Nov 2018
OSJCT Lincolnshire Home appoints new General Manager
The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT) is delighted to announce the appointment of Shelly Perry as General Manager at Whitefriars, their 56-bedroom residential home, in Stamford.
Shelly joined the Trust in 2016 as Care Services Manager at one of our Grantham home’s, Apple Trees, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge in Dementia Care. She clicked straight away with her then Manager; Denise Booth, whom she says was a great support in developing her management skills.
At Apple Trees Shelly’s main focus was being the Care Services Manager. One of her achievements was supporting Denise in creating a person-centred care model for people living with dementia as independently as possible. This was done through innovation and using best practice research.
In April 2018, Shelly spent a short time at Whitefriars inducting and developing the new Deputy Manager. Then in August 2018 she was promoted to the role the Interim Manager at Whitefriars for 8 weeks – in this short space of time Shelly had an amazing impact on the Home, Residents and staff who are delighted that she has been successful in her appointment to the role permanently.
Shelly is particularly passionate about End of Life Care and for it to be recognised as important as the beginning of life, she states:
“What we have to remember is it is the last memory for families that we delivered high quality End of Life Care, not only to their loved one but the ongoing support to their family; as they may have a lot of questions, especially if this is the first immediate family member that has passed away – they will look to us for guidance and support”
Shelly did a lot of observations when she first arrived at Whitefriars. She noted a number of Carers shared her particular passion for End of Life Care, so she approached four that stood out individually and asked if they would become End of Life Champions - they jumped at the opportunity and all began bouncing ideas around immediately.
One of them advised another Carer at the home was an avid knitter – so Shelly asked if this Carer could knit something to go in the residents’ End of Life Comfort Boxes, which remain with residents in their room until the time comes and are then passed on to the relatives. The Carer knitted mini dolls – that represented the residents’ personalities, including a Nurse, a resident that loves baking, an ex-military resident with his medals, a swimmer and a Scottish resident!
This is a work in progress, but just a small token of the difference Shelly is making to Whitefriars already and a taste of things to come!
Shelly has an open-door policy which is warmly welcomed by her staff, residents and families, whom can sometimes also be greeted by Ella her 6-month-old pug – who entertains residents on a daily basis!