How we help with retirement village and social care cleaning
Fidelis works in the field of retirement village and social care cleaning. We work with providers at the initial development stage to give potential clients a memorable and favourable first impression. And we’re there to provide ongoing housekeeping and compliance cleans once facilities are up and running. Our range of services covers the interiors and exteriors of buildings and the maintenance of grounds.
There’s been plenty of focus on social care over the summer, with the government unveiling a new funding package for care alongside further support for the NHS. But the media doesn’t always cover the important topic of housing for older people very well. Of course, there’s an enormous variety of different styles of accommodation, depending on the individual’s health and care needs. For those living independently, a retirement village may be an option, or sheltered housing if they need a higher level of domiciliary care. For others with more extensive care needs, a residential care home will be the best way to support them. But whatever the situation, there’s one common factor: the need for robust cleaning regimes. Here at Fidelis, we work with retirement villages and care home providers to offer the cleaning services they need. And in this blog, we’re having a closer look at the sector and how we work to provide retirement village and social care cleaning.
From retirement villages to care homes
Retirement villages (or retirement homes) are large developments built especially for older people. They usually consist of over 100 properties, with different accommodation types from houses and bungalows to apartments, often together with leisure facilities. Fewer than 1% of people over the UK’s state pension age currently live in purpose-built retirement communities, but they’re becoming an increasingly popular lifestyle choice. Retirement villages are similar to sheltered housing, though some may not be suited to people who require a higher level of care or supervision.
In contrast, care homes are residential homes which focus more on providing care for people with greater support needs. This is a much larger part of the sector when it comes to housing for older people, and it covers both privately and publicly funded residents. In 2019, there were some 15,600 residential adult social care and nursing homes in the UK. The care home population amounts to around half a million residents, with a variety of care and support needs. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates these social care providers to ensure levels of care meet certain standards.
Our approach to retirement village and social care cleaning
Here at Fidelis, we work closely with market leaders in the retirement village and residential care sector. Our team collaborates with providers from an initial build stage through to completion. We offer daily housekeeping services for marketing suites, show homes and offices, to create a memorable first impression for prospective clients. The nature and breadth of our services evolve as providers progress towards to the completion and opening of each village. Once facilities are up and running, our involvement continues with ongoing facilities management and cleaning services.
As in every sector, we view our contracts in retirement villages and residential social care as partnerships. Working alongside providers from an early stage of a site’s development, we can advise and form a bespoke package of works tailored to their requirements. It’s imperative for us to ensure an excellent level of cleanliness from the outset which is sustainable and cost-effective. And for established retirement villages and care homes, we can work take over from existing cleaning services to improve standards of hygiene and cleanliness.
Cleaning operatives that are an extension of care teams
We provide a wide range of cleaning services across the board in retirement villages and care homes. We’ll perform daily housekeeping on all communal areas, and private apartment and room cleans (including any balconies or terraces). We cover window and building exterior cleaning, as well as grounds maintenance. We’ll assist when it comes to CQC compliance procedures, and with our extensive experience in the sector we can provide advice as to best practice cleaning regimes. What’s more, we can offer additional ad hoc cleaning services as the need arises, including decontamination in the event of disease outbreaks.
We understand that it takes a cleaning operative with certain characteristics to service the retirement villages and social care homes in our portfolio. The operatives must not only be highly trained, but also be personable and reliable for the ultimate customer experience. Fidelis supports this with DBS clearance checks to ensure resident safety and peace of mind. We understand that retirement village and social care providers work hard to care for their residents’ needs. We take the time to care too, so that our operatives become part of the care team in place in each facility.
To find out more about Fidelis Group’s wraparound approach to retirement village and social care cleaning, contact one of the team today.
- Telephone: 0845 431 0382 | 0121 289 3258
- Email: info@fidelisgroup.co.uk
- Website: www.fidelisgroup.co.uk
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