As is the case in many care homes up and down the country, the staff here at Fulford are highly trained and passionate about their work. This allows us to provide a broad range of services alongside several in-house specialisms.
We also work with various external providers to enhance residents’ lives and well-being in a well-rounded care home environment. Whether you or your loved one joins us for respite care or a longer-term stay, the combination of Fulford staff and outside support helps ensure that every resident is cared for.
Here, we spotlight the external providers who make Fulford Nursing Home a great place to live. A special shout out to our long-standing providers, Jan Bulinski (chiropodist), Mark Grainger (hairdresser), and Specsavers.
Care home service providers: What they do and why they matter
1. Dentists
Good dental care is vital for nursing home residents because poor oral hygiene can significantly impact their ability to speak, eat, and socialise. Neglecting oral health can lead to pain, discomfort, and even malnutrition.
Regular visits from a dentist help our residents keep their teeth healthy and prevent nasty tooth, gum, and mouth infections.
2. Elder care specialists
Alongside our general nursing staff, we work with several elder care specialists with additional training in certain areas of healthcare, such as dementia care, palliative care, wound care, and occupational therapy.
- Dementia care: Help to manage symptoms of dementia, providing cognitive exercises and supporting residents and staff through behavioural changes.
- Palliative care: Provides support for residents nearing the end of life, including pain management and emotional counselling.
- Wound care: Helps treat complex wounds by assessing their severity, determining the treatment plan, and monitoring healing and aftercare.
- Occupational therapy: OTs assist residents with physical or mental conditions, identifying daily tasks they find challenging and working with them to find practical solutions.
3. Opticians
Our eyesight takes on even greater significance as we age. Poor vision can hamper mobility and, therefore, independence. A visiting optician can conduct eye tests and health checks to diagnose eye conditions. They can also recommend treatments or glasses to improve vision and enhance quality of life.
4. Chiropodists
Foot health is vitally important, as problems like bunions, blisters, sores, and general foot pain can increase the risk of falls and hospitalisation.
Chiropodists (also known as podiatrists) help care home residents care for their feet by performing regular examinations, treating common foot-related issues, and providing advice on proper footwear and foot hygiene.
5. Hairdressers
While not a medical provider, a regular visit from a hairdresser still matters a great deal to our residents’ health and well-being. This might be someone who works closely with the care home, or residents can arrange for their existing hairdresser to visit them at the home.
Either way, a fresh trim every few weeks can help residents maintain their appearance, feel respected and cared for, and boost their self-esteem and mood.
Staying on top of personal grooming can also give residents a sense of control, which can be important for those with dementia. This allows them to retain their sense of identity and feel more like themselves, even as their cognitive abilities begin to decline.
Read more: The importance of volunteering & community engagement for care homes
Any questions? We’d be happy to answer them!
At the end of the day, moving into a care home should simply feel like a postcode change, with minimal disruption otherwise. That’s what makes our relationships with external providers so important.
If you have a loved one staying with us and would like to learn more about our external providers, we’d be happy to share more information.
Please contact us at 01904 654 269 to speak to a staff member.