The Surrey Care Awards honours our incredible team at Birtley House in three different categories!
Birtley House provides personalised care around the clock, every day of the year. We recognise the challenges of the care industry and we’re delighted to pause and appreciate our achievements at the Surrey Care Awards, as well as celebrate all the other amazing nominees. It was a wonderful opportunity to have the hard work and dedication of our colleagues acknowledged – after all, our brilliant care is all down to them.
As the winner of the ‘Innovation in Workforce Recruitment and Retention Award’, we hold an immense level of pride and satisfaction with our staffing decisions. Thank you Birtley team!
What is our working environment like?
The recognition of Birtley House as a great place to work speaks volumes about our commitment to creating an inclusive, supportive, and inspiring environment for our team members. In a challenging industry, we continuously strive to find innovative solutions for attracting and retaining exceptional staff. Our recruitment process goes beyond qualifications and experience, focusing on our core values such as kindness, integrity, positivity, and adaptability. Moreover, we are proud to involve our residents in the recruitment process as part of our commitment to high standards and ongoing improvement. To us, there is more to a great team than just having one – you have to keep hold of them. That is what this award also recognises, our commitment to making our staff feel at home.
We have seen first-hand that nurtured employees stay with us longer. Staff are encouraged to roam Birtley’s gardens, woodland, and lake to de-stress and unwind during breaks. Our calming surroundings have a noticeable effect on the team’s response to challenges, and ability to ground themselves in the face of adversity.
One employee, who retired from Birtley House after 35 years of service said: “My fondest memories of Birtley include the lunchbreaks I enjoyed in the garden. The outside space was peaceful and calming”.
Our result in numbers
The retention of care staff in today’s climate is challenging, however, Birtley House enjoys a strong record of loyal service. Today, the home employs eighty members of staff of which 57% have worked at Birtley for between ten and twenty-one years, 17.5% have worked at Birtley House for over five years and we currently only have three positions available 3.7%
We truly believe retaining a dependable team of staff plays a vital role in the family feel of our nursing home. A happy and loyal workforce has a big impact on our residents’ welfare establishing connections and friendship bonds . This continuity at Birtley is comforting to residents and provides a refreshingly stable and happy home-from-home environment.
We take great pride in achieving a safe, nurturing environment where our staff and residents want to be. Other family touches at the home include homecooked meals with homegrown (on-site) vegetables for inner health, seasonal gifts, and staff parties and events where spouses and children are invited to feel included in the extended Birtley family.
Our Surrey Care Association Nomination
Aside from our winning position of ‘Innovation in Workforce Recruitment and Retention’, we were also nominated for the ‘2023 Team of the Year’, as well as being shortlisted for ‘2023 Nursing Home of the Year’. Although we didn’t win these awards this time, being chosen as a finalist is a true testament to the passion and dedication of our incredible team.
Here’s to 2024!
The Surrey Care Awards is an event we attend every year, we feel like winners, and we raise a toast to our successes!
Looking to next year, as always, we will continue to provide exceptional care to our deserving residents. Birtley House is extremely proud of our wonderfully caring staff who embody our core values and make our facility unique.
