So, it’s been a busy week for us here at CareShield, looking after guests visiting from China.

Following a visit to Beijing last year by our CEO Christian Greenshaw with David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt - where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Planning Institute on Ageing (CPIA) – we’ve been developing our relationships with senior healthcare organisations in the country even further.

One of these developments was organising a visit to the UK for CEOs/Managers of Chinese elderly care homes. Delegates were invited to come and visit several care homes in the UK to see how they’re managed here.  The specific focus has been on progressing training programmes for staff working in elderly care - and the delegates’ learning and experiences on the trip will feed into the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs “Healthy China” 5-year plan.

The first day of the visit saw our guests visit the CareShield offices for a seminar covering:

• the introduction of UK elderly care policy
• regulatory procedures
• CareShield’s total solutions for an elderly care training framework

 We also had a visit from local MP Stephen McPartland who welcomed the party to the UK.

Tuesday saw us visiting Braceborough Hall Retirement Home in Stamford, Lincolnshire, where Home Manager Julia Fountain showed our guests around the home and spent time answering a number of questions covering systems and processes, care provision, and documentation. One of the delegates commented “people must live longer in such an environment”: in my opinion a real tribute to the owner Tony, Julia and her team.

Wednesday was a trip into London for our guests to visit the Florence Nightingale museum - which provided an opportunity for delegates to understand the UK's history of nursing and care. A brief stop at Harrods for some shopping followed, then on to a cruise along the Thames and an English afternoon tea.

On Thursday morning we travelled to Vera James House in Ely, run by Tony Pillow of CHS Group. Tony was incredibly welcoming and devoted his morning to explaining how Vera James House is run, the services they provide and answering a barrage of questions from our guests on topics ranging from training provision, programmes of activities, personal care and management systems.

In the afternoon we travelled to Northampton to visit a unit run by Maplyn Care Services who provide 24 supported housing for individuals with severe and enduring mental health problems. Maplyn Managing Director Peter Evans and Director of Operations Duncan Herring gave the group a tour of the premises, explaining the Maplyn Care Services care model and training they provide their staff, and arranged a short visit to one of their current residents. Throughout the tour Peter and Duncan answered a number of questions from the group who were very impressed with the service.

Today we arranged for a tour of London sights and landmarks to top off what I hope has been a productive and informative visit for our colleagues from China.  Our thanks to everyone who worked so tirelessly to make the visit so successful – especially the time taken out of their routine by each care home – and all involved are determined that a key outcome of this collaboration will be that more people will be treated with dignity and respect in their old age.