Dame Denise Platt, right, receives a posy of flowers from Freda Maddox on behalf of the Brighton House residents

Care watchdog chief in whistle-stop tour of county

The head of a Government watchdog has completed a whistle-stop tour of facilities for vulnerable adults in Staffordshire.

Dame Denise Platt, Chair of Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), visited the groundbreaking projects aimed at improving services in action.

Susan Woodward, Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities and Older People hosted the tour. She said:  "We were delighted to be able to show Dame Denise some of the new and innovative services we are developing. But more importantly, it gave our service users an opportunity to tell her directly about their experiences and the issues that are important to them."

Dame Denise was whisked off to the Approach Café in Newcastle, where those suffering from dementia related illnesses and their carers get to meet others in the same circumstances every month. The café is one of 10 now in operation across the County, providing information, advice and support to those with dementia and their families.

Her next port of call was Brighton House, Silverdale, one of the Council's care homes retained to provide specialist care for older people with dementia or mental health needs, as well as helping people return home after a spell in hospital.

Dame Denise spoke to most of the residents and sampled some of the activities on offer.

it was then time to head down to the farm to visit a rural project that nurtures people with learning disabilities called Oak Tree Farm, in Hilderstone.

There she spoke to several service users who regularly work on the farm doing various activities like potting plants, feeding the animals and creating arts and crafts. The farm is a project that helps adults with learning disabilities to develop their social skills and also help prepare them for employment.

Susan Woodward, Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities and Older People said:  "We were delighted to be able to show Dame Denise some of the new and innovative services we are developing. But more importantly, it gave our service users an opportunity to tell her directly about their experiences and the issues that are important to them."

During her visit Dame Denise was accompanied by Pat Bailey, CSCI's Performance Information Manager for the region, and also met  county council Leader, John Taylor, Ron Hilton,Chief Executive and Director of Social Care and Health Eric Robinson.

Page Last Modified: 23/07/2008 08:20:29

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