedback from residents or friends and relatives in connection with their wellbeing associated with food and drink intake.
The winner of this award will be an individual who consistently provides an exceptionally high-quality standard of work in their role as part of the Activities team. They will be able to show creativity, innovation and skill in arranging activities for individuals or groups of people. This award is open to staff in all roles at a home, and not limited to those in an Activities Assistant role.
Nominations could include examples of:
- Individual and group activities over and above expected regular activities and their benefit to individuals and groups
- How they plan and deliver in their role
- What impact activities have had on residents and how they have benefited
- How they have boosted residents’ emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual wellbeing
- How they include ‘hard to reach’ individuals or groups to ensure everyone takes part
- Innovation and ‘thinking outside of the box’ to demonstrate variety and different opportunities for residents.
The winner of this award will be based on feedback provided by the residents and their family members and friends. It will reflect the satisfaction and appreciation of the residents and their relatives towards the quality of care, facilities, and services provided by the home. It could also include comments or thanks received in cards, letters or verbally, or via reviews submitted via carehome.co.uk or Google Reviews. It is open to all roles in our homes or maybe awarded to a home.
Nominations could include examples of:
- Positive feedback from families and friends in areas such as quality of care, regular communication, openness, dignity and respect etc.
- Comments on the appearance of the home, outside space, activities on offer, nutrition and hydration etc.
- Comments made about how the lives of residents have been positively improved by moving into the care home
- How feedback from relatives and friends is sought and how the home receive updates about residents.
The winner of this award will have shown exceptional leadership. They will have demonstrated a calm and focussed style of management, creativity, motivation, support. This award is open to all roles across Black Swan and is not limited to a Registered Home Manager. It could be a senior carer, deputy manager or a manager of a team not affiliated with an individual home.
Nominations in this category could include examples of:
- Positive feedback from colleagues on their style of leadership
- How they motivate their team to achieve the best outcomes
- How they support the wellbeing and development of their staff and/or colleagues
- How they look to maintain and improve staff morale, encouraging a positive working culture
- How they introduce new ideas to improve their home or team.
Don't miss out on making a nomination - Click here to nominate!